We’ve torn into so many grapefruits this month, our fingertips have a near-permanent zest scent, I keep finding tiny juice capsules throughout the apartment and more pertinently, I have become fixated on finding a way to bring their bitter, sour-sweet flavor to a baked good. Unfortunately, my husband was convinced it wouldn’t work, and that it would be “weird.” Fortunately, I never listen to him.
In her latest cookbook, Ina Garten takes what I consider her best recipe yet — her lemon pound cake — lightens it up. Although I’ve already expressed my disdain for Food Networkian notions of “light food,” I’ll skip the there’s-no-hope eye roll and simply state that in comparing the new and the old recipes, the butter is replaced with an equal amount oil, one-third of a cup of buttermilk is replaced with one cup of whole milk yogurt, and an extra egg is added and in the lighter version. That said, just because it may not exactly mesh with whatever your notion of diet food is doesn’t mean that yogurt does not a wonderful cake crumb make.
I love the way she continues to put new spins on her classic lemon cake, with an orange version, and with chocolate chunks too. The trifecta of techniques — perfuming the cake batter with citrus zest, warming fresh juice juice into a soaking syrup, and draping the cake with a citrus icing — makes a powerfully flavored citrus cake that I wondered coupe be applied to grapefruit as well. (Lime and blood orange, you’re next.) The trick was trying to figure out how to adjust the replacement to really make the grapefruit flavor come forward, as it is more sweet and mild than lemon, less than orange and the zest has less… zing, couldn’t resist. (Secretly, I also hoped for a ‘ruby red’ tinge, but alas, not much luck with that one.)
I use more in the cake zest, less sugar in the glaze, and from our cake nibbles last night and another this morning, I think it did the trick. I’ve skipped the glaze when feeling lazy, though in truth it doesn’t need it for anything but show. The grapefruit shows up enough to announce its presence but not too brashly and the yogurt makes for a lighter, springier and more coffee-cake like crumb, and best yet, Alex has admitted he was misguided in his lack of faith. Like, duh.
P.S. These photos got a long-overdue refresh I do still love the glow of the original 2007 top image:
Grapefruit Yogurt Cake
- 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (230 grams) plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- Finely grated zest from one large grapefruit
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable or another neutral oil
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (120 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
Cake
Syrup
Glaze
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a larger bowl, combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and the zest and rub them together with your fingertips to extract as much grapefruit flavor as possible. Add yogurt, eggs, and vanilla, if using, to the zest-sugar, whisking to combine. Whisk the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, then whisk in the oil.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Make the syrup: While the cake bakes, combine 1/3 cup grapefruit juice with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in a small saucepan, stirring it over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
When the cake comes out of the oven, transfer it to a cooling rack, then pour or brush the grapefruit-sugar mixture over the whole cake. If it seems to resist absorbing, poking holes in the cake with a toothpick can help it better soak in. Let the cake cool completely on the rack.
Make the glaze: Combine the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons grapefruit juice in a bowl, then drizzle it over the cake.
Do ahead: This cake keeps fantastically for three days at room temperature and close to one week in the fridge.
To one-bowl the cake recipe: Combine grapefruit zest and sugar in a large bowl and rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers to release the most flavor. Add yogurt, eggs, oil, and vanilla and whisk until evenly mixed. Sprinkle surface with salt and baking powder and whisk until thoroughly combined, and then a few more times, to be extra certain they’re evenly dispersed in the batter. Add flour and mix until it disappears. Continue with baking and glazing instructions above.
I’ve heard good things about something called Hollywood Grapefruit Cake, but I’ve never made it or eaten it. I know there are a lot of recipes for it if you can stand to peel any more of these fruits. ;o)
You might be referring to the Hollywood Brown Derby’s Grapefruit Cake, which is the signature dessert at the one remaining Brown Derby restaurant at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. It’s AMAZING! Light and fresh, totally delicious. Do a google search for Hollywood Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake recipe — the actual recipe from the restaurant is pretty easy to find out there. They used to give out the recipe on little derby-shaped cards, even.
Hi, so off the topic of SK cakes but every recipe for the BD Grapefruit cake shows a 4 layer cake with frosting yet every single recipes mimicks the original one pan bisected into two layers. Is the original original double the printed recipe? Just bizarre. Also no pan size is listed although one rendition noted 10″ and 4 servings??
The color thing is always an issue with grapefruit. I made some grapefruit jelly with a friend and we ultimately resorted to adding a few drops of red food coloring because her kids kept telling us it looked like snot and wouldn’t eat it. The dye brought it to an appropriate pink that everyone much preferred.
Yum!
Nigella does her “Mother-in-law’s Madeira cake, with yummy lemon and it’s decidedly not light! I’ve wondered how one could tamper with variations upon it.
I myself am crazy about pomelos right now, but I just don’t think they’re juicy enough to use in baking.
BTW, does anyone know of a website where one can go to find what kind of spices and herbs would go with any given food? Like grapefruit for example?
Celeste — Oooh, I just dug up a couple Hollywood grapefruit cake recipes and they look very good! I love the pairing of cream cheese frosting (though find the whole segement on top kind of odd). It reminds me of these Cupcake Blog cupcakes I’ve had bookmarked for so long. How awesome does grapefruit curd sound? I think it’s time for me to try them.
Erin — Tempting! I actually thought about it too. I am such a sucker for pink these days.
Deb, those cupcakes seem like they would be amazing!!
ITA on the segments on top of the cake. I always get a little weird about fresh citrus on a dessert–the little paper thin wafers of lime on key lime pie, for example. I don’t think I would even serve fresh grapefruit with the cake; I would rather have people just wondering where the different flavor was coming from.
On a related note, have you ever used blood oranges for anything? I always think of them in the winter. The one time I ate some, I thought they tasted almost fermented. I know they’re just oranges with a pedigree, but I think they’re intriguing. I have this idea that they would make a good citrus glaze for poultry.
Mmm, that sounds interesting. It looks suspiciously like pound cake, which will surely trick me into thinking it’s yummy and bad for me. And therefore even yummier? ;)
Ina Garten and “light” are an oxymoron! Your version looks wonderful. I can not wait to try it.
I always really want to like grapefruits, but as good as they look and sound, I just can’t stand the taste. That cake looks wonderful though!
Yum! That looks GOOD! I’ll be home late late Monday night if you want to save me some.
Beautiful loaves. I bet they were good the next day as well(if there was any left). Maybe add the juice of one blood orange for a natural way to add some pinkness? Just enough to add some color.
Cooks Illustrated tested seems to indicate that cooking destroys the pungency of citrus. So I have always glazed my lemon cakes right out of the oven by poking them with a skewer and dribbling on a mixture of lemon and sugar(regular not confectioners). I bet the grapefruit was yummy this way too.
This would be fantastic with some grapefruit curd!
oh my lord! grapefruit cake? i think i’m in love. i may have to try that this weekend.
I have approximately 40 pink grapefruit languishing in my cold cellar, waiting to be eaten and I have been searching for recipes. This looks sooo delicious! Unfortunately I have no mini loaf pans… the size adds to their charm. I have also recently made Martha’s Pink Grapefruit Sandwhich cookies (see http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe3430030&layout=martha) but found the grapefruit flavour was too subtle for my tastes. And I added pink food colouring.
….looks like corn bread.
Damn South Beach!!!!! I would literally rip my arm off and give it to you if it meant I could have just a crumb of that!!!!!
What a great recipe! It looks so moist and dense! A nice piece with a cup of ginger tea would be perfect right about now. Can’t wait to see what you come up with for the limes and blood oranges.
Gorgeous! Good for you for experimenting. Looks absolutely wonderful.
Made this today for my grapefruit addicted husband today, its a winner – he loved it! Thanks Deb
Yum, this looks so good. I was wondering if you meant 3 tablespoons zest instead of 3 teaspoons? It seems like a whole grapefruit would have more zest than that. Thanks for the recipe!
can this cake be frozen without the icing
I love grapefruits as well. I have some hints for you–
place the sugar and the citrus zest in the food processor before adding either to the batter. this helps the oils get released, and the flavour comes through more. try to use organic fruit because commercial grapefruits are heavily waxed… you can also wash the rind in hot water.
squeeze about a cup of GF juice and reduce in a non-reactive saucepan until syrupy. add this to the batter.
use regular sugar instead of 10X for the glaze– the cornstarch in the 10X lessens the taste of the juice/zest. and same with the glaze– put some zest in food processor, cook glaze down a bit and pass through fine meshed sieve if you don’t want zesty bits.
citrus is hard to bake with. but it can be so gratifying when one works out the logistics.
for a nice garnish– “brulee” some citrus segments before serving. mmmmm!
alex, you lucky baaastaaahd :)
_ryan
Deb, I think I have to stop reading your blog. I’m going to weigh far too much if I keep on!
Jennie — Oh, you should try! In the end, you really only need about a half-cup of juice. Or, if you can find the juice somewhere unsweetened, you could use that (with sugar) for the basting and the fresh zest in the cake. Not sure of any site like you mentioned, but I’d say go with whatever you’d like with it.
Celeste — I used them once for something, maybe a salad dressing but I think they’d be really fun in this cake.
Yvo — The original recipe is totally a pound cake, so this is just a variation, minus the butter. Tastes just as good, however, and incredibly moist.
Susan — Quite possibly true, though I respect her for not throwing skim milk into her hot chocolate so she can use the word “healthy” on tv! Should you want to go all the way over to a low-fat version, I believe the old trick used to be to replace the oil with apple sauce. In a dessert cake, I think it’s odd, but for a breakfast, brunch-y snack, I think the additional fruit would fit nicely.
Jocelyn — What we need is someone to have a birthday so I can try that grapefruit, orange and lime-curd filled cupcake varieties with cream-cheese frosting. Or just cake. Cake, much easier.
AngAk — Possibly. Though I also liked, in that link above, Cupcake Blog’s use of candied grapefruit curls to let people know what was inside. I really want to make grapefruit-gettes too! (But again, the husband wrongly thinks they’ll be funny-tasting.)
Sweet Potato — Martha’s recipes always look so darling, always just-exactly-what-I’m-in-the-mood-for and so often disappoint me, too. I feel your pain!
Luisa — Thank you. I bet almond paste, like in the tea cake you made last week, would be awesome in here. Or do I just have a one-track-mind? Heh.
Eileen — Nope, I got about 1 tablespoon/3 teaspoons with our microplane. The grapefruit was medium/large. I’m pretty skimpy when I use it, though, only hitting each spot once with a back and forth motion.
shuna fish lydon — Ah Shuna! Really, sometimes I make things and just hope you’ll leave me a comment, making everything better. This was one of those things, as I remember you mentioning candied grapefruit peels a while back, leading me to suspect you know a bit about these paradisis. Thanks for all of your advice: the grinding with sugar sounds wonderful (and reminiscent of this sorbet I cannot WAIT to make again) and I’ve often felt the rind was very waxy and disturbing to zest, so good point (is it the same for oranges and lemons?). As for the glaze, the confectioners sugar is supposed to make a second white glaze, just for decoration (that Ina, always ridiculously over the top), the first was just the 1/3 cup juice and a tablespoon granulated sugar, melted together and sort of basted on. I skipped the white glaze, but used the juice baste. Brulee-ing sounds awesome, and better yet, I got a brulee torch for Hanukah! (Not from the husband, mind you, who has since installed an extra smoke alarm muttering “well, uh, you are a little clumsy…“)
Ryan — Indeed.
Flicka — Oh, but it has yogurt in it. It’s “light.” ;)
My mum loves grapefruit and she always has way too many this time of year- bruleed grapefruit, grapefruit in syrup, grapefruit and avocado salad, and on it goes. She’s so obsessed she even made a grapefruit tart once (yeah, don’t try it). I’ll pass this recipe along to her.
I’ve had my eye on this Martha Stewart recipe for grapefruit/poppy seed layer cake with mascarpone frosting for a while, but have never gotten around to making it.
I could scroll through your comments to see if anyone linked, but I’m too lazy, so here: http://bakingsheet.blogspot.com/2006/10/lime-chiffon-cake.html (!)
Also, thank you for not adding the glaze. Unless they’re chocolate, I often find them too, too sweet! Let the flavor of the CAKE shine, right?
Mmm, this looks lovely. One of my favorite fruit/cake/bread recipes comes from a friend: she demolishes a whole (yes, whole, skin and all) orange in a blender, then blends in the other ingredients. The whole thing takes one dish (the blender) and whips together (literally) in a flash. I love orange breads and etc because they’re usually not too sweet. I must ask, though – how do you get such wonderful looking crusts? Mine always end up too dark!
Okay, I arrive in Houston safe and sound and OFCOURSE I had to visit Deb’s site. What does B say as the pictures of the pound cake appear on his monitor, “Make me some now!” Deb, he was quite taken by this recipe and I’m sure I will be making this cake in the near future (three to four days) since he wanted to rush out and buy the ingredients for it after ten hours of driving.
I think I’m going to make a roasted compote to go with. It’s just any type of berry mixed with honey and a little sugar and a pinch of salt heated in the oven at 300 degrees until soft and mashed with a fork. We can thank Michael Chiarrello (sp) for this recipe.
It’s my birthday! ok, when is the superbowl? maybe as a superbowl treat. Hope it isn’t next weekend because I will be in VT
That should be awesome. Excellent. Blood orange, maybe that will get the pink.
Mmmm! Looks delish. The blood orange is a great idea also, and I just happened to pick some up from the farmer’s market today, without a real plan as to what would happen with them. If I give it a go, I’ll make sure to let you know how it turns out! :)
Mmmmm. Next you should make grapefruit curd to spread on it! (I just made some using Martha Stewart’s recipe and it was too sweet, but really really good – next time I’ll use half to 3/4 of the sugar and it will be totally AMAZING.)
Deb,
Do you have a recipe for lemon curd??? I am making cupcakes for our super bowl party and I want to put a dolop of that lemony goodness in the middle…Thanks so much!
Hi Christine – The technique and recipe I referenced from Cupcake Bakeshop is supposed to be fantastic: http://chockylit.blogspot.com/2006/01/lemon-lime-grapefruit-curd-filled.html She pairs them with cream cheese frosting.
You always come up with the most amazing recipes. This is one good looking cake!
Thanks Deb!!! I am planning on using Ina’s flower cupcake recipe with that amazing frosting and a sweet tart treat in the middle. I think your suggestion will work amazingly!!!!! Thanks so much!
When you’re ready to do this full-time in your own restaurant, please let me know. I’d like to invest. :)
And, uh, how about a series on “Cooking for Single Guys – There’s more to life than bologna”. :)
Your grapefruit cake couldn’t have come at a better time. The other day I came home with a bag of ultra cheap limes, read your recipe, and then your comment that limes should look out and thought i would give it a whirl. I’m in awe, inspired and already 3 kilos heavier than i was when i first read your post. I also had to convert the recipe to gluten free and couldn’t be happier with the results. The limes were fragrant and very very zesty, the cake offered up the crumb you said it would, and with a mound of oh so sweet vanilla ice cream a perfect end to a summer barbecue. Keep throwing the suggestions out there ’cause i’ll keep trying them out. Love the site, love your writing…
CATH, how many limes did you use? did you just blend them same as the grapefruits?
This sounds so delicious! Does anyone know if Greek yogurt will work? TIA!
Absolutely.
I just made it! Thank you for this! This is the second one of your recipes that I’ve made and I only found your blog a few weeks ago!
Oh Deb, your mention of grapefruit curd had me dreaming of the luscious possibilities for days. I finally caved in last night and made a grapefruit curd tart. You were right, it was amazing. If you want the recipe, it’s here. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Hello :) It’s a great recipe, thanks. I substituted the grapefruit for lemon, did without the vanilla, and it works perfectly. A cup of tea and iced lemon cake. Perfect! Hello from Ireland.
@Paul, how many lemons did you use? did you just blend them as this recipe has?
I made this for a (small) potluck, and it was a hit. Just to get rid of any hint of this being healthy, I also offered whipped cream for the top, and that was accepted with pleasure. I used an actual grapefruit for the juice, and the flavor comes through pretty well. I remember you once saying that you don’t like cakes, because they don’t stay moist…well, this is one super-moist cake! And so yummy! I have requests to make it again.
okay, so i made this yesterday in a lower sugar, lower fat version – substituting non-fat plain yogurt for the whole fat yogurt, and splenda for the sugar. it tastes awesome, maybe not quite as rich as the fattier version, but definitely worthwhile. it’s still insanely moist and the grapefruit leaves a lovely aftertaste.
I tried this with non-fat plain yogurt and lime instead of grapefruits or lemon…. Love the moistness and the zesty lime flavor of the cake. Working the oil into the batter was a bid of struggle for me, but as long as you use a large bowl you shouldn’t have that issue. As for the glaze, 2 tbsp will not make it smooth. I added 1-2tbsp water to smooth out.
Hannah, how many limes did you use? did you just blend them?
I know this post is a year old now, but I rediscovered it from your 2007 in review post. I don’t even like grapefruit, but we got some as a Christmas gift, and I used one to make this cake for a potluck. It was fantastic. Everyone loved it, especially me! I’m going to have to make another one to keep for myself.
I posted the recipe for the Brown Derby’s Grapefruit Cake. It is sooo good.http://woofnanny.blogspot.com/2008/01/grapefruit-cake.html
Never wrote to this blog before, but I am writing to say that I made the grapefruit cake and it was wonderful. Thanks.BER
This bakes up so nice – the timing is perfect. So yummy, even skeptics loved it! Don’t substitute applesauce for oil – it comes out gummy and not good at all. Tonight I’m trying to make them into cupcakes/muffins
I vegan-ized it with soy yogurt and egg replacer. So yummy!
Thanks for another great recipe, Deb!
We adore our red grapefruits here and already mourn the time when the supply from the last season runs out. Only peaches and nectarines can make up for that…
But I digress. The cake is excellent! I made it several times already, and here are my comments:
1. To achieve the best grapefruit kick, the amount of vanilla should be halved, and the amount of grapefruit zest doubled. Tried it last time, that’s how I’ll make it from now on. Two large grapefruits for the zest!
2. How can a cake be soaked with juice while on a rack?! I poked a bunch of holes in the top of the cake, and spooned the juice over it while still in the pan, then ran a knife along the edges of the pan to let any excess liquid slide down to soak the bottom. The holes do look strange, but that’s when the sugar glaze comes in handy. And I don’t think it merely a decoration, at least for the sweet teeth that we are! It adds all the more to deliciousness!
3. Now, this is something I haven’t tried yet, because I don’t have it at hand… adding Campari to the the batter/juice/glaze. I love the pairing of grapefruit juice with Campari in a cocktail, and it may give the cake the much sought after pinkness, adding more bitter complexity along the way…
Oh, this comment got a bit over-sized… sorry about that.
I was looking for an easier version of Ina’s lemon pound cake recipe and saw this… it was delicious! I used lemons, low fat yogurt, and three small eggs because that’s what I had on hand, and it turned out so nicely. The lemon flavor just zings the tongue, and my coworkers devoured it this morning.
This was an amazing cake! I ended up making it twice in one week. See my post here. I didn’t do the glaze, but I agree with Yulia that attacking the cake with a fork is helpful to let the syrup really soak in. On my second try, I also went ahead and put the cake in the tupperware where it would live and then did the syrup so the rest would just soak into the bottom.
it’s marinating in the grapefruit juice as i speak. i’m using a raspberry cream cheese frosting rather than the glaze and i CAN’T wait. my parents have been nay-saying it the entire time telling me there’s no such thing as loaves with grapefruit but they can’t wait for me to serve it to them.
Love the website, love your recipes!
The recipe says 1/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, but the directions mention 1/3 cup LEMON juice. Which is correct?
Thanks!
Grapefruit is correct. It is adapted from a lemon cake recipe, hence the typo. We’ll fix that now.
Hmm, thinking of taking a lemon version to a xmas potluck party to offset the chocolate/frosting overdose I’ll be likely to encounter there. So, in the original recipe, it was 2tsp lemon zest? You mentioned that you tossed in an extra tsp-ful of zest for the grapefruit version–just checking! Wonder if it should still be 3tsp if I’m using meyer lemons…
If you’d like to make a lemon version, I’d suggest the Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake — which I adapted from the same source.
Oh, I hadn’t see that one! Thank you for the lightning quick response!
Last night I made the orange version which I saw on NY’s Delight and I love it! With one grapefruit sitting in my fridge for a while now, I will give this recipe a try!
I am an avid reader of your blog but never comment (let alone on a year old post) – but I just had to tell you that I made this and it was absolutely amazing. I used the glaze but I don’t believe anything can be too sweet :) I am completely addicted, this is my new winter time treat!
(as a side note: I would LOVE to see a post sometime with your photography set up/process – as a photographer that is food-photography challanged, I would love to learn from you. How do you manage to get all these great shots while you are cooking? And, what sort of lighting do you have in your kitchen?)
Hi Julie — Glad you’re enjoying the cake. We do have a post on our approach to food photos. However, our lighting mostly comes from the skylight above our kitchen; nothing fancy, just natural light.
Well, I was intrigued by this post, so I mentioned it on my facebook status. Oh My GOD – I got no less than 19 comments about this. People were up in arms about putting yoghurt, not to mention grapefruit, in a cake. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it or not, but with a response like that how could I refuse?! So, I made it this morning and just had a slice; I must say, it is quite tasty. I’ve only made one other cake with yoghurt, and I remember it having a similar texture – kind of chewy/spongey. It’s not my favourite cake, but I do really enjoy it. The novelty/controversy factor alone is worth it, but the flavor is really delicate and nice. Thanks a million Deb – I really enjoy your site.
I adore this recipe. I squeezed the juice by hand and without straining the bits of flesh and poured it over the cake multiple times. It had a pink confetti topping effect and more grapefruit taste.
If I thought it was good, let me tell you how amazing it was frozen! I had to store half of it because there were only two of us and both my husband (who hates grapefruit normally) and I would almost prefer it frozen.
Give it a try.
Oh, and there was no need for the glaze at all.
I just made this cake with brown sugar and goat’s milk yogurt and it is delicious! I only had half a cup of yogurt left so I halved the recipe and baked it in a small round Pyrex dish. The cake took longer to bake due to the deepness of the dish, but the extra time developed a crispy crust and the inside cake was moist and light. My cake didn’t look as pretty as yours though, but I prefer the crispy crust.
I made this cake on Friday. It was a winner for my tea party. I substituted the vegetable oil with Olive Oil, and added blueberries to the cake. Heavenly. I will make this cake over and over again!
Made this cake today —
I used 2x the zest per the request above, and made it with nonfat yogurt that I make. No sugar frosting — totally does not need it.
I also didn’t want to “waste” the glaze and let it soak in the pan — this is what I do with my lemon poundcake.
Thought the cake was really great — not too sweet, and really moist. The yogurt is genius, I think. I thought perhaps I would substitute melted butter for the oil (I used canola) — but it was totally unnecessary. I was perfect with my cup of tea!!!
I just made this twice! First, I made it with blood oranges. The oranges zested beautifully, and the juice made for a really pretty glaze; most importantly, the taste was perfect. I omitted the second glaze because, as said above, it was not needed.
I’m making one right now with kumquats. About half a pint of whole kumquats and the sugar got put through the food processor first, and then I continued the recipe as normal. The other half pint was boiled down with some sugar and water to make the glaze. It’s real tasty!
This cake is amazing! I made it a few weeks ago and my family demolished it immediately. I also added zest to the glaze but it did resulted in a bitter aftertaste. Just baking another now and I’m leaving the zest out of the glaze. Top marks from me, my friends, my family and my manager!
I am in love with this cake! I made it yesterday, and both my husband and daughter loved it as well. The icing is fun, but I think it would be just as good without. We made it with nonfat yogurt, and honestly, I can’t imagine it tasting any better!
I discovered your site only recently and knew that I had to try this recipe as soon as I saw it. Citrus cakes are among our favorite desserts. I made the cake this afternoon. Delicious! Thank you so much. I am a devotee of Ina’s, but the one recipe I’ve made and disliked was her lemon pound cake. It sunk in the middle and wouldn’t cook through before it became too brown on top. No such trouble with this recipe. Thank you ever so much for the alterations! I will use this base for future lemon pound cakes. Wouldn’t this be lovely in a trifle layered with whipped cream, curd, and berries?
This is one of my favorite recipes and make it whenever i have an excuse to, my friend is going away to collage in two days and i am going to make her one as a parting gift.
I tried this recipe to use up some leftover grapefruit. It came out wonderfully (even though I burnt the top and sides slightly). I took it to my in-laws who seem to only like cakes that have no frosting (anything I bake with frosting remains untouched) and it was consumed within 2 days. Thanks Deb!
I just dug out this recipe and made it last night, with one minor addition and one major substitution. Vanilla extract was added to the glaze for an extra bit of flavor. But my major change was using a one-to-one swap of sour cream for the yogurt, simply because I already had two cartons of sour cream in the fridge. The cake was divine, with a pretty yellow hue.
Thanks again for the inspiration. I made a Grapefruit Cake with a Gin Drizzle http://spatulasatdawn.blogspot.com/2009/11/citrus-cakes-for-birthdays.html
Thx for this one! I made it for a Christmas Eve brunch with the inlaws. I SPILLED about half of the grapefruit juice I needed for the glaze so I subbed in some freshly squeezed orange juice with the remaining grapefruit and it came together nicely. This cake was SO moist. I also used a skewer to poke holes though the top of the cake to let the first glaze really soak in.
Hi – I’d love to make this cake today, but I don’t have an 8x4x2 loaf pan. Would it work as muffins, do you think? Thanks – it looks wonderful!
Cooking novice question! I just attempted this and got a massive overflow and a very liquid-y center (with just five minutes to go). The outsides, which are cooked, taste delicious from my sampling, but the rest just didn’t come together. Could I have not incorporated the oil fully enough? There was no sheen or visible oily patches when I poured into the loaf pan, but I may have missed something. Thanks!
I read in the intro that the “light” version of this recipe called for one more egg than the regular version, so three instead of two.
I thought the bread tasted a little too eggy and the texture was a bit too spongy.
Has anyone tried it with the cup of yogurt and just two eggs? Still workable?
Jill — I baked mine for about an hour and fifteen minutes because the center was still wet. Wonder what would’ve happened if you just would’ve kept it in for another 15-20 minutes.
I just pulled a loaf of this out of the oven and it is fantastic -super tender and moist. I’m going to skip the glaze- it’s really delicious and sweet without it. I’m wondering how this recipe might do in muffin tins- has anyone tried that?
Hi Deb!
This is the first time I try a recipe of Smitten Kitchen :)
I had three big organic grapefruits in the fridge (for the last ten days!) and had had no idea what to do with them -despite sinking teeth into them! :D
Lucky me! Found a recipe that charms me :)
My grapefruite loaf is in the oven now (just the first quarter of the baking time!) and can’t wait to see the result.
I’ll let you know :)
Cheers from Istanbul!
Banu
I made this Grapefruit Yogurt Cake recipe in a bundt pan and it was fantastic…thanks! http://candcdish.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/grapefruit-yogurt-cake/
Everybody fell in love with this cake! :) Thank you!
I just tried this recipe with low-fat yogurt, in a 9×5 loaf pan, and it was utterly delicious. I took it out of the oven in 40 minutes. The middle was perfectly baked. I also had trouble getting the glaze to take, but solved the problem by poking the crust with one end of a bent paper-clip and pouring the glaze over drop by drop (it is easier and faster than it sounds).
I too am curious about reducing the number of eggs to 2 (or to use more whites than yolks). Maybe I will just have to try it out this weekend. :)
Just made this with 2% yogurt, added blueberries, and skipped the glaze. DELICIOUS! thanks for this great recipe!
I made this yesterday using a 9 inch springform pan (baked it for about 40 minutes)…it was excellent! Very moist, easy and the flavor was great. I did use the glaze, and it was a perfect compliment to the cake. Thanks for yet another great recipe.
Hi Deb,
I know this is ages after the original post, & no-one else seems to have made the same mistake, but never mind.
I read through this recipe quickly today & noticed that there was a glaze. I did what I do when I make all cakes – I put all ingredients into my Kitchen Aid blender & blitzed the hell out of them. (Hey, it usually works.) I then poured the batter into the loaf tin & put it into the oven & made the glaze. Only then did I realise that there were TWO glazes… Since you separate out ingredients for the final glaze, could you maybe in the ingredients list just separate out ingredients for the SYRUP? or call them 1st glaze & 2nd glaze? I accept that I misread it & that was my own stupid fault for not studying it more carefully, but that might have made the instructions clearer.
I have to say, though, that once I’d removed the burnt ‘lid’ – oven too hot – & let the cake cook for another 20 minutes, it was still delicious, if a little soggy!
I’m looking forward to making this cake again, properly this time!
I just had the same idea of “why not make a grapefruit cake?” and love the Ina Garten Lemon Cake recipe, so this is EXACTLY what I was looking for!
Has anyone made this in a gluten free version? If so, how did it come out?
Just made this but split it into 3 mini loaves. one for my co-worker’s birthday, 1 for hubby & I (he too is a skeptic of the grapfreuit cake) and one for other co-workers…it smells & looks PERFECT! Cannot wait to eat it!!!
Thanks…your newest fan…
Oh…and I was short on yogurt (used 0% Fage Total) and substituted 1/4 cup homemade buttermilk to make up the difference…the are perfect, golden & moist!!
This cake (in cupcake form) is in the oen, but I have to comment that 2 Tbsp of liquid and 1 C of powdered sugar will NOT make a glaze! I started with that, and it formed an absolutely solid blob that took several more Ts of juice to make it pourable!
Have you ever tried grapefruit pie? When my husband first told me about his mom’s grapefruit pie I was a huge skeptic, but on first trying it I devoured three pieces. Grapefruit, strawberry gelatin and a few other things – it’s amazing!
I made this recipe earlier today and it turned out SO well. Thank you for sharing!
First time visitor to your site-tried this recipe and it was wonderful! I followed the advice of another reader and rubbed the zest into the sugar before combining with the other ingredients. It really released the oils of the grapefruit skin and enhanced the flavor greatly. Fabulous!
Good Morning! I just want to say that I love love love your recipes, their photographs and your style is so, dare I say, accessible.That being said, I love grapefruit and I am going to try this today. Actually, I am staring at a bowl of grapefruits as I post. A few years ago, I made a phenomenal grapefruit meringue. Sounds totally bizarre but it was delicious! Crumb crust in a spring-form pan, grapefruit custard-y filling (juice and zest), drizzled with caramel and topped with the meringue. I believe it was a Food and Wine recipe and it was AH-MAZING!!!! As I am sure this is too.
Long-time reader, first-time commenter, and literally YEARS behind on this recipe, but I just made it as muffins. Came out perfectly! Baked for about 12-15 minutes and then spooned the grapefruit/sugar mixture over the top of each muffin. I too skipped the glaze, and these definitely don’t need it!
Just made it this evening and gobbled down my first piece. I didn’t have a loaf pan, so I used a round cake pan and reduced the baking time to 40 minutes. Heavenly! Needed something to use up all the grapefruits Dad sent me from Florida for Christmas. {{eyes the other four}}.
Hi all. This is a greatlooking recipe! I’m a huge grapefruit fan myself and usually would use that ingredient over other citruses, but I have a crate of clementines to finish! I’ve read the other awesome looking clementaine recipes on the site but this one is really calling out to me. Any suggestions for subbing w/ clementines? Thanks!
baked it today with grapefruit and clementine, sticking to the recipe only subbing about 1/2 the grapefruit juice with clem juice. it is a lovely cake; moist, elegant, yet simple. a nice step away from chocolate too, not that i’m knocking that big C. thanks!
oooohhh! I know Im a little late to the party BUT Ina Gartens Lemon Yogurt Cake was the first thing I ever made from scratch! Everyone adored it and she is now my personal kitchen hero. You are a very close second. I sing your praises often. Stumbling upon THIS… magic. I wanted to make something my grandparents could enjoy for their 60th wedding anniversary and this is perfect!
YUM! This was rapidly devoured, before I even had time to make the second glaze. I made the following adjustments for high altitude (7000 ft) and the cake came out FANTASTIC (pardon all the “about”s, I adjust lots of recipes for altitude in this way and kind of eyeball it):
Added about 1 Tbsp flour
Added about 1 Tbsp yogurt
Removed about 1 Tbsp sugar
Removed about 1/8 tsp baking powder
And that did the trick for a wonderful texture.
I also swapped 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour for all-purpose because my husband is a health nut. I love these “healthy” pound-cake-like yogurt cakes and this is by far the best recipe I’ve tried for one. THANKS!
Made this today. First thing I’ve ever made from scratch! Turned out delish! Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe.
I’m currently out of baking powder. I read that using 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp of baking soda is equivalent to 1tsp of baking powder. Have you tried this substitution before?
alice — I use this substitution for baking powder. It’s similar though.
Baked this beauty today, so so lovely! Thank you for yet ANOTHER fab recipe Deb. My adaptions were:
* about 4 tsp finely peeled and chopped rind (my grapefruits really struggled against my microplane, probably super waxy)
* dark muscovado sugar (all I had)
* didn’t cook the first syrup – just used fresh juice and stirred in a tbs agave syrup. I strained this and poured over the cake immediately out of the oven (pierced cake with a skewer first) and still in the tin. Cake then sat for about 10 minutes before turning out onto my cake rack.
*best operatic soprano* YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM! PS your son is utterly adorable…
* skipped the glaze
hi deb
just baked this cake
smeels delish and came out gorgeous
can wait to eat it
thanks so much!
Great recipe! I used plain non-fat kefir instead of yogurt and melted earth balance instead of vegetable oil and it turned out great! Yum!
A great recipe. Delicious!
I forgot to say: I skipped the glaze and substituted kosher salt for half the same quantity of regular salt.
Deb, I just love your blog so much! Now that I’ve gushed, do you have any suggestions for lightening this up a bit? Do you think it still would be good if I left out the vegetable oil at the end or took out an egg? What about using whole wheat flour? I don’t mind if it doesn’t taste as much like pound cake. I actually really love baking with yogurt and try to use it as a substitute as often as I can!
shout out for this recipe! ‘the babe ruth of cakes’! totally delicious, perfect bitter/sweet flavor and great texture. thanks!
Mine just finished baking, and tastes wonderful. I don’t like to use food coloring in my food, so I used just a slosh of pickled beet juice. (Gasp!) There wasn’t enough juice to give it any taste, just a nice soft pink color. Thanks for the recipe!
This was delicious! Thanks for sharing it!
Deb! Help! I’ve made this recipe a few times over the past year and it’s turned out FANTASTIC! Today I’ve failed twice! I made it this morning with plain greek yogurt and thought that might be the issue. It fell in the center and the texture was really eggy. This afternoon I picked up plain yogurt and double acting baking powder and it still was flat. I have guests coming this evening, so I haven’t tried a slice of the second try, but I’m just lost about what’s going wrong! Hopefully this second attempt just looks weird, but tastes fine!
Oh my goodness. I think I know what’s wrong. I picked up self-rising flour at the store. Not all purpose.
I tried this recipe, and it happen exactly what KATH said, follow everything exactly and the cake did not turn out as it look in your pic, for some reason its too moist, eggy,fell in the middle, the batter was very liquid, I think i should have added more flour. And about the frosting I had to used 5 teaspoons of grafruit juice for a cup of confectioners sugar, but it still taste ok to me, my hubby did not like it. I am sure I did everything ok. what could it be?
My yogurt was plain and I used all purpose flour. I will still try more recipes from your webpage
I didn’t have oil so I used butter and it turned out awesome, next I am going to try it in a muffin pan and freeze some, this is now one of my favourite recipes.
I made this cake for a Spring Potluck this weekend and it was so fresh and moist! My sister doesn’t really like pound cake type cakes but she said that the texture was amazing. I thought it would have a stronger grapefruit flavor (definitely citrus, but somewhat indistinguishable), but it still was delicious and was a big hit! I will make this again for sure.
Sad to admit I was a little disappointed with this cake – I just love grapefruits and I think my expectations were a little too high :/ I just wish it had more of that delightful grapefruity zing! This could be due to generally disappointing grapefruits though…
I tried making them into cupcakes, but this also failed, because the bottoms are permanently attached to the papers (I should have realized this would be a problem when I read “grease and flour and parchment”)
One thing that did work well, was stabbing the cupcakes with a fork, holding the holes open, and pouring lots and lots of that basting juice inside =D
This is a great recipe. I fiddled a bit: replaced one egg with chia gel because our chooks are off the lay (first time I’ve tried this), replaced some flour with almond meal and used low GI sugar, ended up with a very dense cake, not your gorgeous crumb, but it was so tasty, great afternoon tea and I think it will be even nicer tomorrow. I followed Shuna Fish Lydon’s suggestions, and the sugar tasted beautiful after whizzing around with the zest. I used two grapefruits worth of juice reduced down, and yellow grapefruits because that was what I had – the flavour was pretty knock-you-out grapefruit. I didn’t do the glaze because I thought the syrup was enough.
Was a great way to use the grapefruits we got in our organic box and my kids really liked it too. Thanks for the recipe (and all your lovely recipes)
Hi Deb!
This cake was super yummy and my family just loved it! Such a perfect summer pound cake. I just have one question, although a small detail, about the parchment paper. Is there a way to use it so that it does not fold in when pouring in the batter? Although it turned out beautifully the edges were not as neat as I would have hoped.
Thanks again!
If the paper is rolling in, it’s best to flip it over first. Otherwise, just pour it in carefully. Sometimes, pour a little batter in and using an offset spatula to smooth the batter to the edges (in one direction, pulling back will cause the pachment to roll up) helps, but I’ve never needed to do that with this cake.
If you butter the pan, the parchment will stick to it and not fold in on itself.
I made this, and it was soooo wonderful! In a brazen attempt to make it mine, I added poppyseeds and dried cherries. Taste was awesome, but the cherries sank to the bottom, even though I coated them with flour. Is there a better way, as I loved this combo!
I halved the vanilla, which I think brought out the grapefruit. I also made the second glaze with campari instead of grapefruit juice. Beautiful color and great flavor.
I’ve baked this cake and the blood orange olive oil cake (with grapefruit instead of blood orange). I loved them both but I found this cake (paradisi) to be much more moist and delicious. I also accidentally added the extra tablespoon of sugar/grapefruit juice (what was supposed to be the glaze) to the batter before baking and it was delicious! Love these every day cakes.
This looks amazing! I think I’ll be trying the lemon version with lemon cream cheese frosting and mashed raspberry sauce for my best friend’s birthday this weekend. I was wondering if you had ever had a baked grapefruit? They serve them at Egg in Brooklyn, and I think are as simple as brown sugar (maybe some cinnamon and mint? I can’t remember) plopped on grapefruit halves, which are then baked in the oven into cups of sweet, juicy joy. Anyway, just wanted to send out that suggestion, and say thank you for your beautiful pictures and writing. I get so much d-lite from your blog.
just baked this…took first bite and LOVED IT! i’ve always been a fan of grapefruit and this was a fantastic variation to the superfruit i’ve always loved!
I baked this yesterday – DELICIOUS!! However, I used some beautiful blood oranges in place of grapefruit – the cake was SO yummy! Thanks for a keeper recipe!
@Dawn – The cherries were probably just too heavy. You might try chopping them into smaller bits before flouring them. Not quite the same, I realize, but it might work.
I made this yesterday, and out of all the smitten recipes I’ve tried, this one wins for “most resembles Deb’s awesome photos” (despite going without the glaze). Very moist and yummy cake!
I just made this cake yesterday, and it turned out wonderfully. It was very moist yet light, and had a beautiful light yellow color. Thanks for a terrific recipe!
Wow! I just pulled this out of the oven (it is marinating in the yummy syrup) and it smells heavenly. I can’t wait to dive in. I think I’ll be skipping the glaze, as well, since we’re having this for brunch, but thanks for the recipe that uses my favorite fruit :) Plus, this was a great way to use the remainder (I still ate the fruit itself!). All your recipes have turned out beautifully.
Oh, it looks and sounds so delicious! Can anyone do me a favor and post the measurements in grams (or even ounces?)? As I’m European, and everybody around here works with grams instead of cups I have no idea how to convert a cup to a weight. Since, of course, different ingredients have different masses.
Weights and volumes in metrics — just added!
Amazing, thank you very much! I’m going to try this as soon as I can :D
making this for the second time. the aroma coming from the oven is divine. cannot wait until it’s done!
This bread was smelling amazing while I was baking it. Pulled it out and saw your’s was a bit higher and fluffier but didn’t worry. Tried moving it after setting it to cool and found it hard to move and rather mushy. Figured the juice/sugar took some time to absorb and to just wait and let it do its thing. Twenty minutes later I remembered I failed to add all. three. eggs. Whoops.
So should there be any curious souls out there, this tastes delicious without the eggs. It’s a bit smaller/denser and rather mushy/hard to move. But taste wise, excellent.
Next up…. making this with all the ingredients.
I’ve just made this cake today! I made two of them, actually. They turned out great, and I used one grapefruit for both cakes. I baked them in pyrex pans, which may be what made the bottom of the cake turn brown, but did not affect the overall outcome. I followed the advice on grinding the zest with sugar in a food processor. I also added a drop of red food coloring for a nice pink tone. We had it with a ball of vanilla ice-cream on the side. De-licious! I will most definitely be making this quite often, it was loved by all, and a great way to use a grapefruit.
Forgot to add that I also substituted sour cream for the yogurt as I had none.
Absolutely wonderful!!!! I used fat-free greek yogurt instead of the whole milk yogurt, as well as coconut oil instead of the vegetable oil….. added a hint of the islands and was so delicious!!! I ate it all by myself throughout the week (oops), so I’m going to make it again to share, this time with coconut milk yogurt.
Got a whole bunch of grapefruits from a friend and made this cake tonight. it’s delicious, and now I have breakfast for tomorrow as well!
My family and I really enjoye the flavour! It’s just right for the summer. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipie with us!
Made this for a Christmas party. BIG hit with children and adults alike. I really enjoyed making it, too. Easy, but there is something about zesting the grapefruit that makes you feel you’ve worked for that praise!
This recipe is very similar to the Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake recipe that is in your book. What are the differences in the final products in terms of taste, texture, etc. when compared with each other?
The big differences are in the ingredients — that’s a olive oil pound cake, so it is flavored with olive oil and has the tight crumb of a pound cake, this is a yogurt loaf, so it has the tangy yogurt flavor and a more coffee cake like crumb.
GREAT cake – bf and I loved it! I subbed the oil for butter (because thats all I had) and I added some slices of nectarine to it as well which was really good. I don’t think it’s going to last long!
Thank you!made the cake for Shabbat and it came out delicious. Making it again now for Super Bowl get together. Excellent recipe.
I came across your recipe for grapefruit yogurt cake and made it last week. Absolutely one of the best cakes ever!! This will definitely be my go to dessert recipe now. Excellent!!
Many thanks for this recipe. I have started to get organic fruit & veg boxes delivered every week and received 2 grapefruit’s which I hadn’t a clue what to do with until I found this recipe. I am going to give it a whirl today and take it to my Scout Meeting later tonight to share with everyone.
Is it possible to substitute applesauce for the oil in this recipe? I know you can do this with box mixes with no problem, cuts down on the fat.
Love this recipe but could I use Meyer lemons in place of grapefruit?
Hi Janice — I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You also might like the variant on this cake, the Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake.
Made this for Mother’s Day! So moist with the perfect citrus taste. I followed the recipe exactly as stated minus the glaze. Thanks Deb!
I don’t know what I’ve done wrong but my cake turned out to have this under cook pancake consistency, just dense brick. I’ve used plain flour which is all purpose flour with baking powder. I didn’t use oil because I’ve ran out so I’ve added milk. Could that be it? This is just weird :(
Niki — If you used flour that already had baking powder in it, that was the culprit. Because you then add more in the recipe, you’d end up over-leavening the cake, leading to it rising and then collapsing.
This is definitely my go-to recipe for grapefruit! It really came out so well.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe!! I had a bit of a problem, anyway, making it, because I read the directions too fast and made a mistake that was fixed afterwards: I added the 1/3 cup grapefruit juice to the wet ingredients for the cake. So, seeing the mixture with the dry ingredients was too liquid, I added more flour (about 1/3 cup) until it got gooey enough.
Even though I did that and also used low-fat vanilla yoghurt and flour that already had baking powder in it, it worked! The cake was soft, delicious and had that hint of sour that I love from grapefruits.
I have to say I love the fact that one can make mistakes and fix them when it comes to this kind of recipes.
I’ll keep trying your recipes, thank you so much!!!
My boyfriend turns 30 on Sunday and has requested this cake as his birthday cake!
It is the best cake I make, apparently! Obviously much more subdued and sophisticated tastes than me ( I would have gone for salted caramel cheesecake).
But wanted to say thank you to you and your readers for the ideas to jazz it up- no syrup a very thin layer of grapefruit curd and cream cheese frosting and quadrupling the recipe to feed the 30 guests will I hope turn it into an occasion cake, but still with cake he so loves.
Good luck with the move.
Heavenly! Made it without the glaze and it is wonderful. Will try the glazed version next time, must be delicious.
I just made this, but with pomelo! I love the results. Pomelo is slightly sweeter than grapefruit, but still has some bitterness. I used the zest of half a pomelo, and i juiced the pomelo in an electric juicer to get all the juice out of it. It was pretty labor intensive because I took not only the pith off, but the skins of the individual wedges too, but I really wanted to make sure most of the bitter parts were not in the juice.
I didn’t make the glaze but unless you are totally down with a bit of bitterness, you might want to add it.
The other change I made was that I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. This cake was so delicious and I like to tell myself it’s better than pound cake, even though it’s only slightly healthier.
We use grapefruit bitters in cocktails and sparkling water, and I’m wondering if a couple of shakes along with the vanilla step might add an extra layer of grapefruityness? I also love an earlier commentor’s suggestion of Campari.
Great recipe. I skipped the final glaze, however. In my opinion, it does not need it.
Just made this for my baby & mom Yoga group for our last class. Like others I omitted the glaze. It was a big hit!
This cake is amazing.
My friend and I recreated the Fleur de lis cocktail from J. Alexanders. It has grapefruit juice and elderflower liquor. I think I’ll try this cake with elderflower liquor instead of vanilla. Thanks for the inspiration!
Slightly personal question–is Jocelyn from South Orange, N.J. I knew someone of that name back in the 80’s–worked with her. Something, somehow, just rang a bell–
Jane — Heh, Jocelyn isn’t even her real name. :) (She’s from Greenwich, CT.)
Homesick Texan does a mean ruby red grapefruit cookie. They are my favorite thing about grapefruit season. I too think they are underused in desserts and can’t wait to try out this recipe!
Sorry if you’ve covered this before- tried looking through previous comments and they were extensive! 1) Can I use whole fat Greek yogurt instead? 2) Is canola oil an ok substitute? Just ran out of veg oil. Thanks!
(that should say ‘Steph’ above- not StepWh) sorry!
I was rushing last night and forgot the oil. It still rose and it’s still fine to eat. Funny texture but okay. Strange!
Hi Deb, can I replace the extra large eggs with large plus a little? Ina Garten, while I love her, always uses extra large eggs and it drives me nuts cause I always get large and the majority of recipes call for large. It is her thing along with saying “big stir”! :)
Marcie — Yes, I totally just make this with large eggs and its fine. Unless you’re going over, say, 4 eggs, I don’t think the difference in volume between large and extra large is significant enough to add another egg and I don’t bother. I’ve never noticed this big stir thing; what does she say it in reference to?
I also noticed Ina’s recipes call for extra-large eggs, and if I’m out shopping anyway for a Barefoot Contessa dish, I’ll pick up some extra-large eggs. But if I’m all prepped to start the recipe and all I have are large eggs, that’s what I use. I’ve detected a slightly “richer” taste (perhaps from the larger yolk?) when I use the extra-large eggs but it’s not worth a special trip to the store if I have large eggs on hand.
I also think that her “big stir” is just how she talks when she’s demonstrating a recipe – goes along with “how easy is that?”
I’m getting ready to make this Grapefruit Cake now – my tree in Palm Springs is laden with fruit and it needs to be put to good use! Thanks, Deb, for another wonderful recipe!
I always find the extra-large eggs befuddling too, however I keep this conversion in mind:
1 cup eggs is roughly equivalent = 4 jumbo = 4 to 5 extra-large = 5 large = 5 to 6 medium = 7 small
Thus, I tend not to worry about adding another egg when using large eggs (all *I* use in recipes) unless the amount of eggs called for is 4 or more.
Joanne, funny thing- I made this other nights for friends and they raved about it so much (I actually didn’t get to try it bc it was a drop off kinda thing) that I’m making it again for other friends tomorrow… And just about five mins after popping it in the oven I realized I left out the oil this time! Wasn’t sure what to do but it looks like its rising and it’s an easy enough recipe, I figured why not let it go and see what happens since I’ll have time for a redo if needed. So glad to scroll down and see that you say it still tastes good!! Yay for Friday night brain ;)
Deb- what is the reason for adding in the oil later, just curious, is it a pound cake thing, or another baking reason? What’s it do differently than adding to the rest of the wet ingredients? Sorry if I missed a comment above that explains it, and thank you for the great recipe!!
Just made it yesterday and it was a great hit, thank you!
I have the same question about oil as Kyra. For the XL-Egg-Problem I used a little math:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_egg_sizes#United_States_of_America
3 XL à 63.8g equals roughly 4 M à 49,6g
(and learned that my german eggs are bigger… 3 L are fine in Europe, too https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eierkennzeichnung#Gewichtsklassen )
Dang, man! This cake is perfection. Tasted exactly as I hoped it would. Bless you for this cake! Or curse you…
Hi Deb – it is one of her phrases I feel like I hear her say all the time – give everything a “big stir” – especially in her giant Le Crueset pot, just listen for it the next time you watch! She also says fantastic alot but her life is pretty fantastic so why not?
Hi Deb – I totally forgot to fold the vegetable oil into the cake (I even put it right on the counter, and I still forgot it!). By the time I realized my mistake, the cake was already baking. To my delight, though, I don’t think it made any difference! The cake was airy and moist and delicious. Just FYI to all you inadvertently negligent cake bakers like me :)
SMELLS SO GOOD. Not sure I can wait for it to cool down!
I was so very intrigued when I saw this! Predictably, my husband (who doesn’t share my love of the grapefruit (weirdo!), wrinkled his nose and said it sounded weird.
I made it (with just one modification – I zested the grapefruit into the sugar and worked it in to get the oils all incorporated in the sugar), and it was just delightful.
Husband not only liked it, he ate most of the loaf and made a special trip to the store to buy more grapefruit and yogurt so I can make this again.
I’m excited to try this with orange and a good flavorful olive oil with an orange/honey glaze.
I made this last night and it was AMAZING! When I took the cake out of the oven I immediately poked holes in it with a fork and poured the grapefruit juice over top, let it sit for 10 minutes, then served. I skipped the glaze too, but feel that this cake is so light and fluffy and moist you almost don’t need it. Thank you for a wonderful recipe! I can’t wait to make it again!
Hi Deb! Thanks so much for this delicious recipe, grapefruits are one of my most favorite foods. I just wanted to say I made this recipe as written but replaced the yogurt wth full fat buttermilk, and the results were delicious! Basically the same texture as when I’ve made t before with yogurt, which I was excited about because I was out of yogurt but really craving this.
The other modification I made that I learned from the four and twenty blackbirds grapefruit custard pie (which I *heartily* recommend!!) is to add a little bit of Campari and angostura bitters to anything grapefruit flavored, to bring that sweet bitterness. I would say I did a tablespoon of Campari and two dashes of bitters to the soak, and it was *awesome*. Thanks again!
is not 1 1/2 cups of flour = 375 grams??
why is your measurement =190grams only?
hana — Because 1 cup of flour clocks in at between 120 and 130 grams.
could I make this with greek yogurt or would that be too dry? I sent the hubby to the supermarket. sigh.
Absolutely; it’s what I use for most baking (and eating).
Can you use fat-free Greek yogurt? That’s what I have. Not sure if I can find whole milk Greek yogurt, though I could get 2% if you think that’ll work.
2% would be better than fat-free here, if you can get it.
Can I substitute sour cream for yogurt?
Do I use the same amount of butter as oil? Called out in this recipe. Thank you Deb
Yes, I use the same amount.
I Love Grapefruit. I eat one every morning. This is a recipe I will definitely try soon!
Deb, is it necessary to use extra-large eggs?
Thanks,
Pam
No, I rarely bother.
Interesting. I made my own grapefruit extract awhile ago and this would be perfect to try it out on!
I have never made a dessert with grapefruit but it’s definitely on my list. I feel the same about bitter oranges (Seville oranges), people me marmalade with them, I love making curd, ice cream and using them in cakes and salad dressings. I have a feeling grapefruit will be quite similar though not nearly as tart. Still, cant wait to try it out.
I made this last week. It was so moist w/ the hint of the grapefruit. It was great w/ now icing.
If you are a dork like me and throw the juice in the batter, just add another egg and about a quarter cup of flour, switch to a slightly larger pan, and voila, it looks like it came out just fine!
Relieved not to be the only dork confused by the directions. Thanks for the suggestion — hopefully I’ll salvage this. Love to have a red grapefruit recipe.
Looks delicious! What are your thoughts abot swapping out regular yogurt with Greek yogurt?
Nevermind, just saw the comment above mine! :)
Well, technically, it’s halfway there, but I am so excited I cannot contain myself. If the cake tastes half as good as the batter, I might have to reconsider gifting it to my neighbor, as intended.
I did have a couple issues that I am guessing will not have an ill effect. One, I only had large eggs, rather than extra large. Two, I only had whole milk Greek yogurt – I am guessing it might be slightly less sweet. Three, I don’t own an eight-inch bread pan, so I used my narrowest nine-inch.
I have a grapefruit tree in my patio, and the fruit was ready and waiting for this cake to come across my path. Thanks!
All right, well, I screwed this up to a fare thee well – hahaha – but I believe it will still be fantastic. I poured the 1/3 cup of juice into the batter. Fortunately, I have my own grapefruit tree so I can still make the glaze. Hilarious. I really do need to read recipes more carefully. Oh, well. At least I didn’t leave out the oil like others have done. You all made me feel better!
Hahah! I did the same thing!! I ended up adding a bit more flour to compensate for the extra juice. It worked out great.
i don’t get it – i got a rubbery texture instead if a nice crumb. i have never seen a recipe that says to fold in the oil after everything else is mixed together. what’s that about? any guesses about what went wrong?
Aaaaand just realized I forgot the oil 🤦🏻♀️
i did the ‘one bowl’ method and not rubbery at all—moist and tender.
This was super yummy! I didn’t have plain yogurt, so I subbed vanilla greek yogurt, omitted the vanilla extract and reduced the sugar to 3/4 cups. Looked exactly like the picture.
Had 1 grapefruit to use up so this was perfect. The grapefruit flavor didn’t come out very strongly but it’s still good. It’s a very moist and tender cake with a nice light citrus flavor. I used greek yogurt and probably a bit more than 1/3c juice since the grapefruit was super juicy. I used a 9″ loaf pan too so the cake turned out a bit more flat but that’s no big deal. And just like everyone else, I also did not use the glaze – it’s perfectly good that way.
Deb,
How do you store these type of cakes? What container material, refrigerated or unrefrigerated and for how long? All I see is bakeries have these as individual slices wrapped in plastic wrap and unrefrigerated. Is this the way to go?
Thanks!
It’s fine at room temperature in a cool place but because it’s so moist and moisture will collect in the container (or under a dome) you might fine it keeps longer in the fridge. So, I’d say 2 to 3 days at room temperature or longer in the fridge.
What baking time/temp would you recommend to make these in a muffin tin?
Would adding poppy seeds to grapefruit yogurt pound cake be a good addition?
Absolutely.
Hi! I’m wondering if I could swap the yogurt for ricotta… and put it in a cake pan. Basically, I want to make this cake: https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/01/blood-orange-almond-and-ricotta-cake/ but with all purpose flour and a grapefruit? Possible or should I just leave my house and buy some almond flour?
Thanks so much! I am a huge fan.
Yogurt for ricotta should be fine. All-purpose, I’d swap by weight, not cups. Grapefruit might work but you’re going to want more sugar; it’s going to get even more bitter once cooked. Good luck!
So, we just got 8 inches of snow (Happy April) and it’s still coming down, so of course I want to 1) bake and 2) use citrus. I remembered this recipe, but I also want to use some homemade lemon marmalade. There are lots of online recipes for marmalade glaze, but I want to use the marmalade in the cake batter. How would you tweak this recipe to make that happen? I’m thinking of making in a round pan rather than as loaf, using 3/4 cup marmalade and dialing back sugar. More flour since the marmalade will add moisture? Less oil? The marmalade glaze will also probably happen.
I realize the point of this recipe is probably to lighten up the cake, but I wanted something kind of special and coffee cake feeling for a brunch today and made this with one cup of sour cream in place of the whole milk yogurt, it was great! had to bake for a touch longer than 50 minutes. I also added half a teaspoon of campari into the batter to make the loaf a little more bitter and grapefruit flavored!
Compari, that’s a great idea – both for flavor as well (I assume) for a touch of color.
This looks like such a moist loaf, can’t wait to try it out! From a self-confessed serial over-beater though, can I ask why the oil is added separately to the other wet ingredients? Could you not just combine it with the other wet ingredients in the step before and fold it into the dry afterwards? It would be great to hear people’s (maybe even Deb’s) thoughts!
I might have followed the way Ina did it in her yogurt cake but would absolutely make it as you say if doing so today.
Hi Deb,
Just made this cake but didn’t know where/when to add the sugar. Added it into my dry ingredients and now the cake is in the oven! Fingers crossed!!!
Michelle
Followed the directions (had to bake for 55 min, rather than 50 in my oven), and it turned out perfectly! I love having slices of these citrus yogurt cakes for breakfast. Another win!
The first time I made this I too accidentally threw the juice in the batter (but just added a little more flour to counteract). This time I had a super extra juicy grapefruit so I decided to not-accidentally add some juice to the batter but also do the juice with sugar poured over the cake. Too bad I accidentally forgot the yogurt entirely because I got a phone call that distracted me! Turned out fine still and I probably wouldn’t have noticed if not for the wonderfulness of the first time I made it with the yogurt. One day I will make this correctly I swear (and none, I repeat NONE of these blunders are should reflect any fault with the recipe)!
hope you update this one soon! it’s such a great standby from so long ago on the site! helps to poke the cake a bit to help encourage the syrup to seep in. and greek yogurt works well too!
If I want to make this in a “regular” loaf pan can I just double the recipe ingredients? What would the bake time adjustment be? LOVE your recipes!!
No need to. This recipe is for a single loaf pan.
Why is oil added last and not incorporated into other wet ingredients?
Not sure, as I modeled this cake on another, but it works. Today I’d probably mix it in the beginning with the other liquids.
Hi there, This looks amazing. Might you have a modification for high altitude? Thank you 😊
My cake is in the oven—it’s only now that I’m realizing there was grapefruit juice called for in both the cake part and the glaze. I guess it’s only going in the glaze for me! What quantities are for which? When do you add the juice to the batter?
Never mind… I’m not a good reader apparently!!
I’m all for subtle but it was really lacking flavor for me. I omitted the glaze because I too am lazy but maybe it was the key? I also made muffins instead of bread because small kids, big knives. It’s good when they can serve themselves. They’re gorgeous – the muffins, not necessarily the kids – so I wish I loved them. Might try adding some ginger or coconut or maybe just more grapefruit next time. The texture is right on.
The glaze/soak is definitely key for the flavor, in my opinion! And still works well when doing muffins instead of a loaf.
This recipe is very forgiving! I messed it up so bad, and the cake still turned out delicious! I had a pomello, and that’s what inspired me to make it in the first place. I ended up putting the juice in the batter, realized my mistake, and added some more flour to compensate.
I will make this again, paying more attention to the recipe, and I might try it with coconut oil. I think the citrus/coconut combo would be nice.
Made this for the second time today — was a huge hit last weekend and so I doubled the recipe to make two loaves. This time, I added a teaspoon or so of grated ginger — I had the microplane out for the grapefruit and it seemed like a natural pairing. Campari sounds divine, though, and might give it a little more of that pink tinge? Campari might be nice in the glaze. Great recipe, it’s a keeper for sure.
So this was delicious. I made it a few weeks ago after you posted on IG. I was a bit skeptical about the grapefruit, but I had some I needed to use up and my mouth was getting tingley eating too many, too many days in a row. I did 1/4 cup less sugar and did not add the glaze. I was making it with my toddlers and I like to remove sugar when I can. So good and I will definitely make it again.
Side note – I received your new book for Christmas (signed!). Everything looks so good, I’ve already marked up half the book to make. Thank you!
i made this for a big brunch i hosted yesterday and it was a HUGE hit, maybe i should have made 2! i can’t wait to make it again! i also made your granola bars (both recipes) and put the spare crumbs on top of greek yogurt parfaits with fresh berries and honey. thank you for all your recipes, photos, and love of cooking you share!
I only had 2 large eggs and so reduced the amount of flour and sugar by a bit. Did not make the glaze. It wasn’t too rich and made for a nice, light cake. I liked it although my 4-year-old (who loves grapefruits) didn’t go for it. Who knows?
We’ve had a very snowy winter here in Minnesota – we’re just getting hints of spring coming so I was craving something bright! Made this cake in a loaf pan, sliced it horizontally into three layers, then did a vanilla mascarpone frosting with grapefruit curd as a filling for a dinner with friends! It was a hit! Planning to do it again with just the glaze (also want to try blood orange or lemon) as a breakfast treat for the weekday mornings. :) I also spent a moment really rubbing the grapefruit zest into the sugar to bring that flavor forward more before mixing everything.
How would you recommend adjusting the cook time, if at all, to bake in a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan?
This was so delicious!!! I made it with Pomelo zest and Pomelo juice and it turned out wonderful. The top of the cake is the best in my opinion because it really gets that kick from the syrup soak and the icing. Next time I’m thinking of poking deep vertical toothpick holes into the cake for the syrup to soak in.
I had extra grapefruit, so I wanted to make this. The recipe is super forgiving, considering I didn’t have veggie oil (used coconut), ran out of sugar (used 1/2c), only had 1 egg (threw in a cup of applesauce too). Mine didn’t rise quite as well, but it’s still a light, fluffy, and delicious cake!
I also added some extra juice to the batter and skipped the sugar glaze.
I don’t see this question asked — did you use ‘regular’ grapefruit or ‘ruby red’? I love the sweetness of a red grapefruit and wonder how/if that would change the recipe.
I’ve used both kinds of grapefruit (I am very fortunate to have friends in Palm Springs with grapefruit trees) in this recipe and every cake has been successful.
Can this be frozen? Before or after glazing?
Freeze before glazing.
Thanks
Very helpful
I love your recipes!
Do you pour the grapefruit syrup over the cake when it is still cooling in the pan and allow it to soak in? Or just cool in pan 10 minutes, remove cake from pan and then pour syrup on?
The latter, but you can do the former too (but there’s more of a risk of it getting stuck in the pan).
Good thinking! thank you for your response!
Well the odd drop of glaze made it on my fingers and it was tasty. Can’t wait to try the rest. Mmmmm
Noob question. Can this go in a bundt pan?
For a bundt, you’ll want to double it.
This might seem like a silly question but do you think this would be the same if I swapped out regular flour for gluten free 1 to 1 flour?
I am making it for some friends with gluten intolerance.
Thank you for your amazing recipes!
I only see this comment from someone who made it gluten-free, not much in the way of details, but can’t hurt to find out.
I love this cake! Made it in two miniature loaves. I poked holes in the cake with a chopstick and poured the cooked juice/sugar mixture in to soak. I skipped the glaze. Delicious and moist!
This is one of my go-to party bakes and it always comes out great. I’ve used every kind of citrus in it: lemon (+poppyseed for tradition), kumquat (it’s a bear to zest and juice kumquats, let me tell you), lime, blood orange, and of course the recipe’s grapefruit. The glaze is key and should never be left out. It provides the tart zing that complements the sweet cake to perfection.
I live at altitude and make the usual altitude adjustments, take out a bit of the baking powder and sugar and add a bit more flour and moisture.
Hi Amy, I did the grapefruit recipe too, now I want to do lemon, or blood orange or lime. I can’t figure out how much of those do I put in? what did you do? how many lemons did you do? did you just put the lemon in the blender? how about orange?
When I substitute the other citrus for grapefruit I have always just aimed for the same amounts, even with the differences in the fruits, unless the citrus is mild, like orange. So, about 1 Tbsp zest (+half again extra for orange but not lemon) and the same amount of juice called for (1/3 cup) for the glaze. When making the glaze, I would use WAY less sugar for an orange glaze (maybe even none) but would keep it the same as the grapefruit for a lemon. The nice thing about the glaze is you can taste it and add more sugar if needed. In my opinion with this recipe the glaze should be tart to contrast with the sweet cake but if your son is a kid, I don’t know, their taste might be different?
Also, I think this cake recipe is amazing but it doesn’t look like a birthday cake. I once made a riff on this cake with tart cherries (including a tart cherry glaze, yum) for my husband’s birthday but I don’t know about whether someone with higher expectations for a birthday cake might be disappointed by its humble appearance.
Hello,
My cake turned out too moist. Is it because i didnt cool it on a baking rack but on a sheet pan?
It was also too dense at the bottom, wasn’t cake crumbly, more like honeycombed texture :(
What could i have done wrong? Over mixing it?
I made this and it is delicious. Lovely springy moist cake, and I used both the juice/sugar syrup combo and the glaze and I love it with both. Not too sweet, and perfectly grapefruity! YUM, will make again for sure.
I just made this and cut a slice while it was still warm because I couldn’t wait! I used lemon zest, and grapefruit juice from the carton, because that’s what I had–and it was delicious. Used 2% Greek yogurt, large eggs, regular salt, and put the oil in with the other wet ingredients. I also followed the advice to mix the zest with the sugar first, to get it fully integrated. I might make the icing, but I don’t think it needs it. And I didn’t wait the 10 min for the syrup—just poked holes all over with a toothpick as soon as it came out of the oven, and poured it on. It sizzled a bit…. I’ll make this again.
There seems to be some confusion in the directions regarding the grapefruit juice. The 1/3 cup of juice is written as part of the cake mixture and the glaze requires 2 tbsp but the written directions don’t support this.
Please clarify so that I can try this.
Thanks,
Fern Greenspoon
The 1/3 C juice is used with sugar to make a simple syrup that your pour over the cooked cake. The glaze is completely separate.
I made this yesterday, with a bigger loaf pan as that’s what I had, and I included the glaze. It was soooo good! Highly recommended
Can I use fat-free yogurt? I accidentally bought some the other day thinking it was Greek yogurt. I want to get rid of it (in a delicious way).
Yes, it will be a little less rich, but it will be okay.
Right, so I also stirred in the grapefruit juice into the cake mixture. No fixing it now since it is already in the oven in three mini loaf pans.
It is not clear that there are three parts to the recipe. If I keep this recipe I would separate the ingredients into For the Cake, Glaze to Soak, Glaze to Top.
I’ve made this a couple of times now. Our grapefruit tree has outdone itself this year so this recipe helps a bit with the glut. Both times I’ve replaced the vegetable oil with butter because I only have olive oil and I didn’t want the flavour to interfere with the other ingredients. I also used Greek yogurt. It’s a deliciously moist cake and like others, I didn’t make the glaze. It’s perfect on its own or with yogurt on the side. Thanks for this gorgeous recipe!
This cake is so tender! I messed up the order a little bit and added the oil with the other wet ingredients, but it’s still a good cake!
Marys must think alike, as and I have done that both times I made this cake! It has turned out fine each time!
Delicious! Made this in a 9 1/2″ loaf pan with about the same cooking time and a little extra zest in the batter. Ended up using a thin chopstick to poke the cake before pouring over the juice (which worked well). I love the effect of the juice, and I only wish it seeped down even deeper (as the bottom of each slice isn’t quite as moist as the top parts). I think next time i might reserve a bit of the juice to put on the plate under the cake to try to even it out. I also only used about a quarter of the glaze (which was plenty) but really added some tanginess. Overall a fairly easy, delicious, and great recipe, thanks!!!
Can sour cream be used instead of yogurt?
Made this for a party tonight. It got gobbled up!
Suggestion…. I saw a recipe for candied grapefruit peels scrolling down to this section… would those -chopped – work folded into the batter as well?
Amazing cake, so aromatic and soft!
I was prompted to think about this recipe when it recently showed up on Instagram. It has always sounded just on the edge of “not worth it.” I love orange peel and dislike peeling them, and figured grapefruit would be as annoying. The thought of pouring some sort of grapefruit syrup on top… won’t that make things a sticky mess? And, who wants to eat a grapefruit cake anyway? As it turns out, everyone! My husband came home with a fundraiser box of Texas grapefruit, so the choice was mine: eat a few and watch the mold grow on the rest, or make something. Lots of somethings! I made two slight shifts in the recipe. Based on a previous commenter’s advice, I used the peel from two grapefruit (and let them go for a ride in the little chopper machine with some of the sugar) and used freshly ground Einkorn flour. I reduced the sugar and yogurt a bit, eyeballing that 15-20% reduction of liquids necessary for this flour. Oh my goodness. Grapefruits are SUPER easy to peel, this is more of a bread that whips up quickly, and how is it even possible that you pour so much liquid on top of the bread and it doesn’t have a sticky sappy feel? We are on day three (well, one thin crust left as I try not to eat all of it myself) and it was better on days two and three (but quite delicious on day one!).
Can I substitute low or nonfat yogurt?
Lowfat should be fine
I made this and it ended up sunken in the middle even though the cake tester was coming out clean. What did I do wrong?
Are you at any kind of altitude?
Can this be made in a 8×8 square pan? I want to take it to a party n want to cut it into neat squares n serve. Would it alter baking time ?
I made this and it came out delicious! I used Greek yogurt because it was what was in the house and subbed almond extract for the vanilla extract and added maybe a half cup of almonds. It took maybe 10 extra minutes to cook through but my oven is sometimes on the low side. I also did not do the glaze because I was going for more of an afternoon-with-coffee cake than a dessert cake. In the future I might add more of the syrup drizzle and I think I might poke more holes to let that nice grapefruit zip get down a little further into the cake.
Made this a couple of days ago and we’re just finishing it off. It was delicious, and I’d definitely make it again. A few notes that might be useful:
– 0nly had vanilla Greek yogurt, which was sweetened, so I dropped the sugar to 180 grams
– My glaze was too thick to pour with only 2tbsp of grapefruit juice but I’d already used the rest for cocktails, so had to thin with water. Would have been better with more grapefruit punch
– The bottom half of the loaf seemed a bit dry compared to the top (which benefits from the glaze and the soak). Next time, I’d turn the loaf upside down and soak the bottom, then once it is completely cool, turn it right side up again to glaze
We’re on day three in the fridge and it’s fine, but I don’t think I’d want to keep it more than another day.
I made this recipe today because it sounded amazing, but the texture turned out all wrong. It was very spongy and rubbery but I’m not quite sure why. I followed it to a tee except I used whole fat Greek yogurt in place of regular. Anyone have idea on why it turned out that way, or is the cake texture suppose to be kinda spongy (compared to a pound cake or sweet bread)? It was honestly very unpleasant I can’t imagine it was correct.
I live at a very high altitude buts it’s never been an issue when baking sweet breads in the past.
Did you add the oil? I’m asking because I almost forgot to add it myself once, since it’s the last ingredient on the list at the very end….
This is great cake! A total hit every time i make it. Trying a lemon variation today :-)
I love grapefruit and have been eyeing this recipe for years. Today I had the all the ingredients plus time on my hands since NJ issued a stay at home order. This cake was pretty and tasty. The glaze wasn’t very thick, perhaps I should have let it sit and congeal for a while before drizzling. Like others, I was curious about the last step with the oil. If you try beating the oil with the eggs and such, please let us know how it turns out. My teenage lad preferred the cake without the glaze.
I just made this and it is delicious! I swapped half the flour for white whole wheat (trying to stretch the AP flour, since there’s a shortage here) and it worked great. Also, didn’t bother heating up the grapefruit juice, just stirred in the sugar and let it dissolve while the cake baked. Yum!
Can you sub buttermilk in for the yogurt?
Yes
This is really so delicious (and beautiful)! I used large eggs (never have XL eggs in the house) and nonfat yogurt -turned out great.
I had some leftover grapefruit in my fridge, so this was a great way to use them up. The cake isn’t that sweet, which I like. Used Greek yogurt (5% Fage). Had to bake for 60 minutes to cook through. I think I preferred the Blood Orange Olive Oil cake on your site (way more citrus flavor, whereas this tastes more like cake with a very subtle hint of citrus) and would sub grapefruit for oranges on that one next time, but this is still quite good. Thanks, Deb, for sharing so many delicious recipes!
This is the 8th(!) recipe I’ve made from your website since discovering it several months ago, but first time commenting. This cake is delightful. I cut the baking powder in half and upped the baking temp ~15 degrees, because I live at 6,000 feet of elevation (and I’m a little lazy about my high altitude adjustments, but so tired of falling cakes, so I often just slash the baking powder and soda). Strangely, the cake still took 75 minutes to cook through! It rose perfectly though.
I wanted to mention that your comments about it having a coffee cake-like crumb inspired me to top it with a grapefruit streusel, and I am in no way sad about the result. I used a heavily modified King Arthur “Lemon Streusel Coffeecake” recipe — omitted nuts and cinnamon, and subbed the zest of an entire grapefruit for the lemon zest and “lemon juice powder.” (I’ve made a different streusel before with equal parts flour, brown sugar, and granulated sugar, that I might use next time instead for a little more crunch.) I skipped the glaze, like you and so many others before me, and flipped the cake over to pour the syrup on, in order to not get the streusel soggy. Sadly, this was only mildly successful, as some of the syrup pooled on the plate and still soggified the streusel. I think the trick next time might be to flip it onto a cooling rack so no syrup pools, and just deal with the loss of some streusel into my mouth — I mean, onto the counter/plate beneath.
Anyway, this whole long comment is just to say – I love your blog, thank you for sharing this excellent recipe that satisfied a weird pregnancy craving for a grapefruit dessert (I normally don’t even like grapefruit), and if you are a streusel fan consider throwing a streusel on top sometime!
Also, Deb, I meant to ask — have you made a whole lemon or whole citrus cake? I couldn’t find one on the site, but your Whole Lemon Tart is what got me hooked here and I’m now completely smitten (heh) with the idea of baking with whole citrus. I’ve since made whole lemon cookies and would love to attempt some kind of whole grapefruit cake.
I haven’t but I’d like to get working on one — soon!
I am in the midst of falling in love with a man and he loves grapefruit. Upon learning this fun fact about him, I exclaimed, “I make a grapefruit cake!” And it’s true. I have made this cake many times over the years, with slight adjustments for altitude given I live in New Mexico. Each time, the cake is delicious. Hooray for less common flavors and the people who enjoy them.
Butter milk or sour cream instead of yogurt?
Sour cream would work; buttermilk should too.
would this work with cake flour?
Yes
I accidentally put all the sugar in the cake batter, so instead of adding sugar to the grapefruit juice, I just poured the juice over the cake. Although I have nothing to compare it to, it was delicious. Thinking I might save the extra step again in the future. Used homegrown grapefruit that were good and sweet to start with. Also used eggs with a bright orange yolk. Naturally pink cake.
I made this over the weekend and the texture is wonderful. I used the zest of 1.5 medium grapefruit and it was still VERY mild – I don’t think I would have been able to identify the flavor as grapefruit if I didn’t know what went into it. I would use the zest of 3 medium grapefruit in the batter next time.
I also found the directions at the end of the recipe for the glaze/syrup a bit confusing, but I figured it out.
Deb, this is one of my favorite recipes of yours. Could these be made in individual serving type tins? Maybe a fancy muffin tin?
Absolutely.
What an interesting post to read. I learned new information from your article, you are doing a great job.
Keep it Up!
excellent work that’s helpful. Thanks for Sharing
Nice article. Keep up the good work. And I would like to be here again to find another masterpiece article.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks For Sharing Such a Nice Article`
keep up the good Work
Thanks for Sharing nice Article
The topic here i found was really effective to the topic which i was researching for a long time
Thanks for Sharing
I’ve made this with grapefruit but I’m here to tell you it’s also excellent with orange. I used about 2x more zest as called for and more syrup as well. Also used a combo of Greek yogurt and lebnah, the middle East’s secret you should know about. Nice and light!
Hi Deb, I’m enjoying your cookbooks and can’t wait to make many of the recipes. But I’m confused. When measuring thick Greek yogurt for baking, do I use a dry cup measure, or a liquid cup measure? I’ve tried Googling the answer, but it seems that people are divided on this, even though it must make a difference to the quantity. I see that you state that 1 cup of Greek yogurt = 230 grams, but what does you use to measure if you don’t own a scale?
Thanks!
You can use either but if you have a scale, that will be easiest. (1 cup Greek yogurt = 230 grams)
Excellent! Made a vegan version using oat milk yogurt and flax eggs (1 tbsp flax meal + 2.5 tbsp water per egg – mix and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken before adding) 3 small loaves instead of one large – to share :)
I made this yesterday and it was sooo good! I found yogurt at the back of my fridge that said best by from over a month ago but I scraped the top off and it was fine. I did make a little extra for the grapefruit juice/granulated sugar mixture and couldn’t decide what to do with it. Any ideas?
This is very belated at this point but the sugar/grapefruit mixture could be great in a cocktail (or mocktail) – a Paloma or a French 75 (grapefruit instead of lemon).
This recipe has me a bit confused.
Just to clarify-
So the g juice plus 1 TBS sugar, dissolved, gets put on the cake once it has cooled for 10min?
While still in the pan?
Then it additionally gets a glaze, once cake has cooled?
In or out of pan?
Thanks!
Can I use sour cream instead of yogurt do you think?
I just made this cake. I used your one bowl method and it turned out beautifully. Another SK winner! I will definitely be making it again and again.
This cake tasted like sunshine. I will make it over and over, especially on these bleak winter days. I skipped the glaze and will continue to skip it.
Deb, your recipes are always keepers. Thank you.
Yikes, this grew above my pan at 50 minutes and was still soupy in the center. I think your pan size or your timing is off.
Oh my, this is delicious (actually eating a piece right now as I am writing)! This reminds me of Mary Berry’s lemon drizzle cake, YUM. I left the cake in the pan when I added the juice and sugar combo, poking holes in the top with a fork before pouring. That way I didn’t lose any juice! Thanks for your website, love so many of your recipes.
Used extra virgin olive oil in place of vegetable oil, which added a lush richness (also subbed fat-free Greek yogurt because that’s all I had, and figured the EVO would make-up for it). Made 3 mini loafs, glazed 2 as gifts, left 3rd one unglazed for myself ;) In terms of the glaze, added about 1/2 teaspoon grapefruit zest to up the flavor. The bitterness of the zest was balanced by the icing sugar. Love the idea of adding a splash of Campari to add a pink hue and to complement the grapefruit.
This cake is amazing. I cut down the sugar in the batter to 3/4C but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Perfect texture and flavor. Will definitely make again.
I hate to leave one of those “I changed everything” reviews, but it was so good i feel compelled to comment anyway! If anything it’s a testament to how flexible this recipe is. I wanted to make this cake for my birthday, but had already bought ingredients for a different cake. I doubled the recipe, used blood oranges instead of grapefruit, sour cream instead of yogurt, and olive oil instead of veggie oil, and I baked the whole thing in a bundt pan (I believe mine holds 10 cups). It turned out fantastic and the blood orange gave the glaze a beautiful pink hue. I will definitely make it again and try to follow the recipe, but I’m very happy with how my version turned out! Thank you Deb!
I made this yesterday and it tasted wonderful.. but was totally sunken in along the center and overall just looked sad. I live in area over 7,000 ft, so was wondering if anyone had high altitude suggestions? I’ve made this before at sea level and it was perfect, so I know the recipe is solid (as they always are from this site). Thanks in advance
I live close to 6000 feet. I cut the baking powder in half (to 1 tsp) and my cake came out lovely.
This is my go-to for cake and cookie recipes: cutting the baking powder and baking soda amounts in half, unless what’s called for look the same as what I typically use for cakes or cookies. It usually works out well. When I second-guess myself and follow recipes exactly, I usually get fallen cakes and flat cookies. King Arthur has a helpful webpage about high-altitude baking, but in the end this is the only change I usually make.
Agree that Smitten Kitchen’s recipes are always great! :)
I saw this on SK’s Instagram earlier this month and thought it looked good but didn’t rush to make it. Yesterday afternoon, I went to my cousin’s and she had one final slice remaining of this cake from the previous weekend (6 days old at that point) that she shared with me. When I got home that evening I made it right away and just enjoyed a breakfast slice. It really is that good!
I made this yesterday, exactly according to directions and it turned out really good. Not too sweet, nice grapefruit flavor. I look forward to trying it with other citrus types! Thanks, Deb.
can this grapefruit yogurt cake be frozen after baking?
Yes, but the powdered sugar glaze won’t look as nice once defrosted.
Hi, I am wondering if anyone has frozen this? ( without glaze I am thinking) I’ve just made 2 and want the second one for guest next week and won’t have time to make it. I’ll give it a try but would love to know thoughts!
Haha, just saw that Pat asked the same question! Thanks
The cake will freeze just fine but the glaze won’t look as nice once defrosted. I’d glaze it later. The soaking syrup is fine sooner.
I had a lot of grapefruits collecting from my CSA and I made this cake. It’s not very sweet which is nice, but the grapefruit flavor is mild. You definitely get that tang all throughout the cake but I guess I expected more of a punch of flavor. Cake is definitely very moist, and I’m enjoying it.
I love this cake. I made it once, and it looked just like above and was delicious. Just made it now (with Siggi yogurt, a kind of Greek yogurt, I think) and it didn’t rise as before, and looks somehow wrong and overly dense. Will see when eat tonight, but I wonder if I used just regular yogurt before, and the kind of yogurt I tried this time around is the issue.
I am absolutely blown away by how good this recipe was – I was short on Greek yogurt and had to use water for the rest (Epicurious hack), not to mention, the yogurt was fat free! I also made this with Bob’s Red Mill cup-to-cup flour for my celiac-affected mother, which is still astounding as it doesn’t have that particular “GF” taste. It’s light but decadent and the scent of the grapefruit zest is everything. I’ll be making this and variations of it forever. Deb you are my queen.
Can I use 9×5 load pan and I have ortanique so can I use that instead of grapefruit
This cake is an utter delight. It is light but rich in flavor, moist, and not overly sweet. I added just a bit of clementine zest and juice (maybe 20% to the 80% grapefruit) because I had it on hand, and I think it balanced it just enough for anyone who is grapefruit shy. I skipped the final glaze and my 1 year old and I demolished a third of the loaf it once it was JUST cool enough to eat. Heaven! And it is even toddler approved :)
After tasting this I channeled Christopher Walken in the SNL sketch, shouting, “More grapefruit, more grapefruit!!” lol. I just didn’t get enough of that flavor even after adding zest to the frosting. That said, the cake has a lovely texture. Who knew grapefruit could be so shy? Used sweet pink Texas grapefruit for this recipe.
This is my go-to! From here in Sunny Southern California, I’ve made it with grapefruit, lemon, Meyer lemon, and last night with lime, which my husband declared “best yet!” I always one-bowl it and I always double the recipe and I always jack up the amount of citrus zest in the recipe. Also instead of yogurt I use labnah from our local Armenian supermarket, which makes it richer. Huzzah!!!
Deb- no surprise, another winner! That said, there must be something that I did wrong because, despite the beautiful crumb and flavor, my loaf was soooo soggy on the bottom. I read through all of the comments people left and noted those who mentioned poking holes before pouring the soak on. I shudder to think how wet the loaf would have been had I done that! I can’t figure out what I might have done wrong. I didn’t pour it on while it was in the pan, so it wasn’t sitting in it. Instead, the loaf was on a rack set over a baking sheet. Any ideas about what might have gone wrong? I really want to try this again but avoid having it turn out like that again.
i love grapefruit, and even after grating at least 1 T of zest, and making the g-fruit syrup and putting it in the icing, I would never know it was a grapefruit cake—mild citrus flavor but 🤷🏼♀️. it’s delicious just not grapefruity. if i make it again i might try adding a couple drops of g-fruit essential oil. (I did use red grapefruit which was super juicy and flavorful/aromatic).
Dumb question here: Does the sugar/grapefruit juice get poured over while the cake is still in the pan?
I don’t see where it says to take it out of the pan.
I usually pour the syrup on while it’s in the pan, the glaze when it’s not. But you can keep it in the pan if you wish.
Hello! Do we turn the cake out of the pan before we put the juice syrup on it? Thanks!
You can but don’t need to.
This is a favorite of mine, and I am hoping to make it for an upcoming gathering but the host is dairy-free! Would a DF yogurt or coconut milk work? If not, any DF dessert recipes you would recommend?
Thank you!!
I think it would work just fine.
I modified this into a lavender orange olive oil cake, substituting the oil for a fantastic infused orange-lavender olive oil that I love. I also doubled the recipe for a 10 cup Bundt pan (added 15 min to the bake time).
It. Was. Incredible.
I didn’t grease the pan enough so it stuck and broke coming out of the pan, but it was so decadent and definitely added some sunshine to my kitchen after all the rain we’ve had lately in the NYC area.
Thank you, thank you!
A lovely cake! I skipped the glaze and just dusted it with powdered sugar. Light springy texture and a nice balanced grapefruit flavor. I ended up using a brush for the syrup and poked a few holes in the cake to help with absorption.
Can I swap sour cream? Forgot the yogurt at the store and just got home!
Yes
I just made this and it’s amazing! The grapefruit is delicious and I am no fan of this particular citrus. Thank you!
Made GF with king Arthur’s GF blend and turned out perfect!!
2nd time making this and it’s so moist and easy to make. I made it for a dinner party of 8 and had zero leftovers as some people wanted extra, they liked it so much. Needless to say, I was hoping for a little leftover :) 1 large grapefruit worked fine for me to get the amount called for in the recipe. I made cake 1 day ahead then added glaze a couple of hours before the party.
Deb, it’s simply divine! Will definitely be making it again!
why no grapefruit juice in the actual bread? i would add some in anyway!
The flavor gets lost when it’s baked; that’s why is soaked in after.
This seems similar to Yossi Arefi’s amazing meyer lemon bundt cake. Check it out in her cookbook on fruit desserts. It’s a lot of steps and I was amazed how good it is.
I made this today. Had to substitute sour cream for the yogurt and baked the cake for 58 minutes. Delicious! My only regret is how long it took me to make it!
For Lemon or Orange Cake can you just replace the zest and juice for equal parts lemon or Orange?
Yes.
Made this in the evening, tried it in the morning- excellent! Last night I didn’t like the glaze, but by morning it had mellowed out the “raw” confectioners sugar taste and was a good addition. In order to get the syrup absorbed all over, I treated this the way I do rum cake – I loosened the cake from the pan and added the syrup while it was still in the pan. That allowed any overflow to soak into the bottom and sides. Then I removed it and let it cool fully on the rack. I do think this would be great with oranges or lemons.
Lovely and so simple. My grapefruit was wimpy, so it didn’t quite have the flavor intensity I hoped for, but was delicious nonetheless. I used 3/4 c sugar in the cake and did both the syrup and the glaze, 50% AP flour, 50% white whole wheat, baked in a 9” round. Will try again, both regular, and with a blend of cornmeal, almond flour and GF flour blend for our Gluten free loved ones. Thanks!
I’m curious about why the oil is mixed in after the flour. I felt like I was over mixing the batter to get the oil incorporated.
I can’t wait to try this! Do you think subbing maple syrup for the sugar would ruin the flavor of the cake? Can I use vegan yogurt?
It looks like others have used non-dairy yogurt with success. I do think that maple syrup will change the color and flavor profile, but it could otherwise work.
It would be helpful to clarify at what point you remove the cake from the pan. After adding syrup, before glazing–once it’s cool, I’m guessing.
You can actually do it at any time post-syrup. It’s good to leave it in for maybe 15 minutes so it absorbs, but from there you can remove or let it complete cooling in the pan. Just be careful taking it out if it cooled completely, in case it’s more stuck than it had been. Run a knife around.
This was great! Made it exactly as written (the second time, as I forgot the oil the first time….) and ended up baking it for about 38 minutes total rather than 50 (maybe my oven runs hot!). The zesting made a huge difference and really got that grapefruit flavor in there. Thank you!
I used blood orange juice to color the icing pink. I would cut back on the sugar in the batter next time- with the syrup and icing it was too sweet. But overall good!
I used blood orange juice to color the icing pink. I would cut back on the sugar in the batter next time- with the syrup and icing it was too sweet. But overall good!
PS I added chia seeds to the batter to make it like “poppy seed” cake. Also subbed 1/2 cup almond flour – makes it nice a moist and crumbly.
I made this your favorite way, with a few changes (lol) GF flour, coconut yogurt, and in an oval cast iron cocotte (loaf pan is on my list of things to get!) — yours was prettier, but the taste was amazing and I had many rave reviews. I’m sure it’s even better the original way. Thank you!
Hi Deb! I made this once years ago and am making it again today. It is wonderful! I wasn’t sure if the syrup should be used just enough to do one brush/coat over the bread or if I should use up every last bit of it to soak into the bread before the glaze. I just wondered because I remember the last time I made it, the bread collapsed, and was very soggy in the middle, but it could’ve been that I didn’t bake it long enough. Thanks for clarifying! :)
If it collapsed and was soggy, it definitely could have been underbaked. I try to use all of the syrup.
I’ve been making this since Deb first posted it, on solid repeat. I always one-bowl it and I always double the recipe because how else can you make people your baked goods love slave? I’ve made it with orange, I’ve made it with lime, but grapefruit is my fave. I jack the citrus zest way way up, I usually increase the syrup, and this time I made mine in my new 12″ x 4.5″ tea loaf pans. Got a wonderful crust on them this way and a wonderful tender crumb.Husband says it’s the best yet!
This cake is awesome, but I want to make it pink for Valentines Day. Several people had the idea of adding blood red orange juice. Did that work? If so, how did you do it? Thanks!
i added about a 1/2 tsp of beet powder and it’s perfect pink!
I made this last night exactly as written and it’s delicious!
My bread pan was not quite big enough so I made 6 muffins/cupcakes also. My husband took the cake to choir practice, I took the cupcake/muffins to Happy Hour, from whence the grapefruit came. All was well received. Tucson in the spring is the best when the neighbor leaves grapefruit from her tree on the table for the taking.