Pink grapefruit drizzle cake

Pink grapefruit drizzle cake – a light and fluffy cake with a zesty pink grapefruit drizzle!  If you’re a fan of citrus cakes you will love it! 

I’ve been meaning to do some with grapefruits for a while.  They tend to be reserved just for breakfast time, which is a bit of a shame because their tart, fresh, zesty flavour is perfect for desserts.

I fancied making a pink grapefruit curd filled, fluffy meringue topped tart or a zesty, syrup drenched drizzle cake. The drizzle won this time only because it was the easier option. But that tart is so on my bake list…

This cake is delicious. Light, fluffy and sticky with syrup. If you love lemon drizzle cake, and I don’t know many people who don’t, give it a try. It’s sweet yet tangy, citrusy and refreshing. I know this sounds like a strange way to describe a cake, but once you’ve tasted it, you’ll know what I mean….

ingredients

• soft butter
• caster sugar
• two pink grapefruits, both the grated zest and juice (a small amount of the grapefuit juice goes in the cake, plus you’ll need more for the drizzle and the icing glaze)
• plain flour
• semolina or fine polenta
• baking powder
• fine salt
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• icing sugar, for the icing glaze

how to make A grapefruit drizzle cake

Keep scrolling to the end of this post to find a printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Step one – You’ll start by rubbing the finely grated zest into the caster sugar until the sugar is fragrant and damp. This step is worth doing – it “locks” the flavour of the zest into the sugar. I learned of this tip years ago in a Dorie Greenspan book.

Step two – in a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and semolina or polenta.

Step three – Using an electric mixer, cream the zesty sugar and soft butter together until very light and fluffy.

Step four – Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Make sure each egg is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next.

Step five – Using a metal spoon, lightly fold in the dry ingredients, followed by one tablespoon of the grapefruit juice. The mixture should be quick thick, but should still fall easily from the spoon.

Step six – Spoon the batter into a greased and lined 20cm round cake tin. Level the surface and bake at 180C/160Fan for about 40-45 minutes until risen, golden and a skewer inserted in the middle emerges with no wet batter.

Step seven – While the cake is in the oven, make the drizzle by simmering together 100g caster sugar and the juice of one of the grapefruits until the sugar has dissolved and you have a fairly runny syrup. This should take no longer than 4-5 minutes. Set aside.

Step eight – As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, pierce tiny holes all over the surface using a sharp skewer. Slowly pour the syrup all over the cake, making sure you cover the entire cake. Let the cake cool in the tin.

Step nine – Make the icing glaze by mixing together the icing sugar and about one tablespoon of grapefruit juice until smooth. Pour this all over the almost completely cold cake, then allow the icing to set properly before unmoulding the cake from the tin.

Baking tips

• A little semolina lightens up the texture a little and brings a slight yellow sunshine colour to the cake. It’s a nice addition but by no means essential, so if you don’t have any semolina in your cupboard add another 50g of plain flour.

• I like to add the icing drizzle before the cake has completely cooled down. If it’s still a little warm, the icing sinks into the cake, making it even more delicious and syrupy.
• This cake can also be made in a 2lb (900g) loaf tin.

want to see more fruity cake recipes? 

• Raspberry Bakewell cake 
• orange chocolate chip drizzle cake

• lemon drizzle cupcakes
• lemon drizzle traybake

• Lemon, Elderflower and Strawberry Cake

• Easter Simnel Cake

Continue to Content

Pink Grapefruit drizzle cake

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Zesty pink grapefruit replaces lemons in this super moist pink grapefruit drizzle cake.  The perfect balance of sweet and sharp.

Print

Ingredients

• 200 g caster sugar
• Finely grated zest of 2 pink grapefruits
• 200 g soft butter
• 4 medium eggs, beaten
• 150 g self raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 50 g fine semolina
• 1 tablespoon pink grapefruit juice

For the syrup:

• 100g granulated sugar
• Juice of one pink grapefruit
• For the icing glaze:
• 80g icing sugar
• 1/2-1 tablespoon pink grapefruit juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F/Gas mark 4. Grease and base line a 20cm round cake tin.
2. Place the sugar and grapefruit zest in a large bowl. Using your fingers, rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is damp and fragrant from the zest oils. Add the butter and cream the mixture until very light and fluffy.
3. Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Sieve the flour, baking powder and semolina together and fold into the mixture, then fold in the grapefruit juice.
4. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cake is golden and springs back when the top is lightly pressed. A skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should emerge clean. If the skewer emerges with raw cake batter stuck to it, return the cake to the oven, checking every few minutes.
5. While the cake is in the oven, make the drizzle by heating the sugar and grapefruit juice in a small pan over a low heat. Once the sugar has melted, increase the heat to a gentle simmer and let it bubble gently for a few minutes until slightly reduced and syrupy. Remove from the heat and set aside.
6. When the cake is done, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack with a plate underneath to catch any drips from the glaze.
7. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the surface of the cake. Evenly pour the syrup all over the top.
8. For the icing glaze, mix the icing sugar and the grapefruit juice together until you have an icing that coats the back of a spoon. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more juice or water. Pour the glaze all over the top of the cold cake.

Notes

You could of course omit the glaze and serve the cake as it is. I got a little fancy here and decorated it with a dusting of icing sugar and candied grapefruit slices. Absolutely non-essential, but pretty to look at.

This cake can also be made in a 2lb (900g) loaf tin.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 448Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 108mgSodium: 404mgCarbohydrates: 67gFiber: 2gSugar: 48gProtein: 5g

Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.

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