• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Butter a 9-inch round, non-stick cake pan and sprinkle maple sugar on the pan as a non-stick coating.
• You can use organic granulated sugar instead of maple sugar if that suits you. I like the maple glaze that using maple sugar gives. The sugar will melt and form a barrier between the pan and the cake, making the cake easier to remove from the pan. The maple sugar also gives the cake something to cling to as the cake rises, making for a loftier cake.
• Melt the butter.
• Separate the eggs placing the egg whites in a separate mixer bowl.
• Put the quinoa, buttermilk, egg yolks, melted butter, and vanilla into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.
• Pulse to combine and then process until smooth, this will only take about a minute or two.
• If the quinoa isn’t combining, remove the lid and scrape down the sides of the bowl. And continue processing, in order to get the batter completely smooth.
• Add the sugar, 1/2 cup of the cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and pulse to combine well. Since there is no gluten in this recipe you don’t need to worry about over beating the batter.
• In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Place the quinoa batter into the egg whites and gently fold together until the egg whites are fully incorporated into the batter.
• Don’t mix the egg whites too vigorously. You want to keep the air that the whipped egg whites are providing in the batter.
• Turn the batter into the prepared pan. The batter will fill the pan to within one inch of the top of the pan.
• Place a baking sheet under the pan inside the oven to catch any overflow. Because this is a gluten-free cake it won’t rise to fill the pan in the same way that regular cakes do.
• Bake for about 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan.
• Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a cooling rack, while still in the pan, for 15 minutes.
• Loosen the sides of the pan with a spatula. Place a plate over the top of the cake pan and gently invert the cake onto the plate.
• It should come off cleanly if you greased and sugared the pan.
• Allow the cake to cool completely on the plate, before icing.

Icing:

• Place the whip cream in a mixer.
• Add the cocoa and maple syrup.
• Using the whisk beater attachment, beat until the whipped cream is fully whipped and stiff.
• Do not over beat.
• Spread the frosting over the sides and top of the fully cooled cake.
• Chill the cake until ready to server it.