Every harvest season I make something new using our citrus fruit. It seems like I’ve tried and tested nearly every recipe containing citrus fruit as an ingredient on Pinterest! There are hundreds of recipes for baked goods, salads, soups, marinades and dressings that call for fresh lemon, limes and oranges, but not very many for grapefruit. And the few recipes I did make didn’t go over well with my family until one day when I made the Brown Derby grapefruit cake. I used the original recipe, but I swapped out the canned fruit for fresh pink grapefruit and sweet oro blanco citrus fruit. I also used grapefruit zest instead of lemon to give it that much more grapefruit flavor. It’s delicious. It’s sweet and tart, a light grapefruit-infused sponge cake frosted with lucsious cream cheese and topped with fresh juicy grapefruit. Yum!
Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake
3 fresh grapefruits, peeled, sectioned, and drained, reserving 2 tbsp. of fresh juice.
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs (separated)
3 tbsp. grapefruit juice
1/2 tsp. grapefruit zest
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add water, oil, egg yolks, grapefruit juice and grapefruit zest prepared ahead of time. Beat until smooth. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar separately until whites are stiff but not dry. Gradually fold the whites into the cake batter, folding gently with a rubber spatula until just blended. Do not stir the mixture. Pour into an ungreased 10-inch cake pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back in the center when touched lightly. Place the pan on cake rack until cool. Run spatula around edge of cake. Carefully remove from pan. With a serrated knife, gently cut into two layers. After cutting the cake in two, slide a flat cookie sheet between the layers to lift the top one off; after frosting the bottom layer, simply slide the top back on.
Grapefruit Cream Cheese Icing
2 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese
2 tbsp. grapefruit juice
1 tbsp. grapefruit zest
1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
6 to 8 drops yellow or pink food coloring (optional)
Let cream cheese soften at room temperature, then beat until fluffy. Add grapefruit juice and zest. Gradually blend in sugar and beat until well-blended. Add food coloring, if desired. Add reserved 2 tablespoons of grapefruit juice and blend. Divide the frosting evenly into two bowls. Roughly chop 2/3 of the grapefruit sections and add them to half the frosting. Spread this mixture on the bottom layer of the cake. Top with the second layer of cake, and frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Garnish with fresh grapefruit slices. Serves six.