A delicious simple cake make with greek yogurt and fresh grapefruit.
Because citrus cakes are liiiiiife! You guys, I’m obsessed with all citrus right now, and this grapefruit yogurt cake is everything and more, and it NEEDS to make an appearance at your weekend brunch table. Easter, Mother’s Day, Sunday brunch, I don’t care… Just do it.
A few weeks ago my brother-in-law dropped off an ENORMOUS bag of grapefruits. They have a beautiful grapefruit tree in their backyard that apparently exploded and they have grapefruits up the wazoo! He said, “I don’t care what you do with these, just take them!” #CaliforniaWeatherProblems.
I know, it’s like poor us…70 degrees all year round and our fruit trees are going craaaaazy! Not a bad problem to have. Well, Zach was siked, as he loves grapefruit and actually considers it dessert, sprinkled with a little sugar. I will never understand this. Fruit does not equal dessert, people! Not in my book.
THIS is dessert. Chocolate, cookies, brownies, whipped cream. Yep, THAT is dessert. But to each his own, I guess.
Anyways, I had a giant bag of grapefruits sitting in my kitchen, I had to do something.
Side note: Grapefruits and I haven’t been the best of friends. Let’s just say that one night in my early twenties, I had about 10 too many greyhounds. For those who don’t know, a greyhound is basically a cocktail consisting of grapefruit juice and vodka. Yeah. Let’s just leave it at that.
It was time to mend my relationship with these fruits. And let’s just say, things are headed in the right direction.
I don’t celebrate Easter, but I will definitely be celebrating the weekend with this.
And you should too.
Grapefruit Yogurt Cake
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
A delicious simple cake make with greek yogurt and fresh grapefruit.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar (divided)
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons grapefruit zest (1 grapefruit)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
For the glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray and set aside.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, grapefruit zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all well incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, cook the ⅓ cup grapefruit juice and remaining ⅓ cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
- When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the grapefruit-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
- For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and grapefruit juice and drizzle over the cake.
Notes
Adapted from Ina Garten
Comments
Diane
I am in AZ and right now my grapefruit tree is full! This is the BEST recipe! I used coconut oil and it didn’t interfere with the flavor at all. This loaf was soft, moist, and flavorful. It’s a winner and I’ll be making it several more times. Thank you!
Laney Schwartz
Thanks so much Diane!
CC
Cake turns out moist and very tasty, not too sweet. Only thing is, I made it without the glaze so it’s not very grapefruit forward, just more citrusy. So if you really want the grapefruit flavour don’t skip the glaze.
★★★★★
Crystal
Unfortunately neither my nor my husband enjoyed this recipe, which is weird because he loves grapefruit and I love dessert of any kind. Honestly it just tasted like vegetable oil to me with a hint of grapefruit. I know I properly measured and triple checked the ingredients while I was making it. I think if someone is reading this and they want to make this cake, they should use something else instead of all the vegetable oil, maybe melted butter,, and use more grapefruit zest.
★
Laney Schwartz
Sorry you felt that way, Crystal!
Barbara in NH
I have made this recipe a number of times. It is a HUGE hit at home, and where ever I have shared it. I hold the glaze for as the pieces are served so that it doesn’t get soggy. My family won’t eat grapefruit; but this they love. We have a friend that sends us a case of fresh grapefruit every year. Folks on statin medications are supposed to limit grapefruit intake, but this does a great trick for it.
SUPER YUMMY!! For all ages. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Whoohoo!! So happy you love this cake!
Nasia
I bought a couple of grapefruits for the first time in my life, to try with breakfast etc, but I kind of hated their taste, so I really needed a recipe to use them. This cake was amazing! So simple, yet delightful! Now I buy grapefruits just to make this.
Thank you for the amazing recipe <3
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Hooray!! Love this cake too! Thanks so much for the review
Miriam
A wonderful recipe! My family loved it and it looks beautiful. I can’t wait to make it again.
★★★★★
Erica
I used the coconut Greek yogurt that I had on hand… divine!
★★★★★
Mags
I have a bundt tin I want to use… would this recipe work? Should I double it? Or would it be too light to hold its shape?
Life is but a Dish
It might need to be doubled depending on the size of your bundt pan
Isra
I made this today because I love grapefruit, and even though I used the zest and juice of 1 full grapefruit the flavor was sooo light that you can hardly notice! The cake itself was nice but definitely needs extra zest
★★★
milkist
Thanks for sharing this informative post!
★★★★★
Sarah E
I made this for a Great British Bake Off party with my teammates (pre-covid), and it was a smashing hit! So moist, so flavorful, looks simple but tastes divine. I plan on making a cupcake variation next time
★★★★★
Shrukom
I made 2 loaves of this cake yesterday and all I can say is, this recipe is dynamite! I usually make changes in round 2 but this was so perfect that no changes / substitutions were needed. Thank you for a stellar recipe!
★★★★★
Brooke
I’ve made this twice, delicious both times! I substituted unsweetened applesauce for the oil and upped the zest by an extra half teaspoon. With the applesauce, the crumb is a bit more dense, but it tastes great–especially because I feel like I can have an extra slice 😉
★★★★★
Maria
Super yummy recipe!
★★★★★
Grace
I tried to make it but I think the consistency was off or something? The outside cooked way faster than the inside so when I took it out, it was very brown. Also the inside was almost like a gelatin and very greasy. I’m really not sure what I did wrong.
Life is but a Dish
Check your expiration date on your baking powder? I’ve heard that happening and that’s been the culprit!
Sofia Rose
It was so good! i only had half a cup of plain yogurt left in the fridge, so i did that and half a cup of oat milk (lol). But it was amazing.
Thanks for the recipe<3
★★★★★
Life is but a Dish
yay!!
Laura
Do you take the cake out of the pan before you pour on the grapefruit-sugar mixture?
Also, would vanilla Greek yogurt work? Should I leave out the vanilla extract or lower the sugar, if I do? I just don’t have any plain Greek yogurt in the house.
sareduf
I took the cake out of the pan before putting the juice/sugar solution on top. This cake is nice and moist. I would love even grapefruit flavor though. Maybe some juice in the batter?
★★★★
Life is but a Dish
Yes you totally could do that
Ellen
Could I substitute orange or lemon? Many in my family don’t like grapefruit or can’t eat it because of medication interactions. Thanks!
Life is but a Dish
Yes!
Emily Hornibrook
Do you know the nutrition information for this cake?
Sheyralie
Can I substitute the all purpose flour for almond flour?
Life is but a Dish
You could but it will definitely change the consistency.
Reluctant speller
Thanks for the recipe! Also “siked” s/b “psyched”.
Agree with fruit does not equal dessert!
We always just ate grapefruit cut in half with sugar as a breakfast item.
Marlene
Delicious! Very moist with just enough tartness. This is a keeper recipe for me; very easy to put together. Thank you for helping me to find a way to use my fresh treee ripened grapefruits.
Life is but a Dish
Love it!!
Em
Can you use a different kind of yogurt?
Life is but a Dish
I haven’t tried it but you could probably use any sort of plain yogurt.
Theres Saia
What type of yogurt do you prefer to use for this recipee?
Thanks!!
Theresa in MA
Life is but a Dish
I like to use greek yogurt!
heather (delicious not gorgeous)
the crumb on this looks amazing! and let’s be honest, anything with greek yogurt and associated with ina is bounded to be great (;
Life is but a Dish
Thank you! And yes, anything with Ina is a winner!!
Toby Kirsch
Please make a cup of tea I am coming over for a piece of that delicious looking cake. Your photo is fabulous and you ore amazing.I always love what you post thanks for another great recipe.
Toby
Life is but a Dish
Thanks Toby! You’re welcome over anytime!