I've had a request from a client for gingerbread — old fashioned style gingerbread you bake in a square pan, and sometimes top with cream cheese frosting, sometimes with lemon glaze … total comfort food.  In my books, gingerbread should be super moist, studded with raisins, hit the right balance between sweet and bitter (from the molasses), and stand up to a rich frosting if that's your thing.

This particular request though had to hit a number of addiitonal critieria, including being gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free and rice + potato free.  I've also been concurrently looking at options for reducing the amount of xantham gum used in various baked goods — it has a particular residual smell (very faint), which I think is the main reason my better half says he does not like gluten-free baked goods as much as their wheaty counterparts. 

In meeting this specific need, I've opted to go with a mix of teff + amaranth + tapioca starch + cornstarch, but if I weren't working with these restrictions, I might substitute the cornstarch for potato starch, or the amaranth for brown rice flour.  Everything is written in weights here, so if you feel like substituting, just stick to the same weight, and try and pick a flour or starch with similar properties.

I also decided to try out a Tapioca gel as an egg replacer (see Cake and Commerce's blondie recipe) at the same time as I was developing this recipe.  I have a couple of old handwritten standbys for gingerbread  I typically turn to using eggs and dairy, so it was a matter of several adjustments to convert to vegan AND gluten-free. 

I've been using flax gel for a while now, and was curious to see what the difference was with the tapioca gel.  Well!  we got moist, dark gingerbread that looks like it will be just as good the 2nd day around! and not a grain of xantham gum in sight!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a square baking pan (8" x 8") with parchment paper)

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well:

• 90 grams teff flour
• 70 grams amaranth flour
• 85 grams tapioca starch
• 85 grams cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix wet ingredients together in a larger bowl:

• 1/2 c cooking molasses
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c grapeseed oil
• 1/2 c tapioca gel (to make, cook 2 tsp tapioca per 1 cup water)
• 1/2 applesauce

Add wet ingredients to dry, mix well with a spatula to combine.  Fold in:

• 1/2 cup raisins

Pour gingerbread batter into the baking pan.  Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let cool in pan at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan.