Food is a part of celebration in every culture and cake seems to be an important part of many festivities. This cake is moist, rich and delicious – and made without wheat, gluten or flour.

Quinoa is a quick cooking whole grain that is a great source of fiber, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and complete protein (contains all essential amino acids).  I always cook extra, add chopped vegetables and make a pilaf or tabouli type salad.

This recipe does have sugar in it, but you can always substitute honey, agave or stevia (a natural sweetener that is 300 times sweeter than sugar).

This is quite a ‘forgiving’ recipe – so get creative, play with your ingredients and have fun.

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 1 1/3 cups water

Add quinoa and water to a pot, bring to a boil, put the lid on, lower the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Shut off the heat and leave the pot on the burner to continue cooking slightly for an additional ten minutes.  Toss it around a bit with a fork and allow it to cool completely. Add cooked and cooled quinoa to a blender or food processor along with:

• 1/2 cup milk or fortified milk substitute (plain almond, oat, rice beverage)
• 4 eggs (free run, free range, omega rich eggs have more flavor)
• 1 teaspoon of natural vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup expeller pressed grapeseed or canola oil

Pour liquid mixture into a mixing bowl with:

• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon of non aluminum baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• optional – but amazing – fold in 1-2 cups of fresh or frozen berries to the batter

Lightly prepare a bundt pan or 2 small round or one larger rectangular pan (I like to use parchment paper)

Cook at 350 for 45 to 60 minutes – depending on the size of pan you use.  Cool, remove from pan.

You can serve the cake as it is with coconut yogurt, whipped cream, ice cream and/or berry coulis (a puree made from frozen berries, a touch of honey and maybe a little brandy or kirsh).

This rich tasting cake goes well with a cup of dark coffee, a glass of champagne or even a refreshing glass of milk.

When it’s time to eat your cake, savor each bite slowly and mindfully, knowing that pleasure is good for your health.