A farewell to winter: moist, light cake flavored with grapefruit, almond, and a dash of orange liqueur.

Grapefruits remind me of my grandparents. They seem to always have grapefruit as one of the offerings for breakfast, but especially so in the wintertime. With sugar sprinkled on top, or without sugar, and halved in a small bowl with a serrated grapefruit spoon to dig out the segments and scoop up all of the juice.

I love anything tangy and sour, including grapefruit. In this cake, it becomes the perfect foil to the sweetness. The loaf is also super moist due to the addition of almond flour. If you do not have almond flour, you can replace the weight of the almond flour with all-purpose flour.

GRAPEFRUIT LOAF CAKE

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE

• 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup (80 g) almond flour
• 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 2 very large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 ounces (85 g) freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, strained
• the zest of one very large grapefruit
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier (optional)

FOR THE GLAZE

• 2/3 cup (75 g) powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and line with a parchment sling, then grease and flour the lined loaf pan. 

Sift the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter until very light, about four minutes. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating until well incorporated and fluffy. Add the grapefruit zest, extracts, and liqueur and combine. Add the grapefruit juice and flour in increments, starting and ending with the flour (two increments of the juice and three increments of flour). Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread the top evenly. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. If the cake top browns before it is fully done, tent the loaf pan with aluminum foil. 

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire wrack for 10 minutes, then lift the cake using the parchment sling. Once completely cooled, glaze the cake.

NOTES

• For a thinner glaze, decrease the powdered sugar to 1/2 cup (60 g) and add enough grapefruit juice to thin it and make the glaze. runny. This cake is delicious with a thinner glaze–it will soak in to the cake and make it super moist.