Grapefruit Ginger Drizzle Cake

My fondness for grapefruit is a fairly new phenomenon in my life because before recently, I always found them extremely bitter and unpleasant but still liked the taste. Unfortunately I still have an aversion to the combined taste of grapefruit juice and tequila due to a traumatic Paloma experience, BUT I’ve come around nevertheless and now recognize the power of the grapefruit and how good it can be when used in cooking and baking. 

This grapefruit ginger cake is my version of a drizzle cake although it's not necessarily a traditional English drizzle cake base. I'm using my Perfect Cake Recipe because I find the closed spongy texture of the cake lends itself well to the soak and holds up without compressing into a soggy mess. That being said, omitting the zest and ginger as well as the soak leaves you with a solid vanilla cake that can be used for most applications, my favorite being a Berry Chantilly Cake. The biggest plot twist in making this recipe is that I constantly forget that I'm actually allergic to grapefruit… but that doesn't really stop me from having a slice and living life on the edge (it's not that serious of an allergy).

This recipe is written in grams, and I highly recommend every baker to own a digital scale for baking. Baking is a science based off ratios by weight, not by volume. That being said, you can use imperial system of cups and teaspoons but there is more room for error, and in my eyes, I often don't feel like cleaning all of these unnecessary measuring tools after the fact. I will link a conversion table website in the notes.

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Ingredients

200g Sugar 

170g Eggs - about 3 large eggs

130g oil  

2 grapefruits, zested and juiced (separated) 

2in piece of ginger, grated (separated)

100g sour cream 

50g whole milk 

180 Flour

10g Baking Powder 

Pinch of salt 

The Cake 

1. In the bowl of a stand mixture add the 200g of sugar, the grapefruit zest, and the half of the grated ginger. With your fingers, rub the sugar together with the aromatics till the grapefruit and ginger are thoroughly combined together with the sugar. The sugar should take on a slightly wet sand look and should be fragrant. 

2. Add the eggs to the aromatic sugar and beat on medium high until sugar is incorporated and the eggs mixture is smooth and lightly aerated, not grainy. About 2 min. 

3. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the oil and allow it to homogenize into the egg mixture before adding more. Add in increments until all oil is combined. Egg mixture should be slightly thickened. 

4. In a separate bowl combine together the dry ingredients and sift them, making sure there are no clumps of baking powder.  

5. In another bowl prepare the wet mixture by adding together the sour cream and milk, mix till smooth.

6. With the mixer running low add in ⅓ of the dry mixture, mixing briefly, followed by ⅓ of wet, allowing the ingredients to just barely incorporate after each addition. It is important in this step to scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl after each addition of wet and dry.  Continue this until both wet and dry are mixed in, ending with wet. Mix till all ingredients are just barely incorporated making sure not to over beat. The final batter should be fairly liquid.  

7. Add to an oiled 9in pan with parchment on the bottom. Tap the filled pan on the counter top a couple times to release any big air bubbles. 

8. Bake in a 350 oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean with a few dry looking crumbs.

The Soak

1. When the cake is taken out of the oven, it's time to make the soaking syrup. Add the juice of the two grapefruits and the juice of one lemon into a small saucepan sitting on a scale. Measure out an equal amount by weight in sugar for the 1:1 simple syrup (the total weight of my juice ended up being about 120g, so I added 120g of sugar). Add the rest of the grated ginger and place on the stove. 

2. Once it's at a high simmer and all the sugar is dissolved, turn off the stove and allow to steep until cooled to room temperature. 

3. By the time the syrup is room temperature, the cake should be cooled enough to soak. Strain the ginger solids out of the syrup and set aside as you unmold the cake from the pan. In total, I used around 3/4 of a cup (170 mil) of my syrup when soaking my cake. Remove the baking parchment from the bottom of the cake and prick the underside of the cake with a toothpick all over. Lightly soak the bottom of the cake with about half of the syrup allowing it to fully absorb before the next step.

4. Set a clean cake pan of the same size over it and invert the cake back to its original position*. Repeat the pricking and soaking on the top side. Go slowly so it has time to absorb. 

5. Leaving it in the pan, set in the fridge and allow the cake sit in the syrup for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.

6. Slice and serve serve plain with tea, or after a meal with some lightly sweetened whipped cream and berries (optional is the addition of a spoonful of sour cream to the whipping cream for some added tang). This cake stays well in the fridge for several days and gets better in flavor as it sits.

Notes

Base Cake Recipe

*Conversion table

I recommend exploring and playing around with some of the inputs on this website to gain an understanding of how 100g of one ingredient results in different cups amounts. When baking with ratios by weight, the volume will result in inconsistency and discrepancies.

Metric Conversions