This recipe is from Yossy Arefi’s best-selling book Sweeter off the Vine. The original recipe is baked in a bundt pan and is twice the recipe measurements as this loaf.
Citrus cake recipes are in great abundance and there are so many fantastic ones. Generally the recipe will use the zest and the juice of lemons, oranges or grapefruit. And that on it’s own is pure perfection and difficult to beat. In my opinion Yossy Arefi did slightly beat the rest of these tangy recipes on taste, texture and technique. This amazing baker did what nobody else has done with this recipe – she used the zest, juice and flesh of the grapefruit. And the result is pure ambrosia.
Grapefruits have a wonderful floral scent and are extremely juicy. And let us not forget that beautiful colour. The pith of a grapefruit can be very bitter but once removed, what is left is a gloriously fragrant and juicy fruit. When used as an ingredient in a cake, all these qualities shine beautifully.
This cake is unbelievably fluffy, moist and fragrant and the grapefruit glaze is just as delicious!
Ingredients for Cake
- 1 medium grapefruit
- 1 medium lemon
- 300 g granulated sugar
- 213 g cake flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
- 170 g soft butter
- 3 large room-temperature eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 g room-temperature sour cream
Grapefruit Glaze
- 2 c sifted icing sugar
- 1 medium grapefruit
- pinch of salt
- 3-4 TBS grapefruit juice
Method to make Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and arrange rack in the middle of the oven.
- Grease and line the base of a 22cm x 12cm loaf pan.
- Scrub the lemon and grapefruits with warm soapy water to remove excess wax. Dry fruit thoroughly.
- Measure out the sugar in a small bowl.
- Zest one lemon and one grapefruit directly over the sugar.
- Using the fingers, gently rub in the zest into the sugar. This intensifies the grapefruit flavour.
- Remove the skin and pith of the grapefruit and cut the segments into a bowl. Squeeze the juice of the grapefruit into the bowl. Make sure to cut the wedges away from the membrane and any pith to avoid bitterness. Remove any seeds that may have fallen into the bowl. Break up the fruit into small 1cm pieces.
- In a medium sized bowl measure out flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Whisk to combine.
- In another medium sized mixing bowl, using an electric beater, beat butter till light and fluffy – about a minute.
- Add the sugar and beat well for about 2-3 minutes till light and creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat lightly after each addition.
- Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat lightly to combine.
- Add the grapefruit and the juices and fold lightly into batter. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and evenly smooth the surface. Tap the pan on the table a few times to remove any large air bubbles.
- Bake cake for about 50-55 minutes till the cake is well risen, a deep golden brown colour and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
- Once cool, spread the thick grapefruit glaze over the top of the cake.
Method to make Glaze
- Add the zest of one grapefruit to a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Juice the grapefruit in another bowl.
- Add the sifted icing sugar and pinch of salt over the zest.
- Whisk in about 3 tablespoons of the grapefruit juice till the glaze is thick but pourable.
- Pour thick glaze over cold cake and use an offset spatula to spread the icing over the cake. There will be thick drips falling down the sides of the cake.
- Let the glaze set before slicing. This takes about 2 hours.
