Skip to main content

Red White and Blue Quinoa Berry Cake

This is a delicious berry cake, not too sweet, allowing the berries to shine.  A bit of quinoa adds some texture and protein - my excuse for having this for breakfast!

Serve with vanilla ice cream for a great 4th of July treat.


1 stick butter (1/4 lb) at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cooked rainbow quinoa, cooled to room temperature

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1 pint blueberries
12 oz strawberries, trimmed and quartered

1-2 Tbsp coarse sugar for topping (if you have it - otherwise regular cane sugar)

vanilla ice cream - the ‘white’

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream the sugar together with the butter with a mixer.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Mix in the quinoa.  Then mix in the flour, baking powder and salt.  

Fold in 3/4 of the berries into the batter.  
Transfer to a buttered 9- or 10-inch springform pan.  
Top the cake with the remaining berries and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake about an hour, until nicely browned and the sides have pulled away from the edge of the pan.  
Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes.  Remove springform mold.

Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Makes one cake.

Cook's Note: Don't worry - if you don't have a springform pan, use whatever you have and enjoy!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Umami Beef Short Ribs Samin Nosrat

This is the penultimate prep for beef short ribs.  Based on the superb documentary by Samin Nosrat, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, this is the most umami rib dish you will ever have.  Its the combination of red miso and soy sauce that marinates and flavors the beef - give it a long time to work right - that means overnight in the fridge; it's worth the planning ahead. 6 beef short ribs on the bone, about 3-4 lb 1 large sweet yellow onion, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 jalapeño pepper, minced 4 cloves garlic, halved Marinade: 1/4 cup red miso 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup pale dry sherry or Mirin rice wine 1 Tbsp sesame oil 1 Tbsp honey 2 cloves garlic, minced Salt the ribs generously with coarse salt and let rest overnight in the refrigerator in a resealable plastic bag. Whisk together the marinade.   Pour into the plastic bag and allow to marinate on the counter for about 2-3 hours, or again overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat...

Rosemary Chimichurri

I am making this fresh aromatic condiment more and more often. It can be used as a topping for grilled meats, fish, and for many other flavoring opportunities. I now keep some in the refrigerator almost at all times. 4 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves large palmful fresh cilantro, leaves and stems 3 cloves garlic 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon), and the zest if you like 1/4 tsp salt fresh ground black pepper to taste 1/4 cup olive oil Pulse the rosemary, cilantro and garlic in a small food processor (You could also use a mortar and pestle.) Tip into a small bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook’s Note: If you haven’t noticed, I love chimichurri sauce.   It’s zesty, and full of aromatics. It goes on so many dishes and is a great ingredient for so many things.   Make some and keep it in the fridge for inspiration. I use fresh rosemary and cilantro as my green herbs, but you could use oregano and parsley, which is also popular.   Many peo...

'Back-of-the-bag' King Arthur Oatmeal Bread

This is one of the best loaves of bread I have ever made, based on a famous recipe.  Friends swear about King Arthur recipes, and now I do too.  I only modified King Arthur's recipe slightly, adding the yolk of the egg I used for the eggwash on the crust. Goes great with a big pot of bean soup.  And it toasts up so nicely - aroma therapy for the whole house! 3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups bread flour 1 cup old fashioned oats 2 tsp active dry yeast 2 Tbsp honey 1-1/2 tsp salt 2 Tbsp butter, finely diced 1 egg yolk 1-1/4 cup lukewarm (about 100F) milk 1 egg white plus 1 Tbsp water about 1/4 cup old fashioned oats for topping Mix ingredients to a firm but still tacky dough.  You’ll have to adjust the final amount of dough to the humidity of your kitchen and flour - err on the sticky side for a lighter, moister loaf.  Knead dough 5 minutes.  Roll dough around in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise an hour. ...