Greyston Bakery's Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

Dudley and I were at the dog park one day during the big snows (I'm not sure which one, they all sort of blur together) and we started chatting with a gentleman who was out for a stroll. He had on a fabulously warm (at least it looked very warm) fur trooper hat. We talked about the weather and his hat, and then, as most conversations in D.C. go, we talked about where we were from. I told him I was from Texas, and he looked at me and said "it's like a different country down there," and I got the general sense that he didn't mean that in an entirely disparaging sense, but he didn't think it was an altogether good thing either. His observation, though, struck me as kind of funny because, you might know, the Texas travel and tourism slogan these days is "Texas: It's like a whole other country." Texans are pretty proud of their state, and of course they like to tell you that everything's bigger in Texas. I don't know if that's true, but it's a pretty big state! I grew up on the Gulf Coast, far away from the sagebrush and cowboy imagery of Texas that seems so stereotypical of the state. This area is known for its heat and humidity, and Houston is famous for its urban sprawl and congested freeways, but it's the place where I grew up, and there's so much that I love about my home town:  the museum district, the Beer Can House, I love driving into downtown on Memorial Drive, and Houston is home to some of my favorite food and great restaurants. We can't grow cherries or apples on the Gulf Coast but it's a great climate for citrus, and down south of Houston, in the Rio Grande valley, you'll find some of the very best Ruby Red grapefruit ever. This grapefruit is a winter fruit staple in our house, and I grew up eating it. I've never had a white grapefruit, but I'm told it's much different from the pink grapefruit that I love so much. I eat pink grapefruit just as I eat oranges all winter long, and because they're so pricey up here, I'm generally reluctant to use them for baking, but when I saw this recipe for Grapfruit Yogurt Cake in The Greyston Bakery Cookbook, I had to try it.

I received this cookbook for Christmas, and I just absolutely love it. There are so many recipes I'd like to try, but this was the recipe that I just had to make first. It's a very simple yogurt cake, and I was surprised at how quickly I was able to combine the ingredients and get this cake into the oven. The introduction to the recipe states that you can use pink grapefruit yogurt or plain yogurt. I've been on a huge yogurt kick lately, and I already had some Wallaby pink grapfruit yogurt in my fridge, so I used about 3/4 cup of the pink grapefruit yogurt and I rounded it out with Greek yogurt. The grapefruit flavor in the cake comes from the yogurt, a smidge of grapefruit juice, and grapefruit zest. It's an oil based cake, which I love, and all things considered, I think that this dessert might even qualify as "lighter" dessert, healthy-ish even? The cake is topped with a very simple glaze, and if you'd like you can make the suggested candied grapefruit strips to accent the "grapefruitiness" of this dessert.

And, the verdict on this lovely cake? It's lovely and light, and if you like grapefruit I think it's safe to say that you'll like this cake. It's not too sweet and the grapefruit flavor definitely shines through. It's a huge cake, though, as it's baked in a 10" springform pan. I'm sure that I could eat it all, but I think I need to find some people to share a couple of slices with. 

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

The Greyston Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1 cup of plain whole milk yogurt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Juice (about 1/2 cup) and zest (about 1 tablespoon) of one pink grapefruit

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10" round springform pan and line the pan bottom with a parchment paper round. Set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt to blend. 

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and granulated sugar until the eggs are thick and pale yellow. Add the yogurt, oil, 1 tablespoon of the grapefruit juice, the grapefruit zest, and vanilla. Stir well to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted near the center. Place the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Release and remove the pan sides. Cool completely on the wire rack. 

In a small saucepan, combine the confectioners' sugar and the remaining grapefruit juice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring for 10 minutes, or until the glaze is slightly thickened. Remove from the heat. 

To finish the cake, invert the cooled cake and remove the pan bottom. Carfeully peel away the parchment. Reinvert the cake onto a serving. Pierce the cake all over the top with a skewer and pour the warm grapefruit syrup over it.