Pink Grapefruit Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Why it took me so long?
I can’t even begin to tell you how soft and tender this pink grapefruit cream cheese pound cake is. The addition of cream cheese adds a lot of creaminess in a pretty neutral way, without adding any cream cheese flavor. I used cake flour for a very tender and lighter crumb, giving this cake a very special and delicate texture that feels right out of a tea party sweets cart. A bit of vegetable oil adds so much moisture to this cake and also helps it stay moist and delicious for days!
It has been a while since I have eaten a cake simply for the pure joy that it brings, no celebration or special dinner necessary. And I’m so happy I used pink grapefruit for this one. Even if I don’t eat many fruits, I have always loved pink grapefruit, especially it’s juice. But I hadn’t given it its proper place in my recipe box. When it’s time to bake, lemons always make their way. But this cake came to change things around. Now I can’t stop thinking about in how many other things I can squeeze my beloved pink grapefruit, pun intended!
For making this pound cake I used cake flour because its lower protein content yields a very tender and fine crumb, which I think it’s precisely the crumb which makes this cake quite addictive. Remember that cake flour is not the same as self-rising flour, which is all-purpose flour already mixed with baking powder and salt, hence it’s name. I strongly recommend that you use real cake flour but if you don’t have, you can substitute for ap-flour (cake will be a bit denser) or use the old trick of removing 2 tablespoons of flour from a cup of flour and substituting with 2 tablespoon of cornstarch.
Lately I’ve been reading all over the internet about this trick of sprinkling granulated or Demerara sugar on the inside walls of the loaf cake pan before pouring the batter and I was dying to try it myself. I used my regular natural granulated sugar and even if the outside was no crunchy, it got a sweet and crusty bite that made you celebrate the sides of the loaf cake as much as you would celebrate the top. Can’t wait to try the trick with a courser sugar such as Demerara or turbinado to see if I get a crunchy side.
This pink grapefruit cream cheese pound cake is a pretty simple cake that uses simple ingredients and its assembly is pretty straightforward. That’s why you need to have everything prepared and ready to go, once you start mixing everything happens so fast! As always, here’s my suggested guide on how to prepare and pace everything in the kitchen for a total recipe success:
9 Steps For Total Cake Bliss
Start by taking out the butter, cream cheese and eggs out of the fridge. They need to be softened and at room temperature. The butter and the cream cheese should be pliable but still a bit chill to the touch, not warm and oily. If your kitchen has a warm temperature (above 75°) take them out of the fridge after the next step.
Next, grate the pink grapefruits for the zest. You’ll probably need two for the whole recipe, but if you want to be extra precautious, I recommend you have three of them available.
Measure the sugar in a medium bowl and mix in the pink grapefruit zest. Use your hands to mix it and rub it with the sugar for two to three minutes, just until the zest looks evenly mixed and there are no lumps of it. Rubbing the zest with the sugar will infuse it with all its sour and citrusy notes, key to have a punch of grapefruit in every single bite!
I also prepared my loaf cake pan at this point. I buttered the inside of it and as mentioned, I sprinkled some sugar on the inside of the walls. I still gently sprayed some baking spray on top of everything.
While the butter and cream cheese are getting softer and the sugar is getting infused with the zest, sift the cake flour with the baking powder and salt over a bowl and gather the rest of the ingredients. This cake is put together pretty quickly, the hard work will be done by the mixer, so it will be very smart to have everything ready.
Follow the beating times as precise as you can. As I mentioned before, loaf cakes are pretty finicky and this particular recipe depends on incorporating the right amount of air to make the cake rise even with the small amount of baking soda, but not too much that the batter will overflow in the oven before being cooked.
Now transfer the batter to the prepared pan, distributing it evenly and spreading it to the pan walls, making sure there are no gaps between them. Place in the oven and hope for the best. Just kidding! You got this if you follow the details carefully. Just sit and wait between 50 to 60 minutes to see your cake rise and be fabulous! Cleaning up at this point is totally optional : )
When the cake is in the last 20 minutes, reduce the grapefruit juice to soak the cake.
While the cake is soaking and cooling down, make the simple glaze by mixing sifted confectioner’s sugar, grapefruit juice and a bit of brewed hibiscus tea if desired. The hibiscus not only is going to give the glaze that beautiful soft pink hue but will also cut through all the sweetness happening on the cake. It’s kind of optional but a really good flavor addition to this cake.
The question here will be how many slices of this cake you will eat in a week. Please share to see how your number compares to my mine : )
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Pink Grapefruit Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Ingredients
Pink Grapefruit Cream Cheese Pound Cake
◯ Pink grapefruit zest - 1 TBSP, about the zest of 2 big grapefruits
◯ Natural granulated sugar - 1 ⅓ cup (269g), plus a bit more to sprinkle over the pan’s inside sides (optional)
◯ Salted butter European Style, preferably made of milk from grass-fed cows, softened- 14 TBSP (¾ cup), plus 2 TBSP for greasing the pan
◯ Cream cheese, softened - 4oz (½ block)
◯ Vegetable oil - 1 TBSP
◯ Large eggs, at room temperature - 3
◯ Cake flour, preferably unbleached (NOT self-rising flour) - 1 ½ cup (200g)
◯ Fine sea salt - ¼ Tsp
◯ Baking powder - ⅛ Tsp
◯ Vanilla extract - ½ TBSP
◯ Freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice - 1+ cup, divided
Pink Grapefruit Glaze
◯ Confectioner’s sugar, sifted - 2 cups
◯ Freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice - the remaining ¼ cup from the previously squeezed juice
◯ Brewed hibiscus tea (optional to make the glaze less sweet and pink) - about 1 to 2 TBSP
◯ Chopped pistachios or fresh berries to decorate and serve
Details
Yield:
9” x 5” loaf cake pan
Total time:
1.5 hours
Active time:
20 minutes to make the batter, 5 minutes to make the reduction, 10 minutes to make the glaze
Baking time:
About 1 hour
Equipment:
stand mixer or electric hand mixer, 9” x 5” loaf cake pan
Steps
To make the cream cheese pound cake:
Preheat oven to 325°. Make sure oven rack is in the middle of oven.
Grease a 9” x 5” loaf cake pan with butter. If desired, sprinkle some sugar on the inside walls of the pan. Finely mist the pan with baking spray if you have (this is more preventive since the pan is already buttered).
Mix pink grapefruit zest with sugar and using your hands rub it with the sugar for two to three minutes, just until the zest looks evenly mixed and there are no lumps of it. Set aside.
Over a large bowl sift together the 1 ½ cup of flour, the ¼ teaspoon of salt and the ⅛ teaspoon of baking powder.
With a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (strongly recommended) or with an electric mixer with the beaters, beat butter in high speed (#6 in the Kitchen Aid) for 2 minutes to make it fluffy. Stop mixer. Add the cream cheese in chunks and beat just to incorporate it with the butter. Add oil and beat in high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar-zest mixture slowly until incorporated. Stop mixer and scrap down the sides and through the bottom of the bowl to make sure there’s no sugar stuck on the sides or on the bottom. Bring speed to high again and beat for 3 minutes. Please take note that if you are using a hand electric mixer, you should add one to two minutes at each step. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until they are fully incorporated. Stop mixer and scrape down once more. Beat for 30 seconds to make sure everything is well mixed.
Bring speed to the lowest (#1 in the Kitchen Aid) and add the flour mixture in three to four additions. Finally, pour vanilla extract and stop mixing as soon as it has incorporated, probably less than 5 seconds. With your rubber spatula gently mix with a folding motion any streak of flour visible.
Transfer batter to pan, making sure it’s been distributed evenly and spreading it to the walls, making sure there are no gaps between them. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is deep golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when you insert it through the very center of the cake, which would be opened. Do not open oven door before 50 minutes of baking. If cake’s done, turn off oven and open oven door. Wait about a minute or two before taking it out completely. Let it cool down for 2 to 3 minutes before poking it and pouring reduced pink grapefruit juice (recipe follows). Place it in the fridge to cool down for 10 to 20 minutes.
In the meantime, make the pink grapefruit glaze (recipe below).
To make the pink grapefruit reduction:
Squeeze the grapefruits over a 1-cup measuring cup. Squeeze one cup of juice. Take out about ¼ cup and set it aside for the glaze.
When the cake is entering its last 20 minutes of baking, pour remaining juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil in medium high heat and boil for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and boil until juice has reduced to ⅓ cup, about 10 to 15 minutes. You may leave the measuring cup on the side and just pour it from the sauce pan to see how much it has reduced. Return juice to saucepan if you need to reduce it more. Remove from heat and let it cool for about 2 minutes. Using a spoon pour the juice through the opened center and holes that you poked, little by little, until you have covered the whole cake. Poke more holes in areas you see the liquid is getting stuck. Lift the pan and move it around, tilt it and swirl it to make sure the juice is evenly distributed. Place cake in the fridge 10 to 20 minutes while you make the glaze (if for some reason you are making the glaze later, take out the cake from the fridge after 20 minutes and let it rest at room temperature).
To make the pink grapefruit glaze:
Start by adding 3 tablespoons of the juice and about a teaspoon of the brewed hibiscus tea to the sifted confectioner’s sugar and using a hand whisk mix as much as you can. Add a bit of extra tea if you want a deeper pink hue (be careful not to add too much at a time) and/or more juice, until you have a thick glaze. If you already have the desired color or if you are out of juice, just use water. Stop when you have a thick glaze that is not translucent. If you prefer a very thin glaze then add more liquid.
Sprinkle some crushed pistachios, nuts or fresh berries on top if desired. Let the glaze set for 10 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!
