Grapefruit Bundt Cake Recipe

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As a child, I used to eat grapefruit topped with sugar. 

To be honest, it was more sugar than grapefruit. I was not grapefruit’s biggest fan but I was a kid and had to eat it so I made sure to add a lot of sugar to it. 

As an adult, I thought I would give grapefruit another try. 

I discovered that I still didn’t like it, so I decided to incorporate the grapefruit that I had leftover in a recipe so that it didn’t go to waste.

Since I love cake I decided to incorporate the grapefruit into a bundt cake. 

This is an easy recipe that uses simple ingredients however this recipe does take a few hours to complete because of the multiple steps and the cooling of the cake. 

Grapefruit Bundt Cake Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 1 2/3 cups of sugar
• Zest of 1 large grapefruit
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Syrup:

• 1/2 cup of fresh grapefruit juice
• 1/3 cup of sugar

For the Cake Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons grapefruit juice
• Zest for garnish

There are 3 steps to making this Grapefruit Bundt Cake. They are easy steps but can be time-consuming since you have to wait for the cake to cool before you complete the last 2 steps.  

Bundt Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Grease your bundt cake pan (butter and coat with flour, shake off excess)
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt
• In a large bowl, combine the sugar and grapefruit zest.
• Rub the mixture together with your hands for 1-2 minutes, until evenly-combined
• Add the eggs and stir for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is thick and creamy 
• Beat in the milk, followed by the oil and the vanilla. 
• Add the dry ingredients, and stir until combined
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan
• Bake for 55-60 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
• Let the cake cool for 20-25 minutes on a wire rack, then invert the pan onto a cake plate and allow to cool completely

Grapefruit Syrup:

• Combine the grapefruit juice and sugar in a small saucepan
• Simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes
• After the cake has cooled and inverted, prick the top all over with a toothpick, then generously spoon over the syrup (make your toothpick pricks a bit sizeable to help the liquid seep through to the cake)

Cake Glaze:

• Whisk together the powdered sugar and grapefruit juice
• Begin with 2 tablespoons of grapefruit juice- add a small amount at a time until the glaze reaches your desired consistency
• Pour 1/2 of the glaze over the cake
• Reserve the additional glaze for later use if needed
• Sprinkle with additional zest if desired, and serve