spiced loaf.

Kate Elizabeth
Apr 8, 2020
2 min read

The perfect balance of sweetness and spice making it nothing but nice...

This recipe combines gluten free flours, and doesn't call for any egg or dairy, yet creates a great texture to the bake. - If you do not want to you gluten free plain flour, you can use regular wheat flour or spelt flour. See notes further down on blog.

Easy to make and easy to enjoy, this spiced loaf goes perfectly with a fresh brewed cup of earl grey tea.

I added a lemon buttercream topping for some vavavoom and a bit more sweetness at the same time, but it can be equally enjoyed without the buttercream. Depends what mood you are in...

This loaf tastes just as good for 3-4 days, so no excuses to eat it all in one!

Some notes on the recipe:

* the recipe calls for 225g of plain flour in total - I use 175g gluten free plain flour + 50g white rice flour, but you can use 225g of all plain/spelt/gluten free plain flour.

**milk of choice can be dairy or non dairy based.

***you might need to add more icing sugar to the buttercream if using vegan butter, as the butter is softer than regular butter.

Ingredients:

175g plain gluten free flour sieved*

50g white rice flour sieved

125g light brown sugar or demerara sugar

100g ground almonds

1tsp bicarb of soda

1tsp baking powder

100g raisins

300ml milk of choice**

3 1/2tbsp coconut oil melted

1tsp mixed spice

1tsp cinnamon

2tsp ground ginger

Optional - For the topping:

70g butter or vegan alternative

zest of 1 lemon

160g icing sugar sieved***

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4

Melt the coconut oil either in the microwave or in a small saucepan, and sit to one side to cool slightly.
Mix together the dry ingredients (apart from the raisins) into a large bowl.
Add the coconut oil and milk to the dry ingredients and whisk together until well combined into a smooth batter.
Stir through the raisins and pour mixture into a lined 8lb. loaf tin
Bake for approximately 1hr until a skewer comes out from the centre clear.
Allow to cool for 15 mins in tin and then place on a wire cooling rack until fully cooled.

Tip:

Work fast when mixing all the ingredients together as the ground almonds will start to soak up the wet ingredients.

Optional extra:

To make the buttercream:

Whisk together the butter and the icing sugar until light and fluffy.
Grate the zest of 1 lemon, add into the mixture and gently whisk to mix through.
If using vegan butter, place buttercream into fridge until ready to use.

Spread buttercream over top of cooled loaf (I piped it on because I am experimenting with some piping but you can also just spread it on).