Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Raisin & Rooibos Tea Cake

It has been a while since I blogged a recipe. I've baked (I always bake, it's my second nature), but I just haven't had the time to write my recipes down in my blog, I've been so busy. I've jotted them on little pieces of paper, so eventually I hope they will end up here, in black & white. 

I'm glad the holidays are over and life is slowly returning to normal. Even though I like the time off, somehow the days toward the holidays are just insanely busy. So much to do, so little time. All the Christmas activities at school & daycare (bring this, bring that, don't forget this, don't forget that), the usual baking and then of course the inevitable school Christmas dinner, which means I need to bake or cook for the whole class (as do all parents) and I separately need to create a gluten free dinner for my boy, just so he can enjoy his dinner as well without worrying he might eat something wrong. I'm always exhausted when the Christmas vacation is actually here. 

In the mean time I (well... we as a family actually) have been putting a lot of time & energy into our youngest son as well, who is a cute little whirlwind with a brain that amazes me in many ways. He is so smart, funny and he has the most fantastic imagination, but his amazing, chaotic brain is very confusing to him and us sometimes. So, while we are looking into all that, the doctor suggested to limit the amount of sugar as well. In most things that isn't too difficult a except when I bake. I bake with sugar a lot. Oh and he loves his chocolate sprinkles... hmmm...  Anyway, I'm used to baking with sugar because it tastes great and is common in almost all recipes. So today, as a fresh start, we've baked our first gluten free, sugar free Raisin & Rooibos Tea Cake that so happens to be dairy free as well. 
I probably will still bake with sugar from time to time, but if limiting the amount of sugar will help my little whirlwind munchkin, I will do so. In this case, Gijs loved the batter and that is a good sign & a great motivation to adapt more recipes along the way. Let the gluten free and sugar free baking commence! ;-)

Here's the recipe for the cake that we made today. 

Not bad for a first time!!

Ingredients:

• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of raisins
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) of Rooibos tea
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of buckwheat flour
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of chestnut flour
• 150 grams (5.5 oz)of almond flour
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1.5 teaspoon of fiber husk
• 90 grams (3.25 oz) of honey
• zest of a large tangerine
• The contents of one vanilla pod
• 4 eggs
• 100 ml (3.5 fl oz) of olive oil

Instructions:

1. Soak the raisins in the warm Rooibos tea for an hour or so.
2. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade / about 350 degrees fahrenheit.
3. Put all the flour, cream of tartar, and fiber husk into a bowl and mix.
4. Add the eggs, the zest of a tangerine (you can also use a lemon, but I like the combination of the raisins and the softer, sweeter taste of the tangerine) and scrape the inside of a vanilla pod and add it to the mixture. 
5. Mix it all well and then add the olive oil and the raisins. If your mixture is a bit tough, add a bit of the rooibos tea, but not to much. You want a soft dough with just enough moisture.
6. Put the cake in the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes. 
7. take it out of the oven, poke in a skewer to see iff the cake has cooked properly 9it will come out clean when it is) and let it cool on a wire rack. 
8. Serve with a cup of (Rooibos) tea and... enjoy!