Flying Apron's Gluten-Free Maple Berry "Muffins"

I'm very excited the library has a copy of Flying Apron's Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking by Seattle bakery owner Jennifer Katzinger.  (Flying Apron is the name of the bakery.)   I try to vary my diet and not do wheat every day.  Also, my mom can't do gluten and I like to make her something yummy when I go visit sometimes but have had a challenge finding something to fit her gluten-free needs and my no-dairy, no-eggs now I'm going the vegan route. 

My first attempt/experiment with the book was just for me and my hubby, though, to see how it turns out.  While the book has gorgeous recipes and the success of the bakery speaks volumes for the quality of the food, I was still a little nervous baking with rice flour and garbanzo bean flour!  My only recommendation is that, if you are a spatula-licker, don't get too excited about this stuff.  It has a very funky aftertaste when it's uncooked. 

However, the final product is actually quite tasty and worthy for this week's entry in the Vegaloca Weekly Vegan Cooking Challenge. I made the recipe precisely except that I only used half the maple syrup (there was no way I was going to use one full cup of maple syrup!!!  First, expensive.  Second, wayyyy too much sugar!   I figured if the recipe isn't tasty with half, I just won't make it again; turns out, it's fine with half).  

But, yes, that is a cake you see in the picture and not muffins.  I realized that we didn't get any muffin tins in our wedding gift bake set so I guess that I was thinking of my mom's set when I envisioned the muffins (shows you how much I make muffins, says Mrs. Married-Almost-Three-Years!) so I just made it as a cake and it turned out fine since it's pretty much the same ingredients as the maple cake in the book. 

I'm looking forward to trying another recipe this weekend when I go visit my parents!