As many of you know I’m a tea addict and aside from drinking it, I love to cook with it, particularly in cakes in cookies. This is a wonderfully rich Gluten-Free Tea Bread, which is actually more of a cake. I made a couple of loaves because it not only freezes well but is also delicious if you toast it when it’s a little stale – toasted and slathered with lashings a good vegan spread!
It’s also the perfect time of year to get stock up your freezer with holiday goodies for when your guests arrive.
Gluten-Free Tea Bread Ingredients
- 2 black tea bags
- 1/3/4 cups boiling water
- 4 cups mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, cranberries, un-sulphured apricots- chopped)
- 1 1/4 cups gluten free flour blend
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cups coconut sugar sugar
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg lightly beaten or 1 flax egg*
- *For each egg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed (measure after grinding) with 3 tablespoons of water. Stir well, and place in the fridge to set for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the result should be a sticky egg-like substitute.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 340 F.
- Place dried fruit in a large bowl.
- Steep the tea bags in 1 3/4 cups of boiling water for ten minutes. Pour the steeped tea over the fruit and leave to soak for one hour.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the fruit/tea mixture and combine well. Mix in the oil and egg, making sure everything is really well combined.
- Grease and line a loaf tin and spoon in the batter, smoothing it down.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 and 1/4 hours. Test to see if a toothpick comes out clean – if not, put back for another 5-10 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack and serve when cool.
It will keep for up to 2 weeks in a tin or airtight container. After about a week, I like to slice and toast it, slathered in a vegan buttery spread such as Melt.
