Waste not want not; an easy Grapefruit Cake recipe

Somehow or another, I've ended up with 3 big juicy grapefruit in my fruit bowl. I don't usually buy or eat grapefruit, so I really had no idea what to do with them. I considered juicing them, but honestly I find grapefruit juice just a touch too bitter to enjoy in it's unsweetened form.

So, what to do with them?

I started by googling (the source of all inspiration) 'grapefruit cake' to see what would come up. I got a lot of results for something I'd never heard of before called Hollywood Grapefruit Cake which seems to be a cake flavoured with grapefruit, and using yogurt and oil instead of butter making it nice and healthy (or rather, heathIER...). Unfortunately however, I did not have any yogurt in the fridge, boohoo.

Before I got too concerned about these 3 homeless grapefruit, it suddenly dawned on me that grapefruit is a citrus fruit just like any other, just a little more bitter. So I decided to take a rather delicious recipe for Lemon Drizzle Cake by Tana Ramsey (Gordon Ramsey's missus), and adapt it to suit this new fruit, and voila, I introduce you to: Grapefruit Drizzle Cake!

I'm going to skip right to the end, and tell you now that this cake is DELICIOUS. I was as skeptical as you, but it turned out like a cross between an orange and a lemon cake, with just a little je ne sais quoi. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Grapefruit Drizzle Cake - adapted from Tana Ramsey's Lemon Drizzle Cake at www.bbcgoodfood.com

FOR THE CAKE
225g butter or margerine
225g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
finely grated zest of one grapefruit
225g self-raising flour

FOR THE DRIZZLE
juice of 1 grapefruit
85g caster sugar

First things first, preheat your oven to 160 degrees (fan) and line a loaf tin with parchment paper.

Get a big bowl, and in it whisk together the sugar and the butter or margarine until light and fluffy.

TIP: I always use margarine because a) it's just so much easier to work with and b) for everyday baking, it's a huge cost saving compared to butter.

Next, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between each addition (adding the eggs one-by-one stops the mixture from curdling).

Add the flour and the grapefruit zest and mix until well combined.

Pour it into the loaf tin, and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle came out clean.

TIP: Always trust your instincts when it comes to your oven! For me this sometimes takes up to 55 minutes, but your oven may be a hot-mama and bake it in 40 minutes flat. The skewer test is always the best way to check for doneness and I keep a pack of bamboo skewers (under £1 for 50 skewers) in the kitchen especially for this purpose.

Once the cake is baked, stir the sugar and the grapefruit juice together, and drizzle over the top of the cake.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4942/lemon-drizzle-cake