Spice Cake #2 (Gluten-Free)

This recipe comes to us from Joe Ellison.

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Grease a bundt or tube pan (7-inch tube pan, or a 10-inch bundt pan)

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Boil together, covered, for 3 minutes:
1 cup water
2 cups raisins
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup dairy-free and gluten-free margarine or shortening
½ teaspoon each ground cinnamon and allspice
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Let cool. This mixture can sit overnight with no harm to the finished product. Just dont refrigerate it, or youll have to reheat it.

Sift, then measure to equal 2 cups:
2 cups gluten-free flour mix (I used 1 2/3 cups of a one:one:one mix of Asian white rice flour, sweet rice flour, and tapioca starch, plus 1/3 cups sorghum, but any all-purpose mix will do)

Sift again with:
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon xanthan gum, if desired (I used it, but would actually leave it out next time)

Stir the flour into the liquid ingredients (or the other way round—it really doesnt matter). Stir until smooth.

If desired, add:
1 cup chopped almonds or other nuts
1 cup chopped dried fruit, such as dates, figs, and candied citron

Pour batter into prepared pan, and level with a spatula. Bake for one hour. It will test done at about 45 or 50 minutes, but needs the extra baking time to set properly. If it doesnt test done (toothpick comes out clean) at one hour, keep baking until it does, then give it another five or ten minutes.

Allow to cool in pan on a cooling rack, then turn out onto a serving platter.

You can add any icing you want, or no icing. You can also use a sugar/lemon juice glaze, or a white butter-cream style icing.