Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake
Plush and tender, Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake is a deliciously citrusy snack or dessert. If you are like me, you’ll enjoy it with a cup of coffee and call it breakfast.
What makes this cake so perfectly moist with the right texture? Oil.
Oil Cakes Versus Butter Cakes
When I was a kid, all the birthday cakes my mom baked for me and my brother were from a boxed mix. She took a Wilton cake decorating class, so the cakes were beautiful too. They were light, tender, and what I thought cake was supposed to taste like.
Once I had children of my own there was no question that I would do the same: bake and decorate their birthday cakes. But I took it a step further and baked the cakes from scratch rather than use a boxed mix.
I’m not as talented as my mom in the cake decorating department but tried my best. The cakes were fun to look at but tasted dense and dry. What happened?
It all comes down to fat. Boxed cake mixes typically call for oil while from-scratch recipes use butter. These two fats behave differently when mixed with cake ingredients yielding very different results.
Oil Cakes
- Since oil is lighter than butter and one hundred percent fat, it results in a cake that is lighter and moister than one made with butter. Oil cakes are loftier and spongier.
- Oil is liquid. When it is mixed with flour, it completely coats the flour and prevents any gluten development from happening.
- Cakes made with oil keep well at room temperature (up to a week, if they last that long). If they are refrigerated, they can be eaten straight from the fridge and will still be tender.
Butter Cakes
- Butter is heavier by weight than oil and contains about 15% water.
- Because water is present, when the butter is mixed with flour gluten can develop giving the cake a chewier, denser texture. If you are making a multi-tiered cake, this could work in your favor because it isn’t as likely to topple over.
- Butter-based cakes will become firmer if kept in the fridge and will need to sit at room temp to soften up. Again, this isn’t always bad especially if you enjoy cold cake with a hot cup of coffee.
The oil used in this citrus loaf cake is olive oil but not EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil). While EVOO is great in salad dressings and dips, the flavor is too overpowering for a cake like this. The best type for cooking and baking is light olive oil which is golden in color and more neutral in flavor.
If you like citrusy goodies, you will also love Coconut Lime Zucchini Bread and Preserved Lemon Loaf Cake.
Because once citrus is cooked it can lose some of it's punch, this cake gets a grapefruit flavor hit at every step. First, the zest is rubbed with sugar to release the citrus oils. After baking, the cake is doused with grapefruit syrup. And finally, the loaf is drizzled with a grapefruit glaze. It's so yummy!
Lessons Learned
- Store-bought grapefruit usually is waxed, so wash the outside in hot water or use a fruit and veggie cleaner before zesting. If you are lucky enough to grow grapefruit in your backyard like I do, you don’t need to do this, just zest away. I use a microplane grater.
- Measure your vanilla extract carefully and resist the temptation to add more. Vanilla can easily overpower the delicate citrus notes and result in a vanilla-heavy flavor.
- Don’t like grapefruit? I’m surprised you’ve read this far. The recipe works equally well with other citrus like lemon, lime, and orange.
Hat Tips
Many thanks to Smitten Kitchen for the grapefruit yogurt cake recipe.
Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 slices
Ingredients
Batter:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp finely grated grapefruit zest
- 1 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
- ½ cup light olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Syrup:
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/176C. Position the oven rack to the center slot. Lightly grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan, line with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Make the batter by tipping the sugar and zest into a large bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips to release the citrus oils and scent the sugar. Add the yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla, stirring to combine well.
- Tip in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk everything together until no dry pockets of flour remain. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and level off the top so it is smooth. Bake for 50 minutes or until it passes the clean toothpick in the center test.
- Make the syrup while the cake is baking by stirring together the grapefruit juice and sugar in a small bowl. Zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds then stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove the cake from the oven but leave it in the loaf pan. Place it on a wire rack. While the cake is hot, brush the top with the syrup and allow it to absorb. Use a toothpick to poke tiny holes all over the surface and brush again with more syrup. Repeat until all the syrup is absorbed into the cake. Carefully lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment paper and place it directly on the cooling rack.
- Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar and juice in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and allow it to run down the sides. Slice and serve. Cake can be stored at room temp for two or three days if it lasts that long.
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