I’ve Googled I don’t know how many ingredients to check to see whether they’re considered Paleo or not. Is mustard paleo? Mayonnaise? Pickles? What about quinoa?
Ah, quinoa. It’s a superfood, right? Wouldn’t Paleos get behind that?
Well, not so much. Turns out it’s fairly controversial in Paleo circles. Quinoa is technically a seed, but it’s what is known as a psudocereal. Huh? A pseudocereal is a plant that isn’t a grain or a grass, but produces seeds or fruit that are used like grains. Amaranth, buckwheat and chia seeds are other examples, along with quinoa.
The Spunky Coconut has a good explanation of why Paleos stay away from quinoa, but even Mark Sisson concedes that more moderate Paleos let quinoa into their diets now and again.
As you might expect, I took a more moderate view of quinoa. We had a special birthday today, my Dad’s, and in contemplating what kind of cake to make, there weren’t too many Paleo choices. Quinoa to the rescue.
I stumbled across an intriguing recipe for a quinoa chocolate cake, and thought that, like zucchini, quinoa could lend a moist quality to the cake without imparting much flavor. Let the chocolate take over, as it likes to do. Who am I to stop that?
And you know, it worked like a charm. Thank goodness, since I didn’t have a back-up plan. It was moist, with a good crumb, and oh so very chocolately. Really, really good. Happy birthday, Dad.
More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days
Hey Kris,
I heard about this cake when I saw your Dad at New Vista. He loved the raspberry decoration.
What I want to know about is the icing. Looks good.
So what was it?
The icing was a chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream — dissolving the sugar with egg whites over a pot of simmering water, then whipping until the mixture is stiff. Then (the best part) adding the butter bit by bit. Then adding in 8 oz of melted chocolate.
It was fantastic, not cloyingly sweet like an icing made with powdered sugar. A little extra effort but definitely worth it.
I am interested in making a paleo-friendly meringue buttercream. What sugar would you recommend that would work well with the egg whites?
Thanks!
Very good question, MamaNic. I haven’t experimented with different sugars for meringue buttercream, but maple syrup or honey would work — although I suspect they would be softer to work with. I found a couple links that might be helpful:
http://www.joepastry.com/?cat=106
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/06/honey-meringue-frosting-recipe-youd.html
Let me know how it turns out — a paleo-friendly meringue buttercream would be fantastic!
Never mind the quinoa–how can this part of a Paleo Challenge with the sugar and dairy that’s in it? It still looks delish and I plan on making it (am not Paleo), but thought sugar was a no-no on that diet.
You’re right, Dena, sugar is a big no-no to Paleos. So while this cake is delicious (and still my favorite), it doesn’t come close to meeting strict Paleo guidelines.
For me, the biggest part of the Paleo Challenge was to eliminate grains, since I was a huge bread addict for decades. To survive without any grains for a whole month was a small victory in itself. But was this a strict Paleo challenge? Definitely not.
I think it would be interesting to try the challenge again, and be stricter with what I exclude — particularly sugar. Have you ever tried eliminating sugar out of your diet? I’d love to hear your experience.
Congrats for meeting your no-grain challenge. I have eliminated sugar from my diet for several months at a time and it’s actually easier that I think it would be to go without grains. Sugar is “icing-on-the-cake” so to speak, so mentally it’s easy to go without for me. I also found that once I cut sugar out, my blood sugar evened out and cravings virtually disappeared. Very magical!
I made the cake last night for my moth-in-law and family and everyone loved it! It has a terrific rich chocolatey flavor and was very moist. I was impressed! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
You’ve got me thinking, Dena — perhaps I should try a no sugar challenge for a month. (Although it sounds like a rather frightening concept right now!) But it’s true, my cravings for bread really dissipated once I’d been on the grain-free Paleo diet for a month. Some food for thought.
So glad you tried the cake and that it was a hit. Yippee!
Sorry, that’s mother-in-law and I love her!