You know how certain things develop in a way that you didn’t prepare for, but which was better for you in the end?
I believe in that.
I believe that we can’t see what’s prepared for us, but that somehow things work out for the better. And I’m praying hard and crossing every finger and toe possible that that’s the case.
You see, I’ve had my hopes raised up and let down over and over again in the past few weeks.
As the search for an apartment continues, I find it hard to remain as enthusiastic as I was at the beginning.
No longer do I feel excited to search on the same real estate websites; I’ve seen the same apartments being advertised so many times that I already know their specifications by heart; and I can feel the weight of my heart, as it falls down over and over again.
For those who have house-hunted before, whether you were buying or renting a place of your own, you’ll understand the excitement and agony that seems fused together in the search for a place.
I’ve called so many agents that my Spanish is now getting more and more fluent; I now know how to reassure them that while I’m essentially a foreigner living in Buenos Aires, I’m also a temporary resident that has a proper job and a registered salary “en blanco”. I can rattle off the general per-requisites necessary to rent a place; and I know when an advertisement is asking for too much, or whether it’s a good deal.
But as usual, photos are such deceptive liars; a flat could look clean and nice and modern in pictures, but the awful smell that hits you when you walk into it is just disappointing. And then the stains on the walls and the thin film of dust on the kitchen table and the parquet floor stare back at you, laughing in your face. There have been so many houses that we’ve walked in, stayed two minutes to let the agent finish with her pitch, and then walked right back out, thankful to escape the place.
After finding what seemed like the perfect flat, but then losing it because we couldn’t afford to rent at that price, I feel like it might take almost forever for us to find another flat that we can fall in love with, for a price that doesn’t actually burn a big hole in our relatively small pockets.
But then, as I’ve said upfront, I believe that things will work out.
When and how, I don’t know yet, but faith is one thing I’m have quite a lot of, and optimism is my innate forte. So I keep searching and I keep right on believing.
I also believe that there are foods that we may not have liked so much before, or that we were simple not exposed to, but somehow these foods, like unexpected friendships and unforeseen events, find their way into the kitchen, into our stomachs, and eventually into our diets.
Meet quinoa – my new found best ingredient friend.
The first time I ate quinoa was sometime last year – I mixed it with a roasted vegetables salad and found the nutty taste pleasant but nothing special. I waited almost another year to eat it again, stir-frying it with sausages and eggs. Later, after being inspired by Min’s mango quinoa salad with shrimp, I taste-tested another quinoa salad, this time with spinach and tomatoes and chicken, and found I liked it much more this time.
Suddenly, I was struck by the urge to explore ways of eating quinoa, and found, to my surprise, that while most people incorporate quinoa in salads, it is also becoming very popular as an ingredient in desserts like cookies and cakes and muffins.
I almost fell off my chair when I saw that quinoa could be used to make cakes, I mean CAKES??
Up till then, I had only seen quinoa as a seed, that inflated to three times its size after cooking, and that was eaten as part of salads.
I was so intrigued by this new method of cooking with quinoa that I had to test it out for myself.
So there I was, on one Saturday afternoon, armed with quinoa, butter, cocoa powder, icing sugar, milk, eggs, and some other ingredients, and staring at the recipe, trying not to miss out a single step.
I’ve realized that recipes, even if they are long, can be easier to understand and digest when you break them down into smaller parts, and tackling each part at a time simplifies it a lot.
This is one of those long, scary looking recipes whose bark is louder than their bite.
It’s really much simpler than it looks, trust me.
And you know what? The results are simply incredible. I’ve never eaten chocolate cake that is so moist and feels so good that I’m reaching for the second piece even before the first is finished.
Really, you just have to trust me on this one.
I’ll take you through it, step by step. I’ll even hold your hand, every step of the way!
You’ll first have to cook the quinoa, and if you’ve never cooked quinoa before, don’t worry. It’s really not so hard. (For step-by-step picture instructions, see this recipe.) Once the quinoa is cooked, let it cool, while you blend the eggs, milk, vanilla extract in a blender. Later, add in the cooked quinoa and pulse until the ingredients and well-combined.
You might get worried when you see a grainy looking mixture at this point, but relax, that’s what you’re supposed to get. In a bowl, mix together sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and a pinch of salt, then pour the blended ingredients in, and mix until homogeneous. This is the batter that goes into the oven, and once cooked, remove from oven, allow it to cool and then remove it from the tin.
While waiting for the cake to cool, prepare the glaze which really can be done in one minute flat. Your ability to be quick and nimble comes into play right now – you’ll have to spread the glaze all over the cooled cake as soon as you can; and spread out the chopped walnuts before the glaze has dried.
After that, all you really need is patience, for the cake to chill before you proceed to devour it, piece by piece, as I did.
Chocolate and quinoa, ingredients which seem to be on opposite ends of the food spectrum, and whose placement together seems too much like an oxymoron gone weirdly wrong, surprising won me over.
There’s really nothing better than a large, thick slice of chocolate quinoa cake, freshly chilled and sprinkled with a generous amount of chopped crunchy walnuts. There is a rich, luxurious texture that almost melts in your mouth; so moist because of the cooked quinoa and still so tasty because of the cocoa powder.
If heaven ever was a flavor, it would be called chocolate quinoa cake.
This was really so, sooo good. Please, do me a favor and make it, won’t you?
CHOCOLATE QUINOA CAKE WITH VANILLA GLAZE & WALNUTS
Adapted from Good Dinner Mom & Daring Gourmet
Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Quinoa Cake:
1) ¾ cup of uncooked quinoa
2) 1 ½ cups of water
3) 1/3 cup of milk
4) 4 large eggs
5) 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6) 180g butter, melted and cooled
7) 1 ½ cups of sugar
8) 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
9) 2 teaspoons of baking powder
10) ½ teaspoon of salt
For the Glaze & Walnut Topping:
11) 4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
12) 30g of butter, melted
13) 1 cup of icing sugar (powdered sugar)
14) ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
15) 3 tablespoons of hot water
16) 1 cup of walnuts, chopped (or you could also use slivered almonds)
Steps:
For the Chocolate Quinoa Cake:
1) Rinse uncooked quinoa until water runs clear, then drain the quinoa. Combine both the ¾ cup of quinoa with 1 ½ cups of water in a small pot, and bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, reduce to low heat and cover, allowing to cook for 15 minutes, or until the water has evaporated. Once 15 minutes is up, switch off the fire, and allow the quinoa to sit for 5 minutes with the cover on. After sitting for 5 minutes, remove cover and fluff quinoa with a fork, then set aside to cool.
2) Pre-heat oven to 180 deg Celsius, and grease a round cake pan
3) Combine the milk, eggs and the vanilla extract in a blender of food processor, pulsing until ingredients are combined. Add 2 cups of cooked quinoa and melted butter to the blender, and pulse well until smooth.
4) Whisk the sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add the blended contents from the blender and mix well.
5) Pour batter into the greased cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan
For the Vanilla Glaze & Walnut Topping:
6) Chop the walnuts into small pieces (as small as you can)
7) Combine the cocoa powder, melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and hot water in a small bowl
8) Mix well until homogeneous
9) Spread the glaze quickly over the cooled cake (if glaze starts to harden a bit, add another ½ tablespoon of hot water)
10) Before the glaze cools, spread the chopped walnuts evenly over the glaze in a large circle in the middle of the cake (or whichever way you please)
11) Allow the glaze to cool completely and chill the cake for at least 1 hour before serving
Combine the milk, eggs and the vanilla extract in a blender of food processor, pulsing until ingredients are combined. Add 2 cups of cooked quinoa and melted butter to the blender, and pulse well until smooth:
Whisk the sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl:
Add the blended contents from the blender and mix well:
Pour batter into the greased cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan:
Spread the glaze quickly over the cooled cake (if glaze starts to harden a bit, add another ½ tablespoon of hot water). Before the glaze cools, spread the chopped walnuts evenly over the glaze in a large circle in the middle of the cake (or whichever way you please). Allow the glaze to cool completely and chill the cake for at least 1 hour before serving:
Carmen says
Hi Felicia
please add a 5 star to my early comment that I submitted. I forgot to add that
Carmen says
Hi Felicia, I made this cake last night with some slight changes related to sugar, as my son is on a gluten free and sugar free diet and it is amazing. I used date sugar and maple syrup instead of sugar. It is absolutely delicious. Can’t tell it doesn’t have regular sugar and flour. Thank you for sharing!!! It will be one of my staple recipes for sweets from now on. You have inspired me with your recipes as I have tried several from your blog and they came out very decent, which has not happened too often for me when it comes to gluten free recipes. from the web!
Good luck with the house hunting!
Felicia Lim says
Hi Carmen! Thank you so much for your comment, it totally made my day to know that you and your son enjoyed this chocolate quinoa cake! It’s decadent and rich isn’t it? So happy to know that you enjoy my recipes, it’s such great motivation to keep on developing more recipes that those on a gluten-free diet can enjoy! Would love to see you around the blog again sometime soon! 😉
Nicky says
Great use for quinoa. I never thought to make a cake with it. It looks so moist and delicious. Yum. Thanks for sharing this during Our Little Family Adventure’s Thanksgiving Menu Planning Event.
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hi Nicky! Yes, making this chocolate quinoa cake literally opened up my mind to the possibilities of the uses of quinoa. You’ll love it! 🙂
Lisa says
Wow! This looks spectacular! I never knew that you could make a cake using quinoa! I have to try this!
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hi Lisa! Yes, I never knew that quinoa could be used in desserts too! And you know what the best part is? That the fact that there is cooked quinoa in the cake makes it so incredibly moist and leaves you craving more!! Enjoy! xoxo, felicia
Sharon D. says
By golly..that looks so YUM! I just purchased my first packet of quinoa ~ looking around for an easy recipe to try! Glad I stumbled here ^.^
Happy house-hunting. We’re still looking for our dream home.. two years and still hunting…lol!
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hi Sharon! So glad you took the step to buy your first packet of quinoa! I was hesitant when I first started using it too, but now I’m just totally in love with it! Enjoy!! xoxo, felicia
Paula @ Vintage Kitchen Notes says
Yes for quinoa in chocolate cakes! Love the idea Felicia! I’m selling my house and looking for a place to rent for now, so I know exactly what you mean!
felicia | Dish by Dish says
YES YES YES!! TO quinoa and new apartments and new starts!! Sending love!! And tea! when shall we do tea?? xo
Jill @ Living the Healthier LIfe says
Oh my Felicia! How awesomely amazing are you to try this!?! Wow! Good luck on the house hunt. I know it can be a pain but only because you refuse to settle – which you absolutely should not. When we were house hunting I was so beat down by the whole process. When we finally found “the one” it wasn’t close to what I wanted but the views were amazing and the location was perfect. I’ve spent the last three and half years transforming it into our dream home. It’s been a process but everything has worked out the way it is supposed to. Good luck and hang int there. Oh! And thanks for dropping this off at the party! 🙂
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hi Jill! thanks so much for dropping by! Hey, if you’ve never tried chocolate quinoa cake before, I strongly urge you to try it!! It’s the bomb. Anyway, back to house-hunting- this weekend Juan and I are gonna view a flat and if we both like it enough, this might be it! Obviously not 100% the dream home like you said (in this case location is not so great cos it’s a little far from the subway but the distribution and view is not bad), but it’s the personal touches that make a place a “home” instead of just a “house”. Thanks so much for sending good luck and good vibes – channeling all my good energy for tomorrow’s house visit! have a great weekend my dear! xoxo, felicia
Jill @ Living the Healthier Life says
Sending good vibes your way! Good luck!!!
Monet says
Oh yes…I know the pain of house-hunting all too well. We did while I was 6 months pregnant. Talk about an emotional rollar coaster! I hope you find the perfect place soon! And this cake? Brilliant! I didn’t know you could use quinoa either. This looks so very good!
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hi Monet! Thanks for dropping by! Yeah, I imagine you house hunting in the midst of your pregnancy and believe it must have been quite some task! Well, as for the cake, I never knew you could use quinoa too! so, was very pleasantly surprised when it came out soooo good! you’ll just have to try it to taste it for yourself! <3
Min says
Wow! Felicia, this cake looks amazing! Perfectly moist, rich, and satisfying ;). I’ve never made cake out of quinoa before..must try soon since you know how much I love my quinoa. House hunting is definitely not a fun process but one that’s incredibly rewarding in the end. Best of luck to you! Hang in there..you’ll find that perfect place soon.
felicia | Dish by Dish says
My dear Min! I’m pretty sure you’ll love this cake, especially since the quinoa replaces flour in the recipe. Please please go try it! Yeah, hanging in there regarding the house hunt, praying hard the perfect place will present itself soon! Sending love, felicia
Rachael says
Hey, Rachael from TheWanderita.com here!
First off, I want to say that keep your head up in regards to the housing search 🙂 I am staying in Buenos Aires for a whileeee now, and was looking furiously for a room for the past month. Just when I thought I would have to settle, I went to a showing and fell in loveee with the last apartment prospect on my list! Things do & will work out. In the meantime, it’s so frustrating though
Second, this cake is amazing. It’s my friend’s birthday soon and I would love to try my (very amateur) hand at it!
I love that youre a blogger based out of BA too! I’m convinced that we should all get together soon to have a bloggers meet-up 🙂
Anyways, I love the posts, and I’ll be back soon!
~Rachael
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Hey Rachael..good to know that you managed to find a place you love here in BA!! How long will be be staying here? We should definitely gather the BA-based bloggers (I only know you and one other girl) – and meet up! Will be my first blogger’s meet ever!
If you do make the cake, I hope your friend likes it 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
un beso!
Grace lim says
This cake is invitingly tempting for me to try to make one. I will go and get some quinoa this week end so I can make one to sink my teeth into this seemingly yummy cake 🙂
I pray for a suitably clean and airy apartment that you love to be quickly available for your rental! Have faith in God who knows best 🙂
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Thanks mummy! I hope you’ll like the taste of quinoa and that you find it easily!! If not I suppose there are stores you can order from online and they will deliver it to the house. 🙂 Praying hard and trusting god for a good apartment!! love you!
Jess @ On Sugar Mountain says
You are so right though, Felicia. It does all work out the way it’s meant to in the end. I remember the time crunch as my friends and I searched for an off-campus apt. We were so frustrated after seeing so many places we thought we’d never find it. Then, all of a sudden, it fell into our laps! You will find that perfect place: just stay postive. <3 Oh and eat lots of this lovely chocolate quinoa cake! That'll help for sure. 😉
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Thanks Jess, I’m hoping the right apartment will appear soon! Am getting tired to going to places that are completely disappointing!
Miranda says
I consider to myself a crazy-hippie-health-nut, and I had no idea I could use quinoa to make a cake! And a moist, chocolatey, delicious one at that! Can’t WAIT to try this out. Hopefully a few bites helped to bolster your spirits during this inevitably frustrating and emotionally overwhelming time. I agree- things will work out in the end! But it sure can be difficult getting there. Wishing you all the best.
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Miranda! I never knew quinoa could be used in desserts too, before i tried this one, and woahhhhh! Simply one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever made, and because it’s so soft and moist, it’s very easy to eat and trust me, you’ll definitely go for seconds and thirds!!
Jen says
OMG Felicia! This cake looks so moist and chocolatey. Yum!!
felicia | Dish by Dish says
Jen! I think this is one cake you’ll definitely love! Since you like experimenting with ingredients like quinoa, I have a feeling you’ll fall in love with this (just like i did!) xoxo!