Gonzo garbanzo cupcakes

Garbanzo bean flour kind of tastes like grass. But that's before baking it. Also called chickpea flour, gram flour and besan, it seems like an unlikely main ingredient for cupcakes, but in this gluten-free age, why the bean not? There's a recipe for chocolate chickpea cupcakes in Vegan Beans from Around the World by Kelsey Kinser ($15.95, Ulysses Press), published in 2014. It calls for twice as much as baking soda as typical cake recipes because gram flour is heavier than wheat. And where, pray tell, was this bit of knowledge gleaned? From Stefani Hope Pollack's website Cupcake Project, where she posted the same recipe, minus the vegan substitutions, in 2011. Oooh! Pollack called this her best gluten-free recipe she created to date, and the vegan version was good, too, despite its liquid batter. But this recipe is a great starting point for experimentation; try roasting the flour and using mesquite instead of chocolate in it. Pretty 'banzo.