I think there’s something wonderful about eating citrus in the dead of winter (not that our winter this year has been very “dead”).  To me, it seems so wonderful that this time of year is when grapefruit, oranges, clementines and tangerines are in abundant supply and inexpensive to boot.  You will soon learn that I’m a big lover of Aldi’s grocery store and they have the best deals on grapefruit most of the winter, I buy them every time I’m there.  My entire family (except the baby – he gave me one of those classic, awesome shudders when I tried to feed him grapefruit) loves grapefruit.  My kids even drink unsweetened grapefruit juice at my parents…I can’t even quite swing that!  So…we like grapefruit!  When I found this recipe I knew I had to try it.  Mr. Chaos isn’t huge on desserts (and he married me…hmmmm….), it drives me crazy, but he would really rather have a piece of fruit than a piece of cake 😦  I asked him if he would like a grapefruit cake for his birthday and he said that it sounded good.  One thing I must say about him is he is always willing to try anything and THAT is a good thing living with me.

I made the cake and it was a hit with all of us.  We all gobbled it up and not one piece went to waste.  Put all that lovely grapefruit to use and make this for your family.  (It “sort of” tasted like lemon, but better.  Really helpful description I know.)

This is what it looks like when you rub the sugar and rind together

The finished product, so refreshing:

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 1/2 grapefruits
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup canola oil (next time I want to try applesauce in place of most of the oil)

Grapefruit Syrup
1/4 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
2 T granulated sugar

Grapefruit Glaze

1/3 cup powdered sugar
2-3 T freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Set pan aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl, add the grapefruit zest to the sugar. Rub together with your fingers until fragrant. In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, sugar, and zest with large spoon or spatula. Whisk in the eggs-you can do all three at once. Mix until smooth and then add in the vanilla and stir again.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix just until flour is incorporated.

Add the oil and mix well. It might take a minute to get the oil mixed in, but it will.

Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until your cake tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center.

Cool on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes and then remove from the pan. While the cake is cooling make the syrup and glaze.

For the syrup, in a small sauce pan add the grapefruit juice and sugar. Whisk over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

For the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and grapefruit juice. If it is too thick, add more juice, if it is too runny, add more sugar.

Poke little holes into the cake with a toothpick. Spoon the grapefruit syrup over the cake and let it soak in. Let the cake cool to room temperature and then add the glaze. Drizzle over the top of the cake.