Grapefruit Pound Cake for National Pound Cake Day!

Happy National Pound Cake Day!!! When Ruby Red grapefruit from the Rio Grande Valley are in season I add the juice and zest to a variety of dishes including this recipe which I often call my Rio Grande pound cake.  The grapefruit’s red flesh is much sweeter and milder than the yellow fleshed varieties of grapefruit.  When the juice and zest are stirred into the batter, the sweet and tangy flavor beautifully scents this tender cake.  If you make the cake in a Bundt pan that in a smaller than a 12-cup Bundt pan, just hold back a couple of cups of batter and make cupcakes with the extra batter. 

Grapefruit Pound Cake

Pastel de Toronja

 YDelicacies.com Yvette Zuniga Jemison

My South Texas Kitchen Cookbook

Servings: 12-16

When Ruby Red grapefruit from the Rio Grande Valley are in season I add the juice and zest to a variety of dishes including this recipe which I often call my Rio Grande pound cake.  The grapefruit’s red flesh is much sweeter and milder than the yellow fleshed varieties of grapefruit.  When the juice and zest are stirred into the batter, the sweet and tangy flavor beautifully scents this tender cake.  If you make the cake in a Bundt pan that in a smaller than a 12-cup Bundt pan, just hold back a couple of cups of batter and make cupcakes with the extra batter. 

Cake

3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup butter, room temperature

2/3 cup shortening

¼ cup honey

5 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1/3 cup Ruby red grapefruit juice

2 tablespoons Ruby Red grapefruit zest

1 cup pecans, chopped

Non-stick spray with flour

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons Ruby red grapefruit juice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Optional: pink food color

Special equipment: 12-cup Bundt pan 

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

2. In a large mixing bowl using a mixer on medium-high speed, cream together the sugar, butter, shortening and honey.  Add the eggs and mix until well blended. 

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three additions alternating with milk until well blended. 

4. Add the grapefruit juice and zest and mix until well blended.  Fold in the pecans until combined.  

5. Right before pouring the batter into the pan, coat the Bundt pan with the non-stick spray. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a tester inserted into the cake comes out clean, 55-60 minutes.  

6. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes.  Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and cool completely, about TK 3 hours

Glaze

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, grapefruit juice and oil until smooth. Add the optional food color and stir until well blended.  Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake.  Let sit for TK minutes until the glaze is set before slicing the cake with a serrated knife.

Do Ahead: The cake can be made 2 days ahead.  After the glaze has set, store the cake in a cake dome at room temperature.