WEMP Free Blueberry Gingerbread

Oh. My. Word. My friend Annette made this for our worship team yesterday and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! So I had to ask for the recipe! And, luckily, not only did she send me the recipe already, but I just happened to have fresh blueberries sitting in my fridge! YEY!

So, of course I had to make this today! And, since I wanted Derek to be able to eat it, I went ahead and made it WEMP free!

I'm so glad I'm figuring out all the secrets to cooking and baking allergen-free! It's opening up our food world so much! Although, there's still nothing like REAL cheese and there's not a real substitute for tomato sauce!...but we're managing!

If your child has allergies, please DO NOT feel overwhelmed! The wheat allergy really threw me for a loop, but after experimenting (a BIT, not even a ton!) I've been able to figure out about what I need to use for substitutions, and it's been mostly successful! Please email me if you need any help!

Without further ado...

***OK, weird note about this...the sugar on top did NOT melt into the cake...very weird! So, I broiled it for a few minutes after baking to melt the sugar. Sometimes this WEMP-Free stuff cooks so weird! Who would think that a non-wheat cake mix would not allow the sugar to melt into it?!***

WEMP-Free Blueberry Gingerbread

Ingredients:
2 cups wheat-free flour blend
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthum gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup dairy free shortening (I use Spectrum since it's NON-Hydrogenated!)
1 1/2 tsp butter flavoring
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer
2 Tbsp soy milk or water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup soy milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp molasses
1 cup fresh blueberries; washed, stemmed, and dried

Directions:
1. In a liquid measuring cup, pour 1 Tbsp lemon juice, and then fill to the 1 cup measure with soy milk; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour 9x9x2 baking pan (I use Pan Grease to both flour and grease in one easy step! You can make your own or you can buy it at the cake and wedding cottage - it's wemp free!)
3. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, xanthum gum, and baking powder; set aside.
4. Dissolve baking soda into soy milk mixture.
5. Cream shortening, butter flavoring, and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.
6. In small bowl, whisk together egg replacer and water or soy milk. Beat into shortening mixture.
7. Alternately add flour mixture and soy milk/lemon juice mixture, always beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
8. Stir in molasses. Gently fold in blueberries.
9. Spoon batter into baking pan; sprinkle remaining sugar on top.
10. Bake 50 minutes (or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached).


***NOTE: I ended up burning the top just a bit when I had to turn the broiler on to melt the sugar...so next time I think I'll mix a bit of water into the sugar and pour on top...that would give it the moisture it seems to need to melt. Who would think that after an HOUR in a 350 degree oven, that sugar wouldn't melt at all?!