Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake

As I was dusting off my bundt tin this morning, I realised that the last time I'd used it was to make the Ginger Root Bundt Cake. In that post, I wrote about taking my friend Helen for a bon voyage lunch at Dinner. I gave her a slice of the cake on that blustery November day.

Chance has it that today we had our welcome home lunch, as she flew in yesterday from Hong Kong. So I wrapped a slice of this up for her and took it with me - a full circle of cake, literally and metaphorically.



Once again we had a delicious lunch. We followed the foodie hordes to the tiny Pitt Cue Co in Soho, which opened a few weeks ago after running a very successful food truck last summer. They say it's the best American style BBQ in London. I had some incredibly tender pork ribs (the St Louis ribs) with some creamy mash, a little slaw, some pickles and a hunk of charred sourdough. I was covered in sauce and made an absolute mess.

Despite being stuffed we shared the bourbon and salted caramel sticky toffee pudding & ice cream. It was seriously good, probably the best I've ever had. Their dessert menu doesn't seem to be fixed, but if you go and they mention it - pounce.



This bundt was born out of my desire to try baking with grapefruit, mainly inspired by Kaitlin. I've commented on several of her posts like this or this saying I really should try it out. So here I am.

Before this my main use for grapefruit was eating it for breakfast. Usually I jazz it up by sprinkling caster sugar over the top and blasting it with the blow torch to create a crackly caramel topping. I made this cake early this morning (as I had to make and photograph it before the aforementioned lunch) so I had the other grapefruit (as you can see in the 2nd photo) and remaining yogurt for breakfast, which felt quite neat.

This recipe popped up in my reader a few days ago. It's from a beautiful blog, The Yellow House. I particularly liked that you start by rubbing the zest into the brown sugar to release the oils (as in the photo above). In the end, it's a very light and fluffy cake. It's not very sweet but, as Sarah said, quite "zingy and earthy". The fruity olive oil comes through clearly, as does the characteristic grapefruit. I can smell the wholemeal flour (is that weird? Do other people smell it even if they can't taste it?).

I think it would be perfect as part of a weekend brunch spread - or for second breakfast, elevensies or afternoon tea (yes, I do eat like a hobbit).



Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake
(adapted from the The Yellow House, who adapted from Melissa Clark)

2 grapefruit
180g light brown sugar
50-100ml plain yogurt
3 eggs
180ml extra virgin olive oil
115g plain flour
85g wholemeal flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Carefully butter the bundt mould (especially the bottom), dust with flour then tap to remove the excess. Zest both grapefruit into a big bowl. Add the sugar and rub the two together as if you're making pastry (this releases the oils from the zest) and make sure there are no lumps. Sift the flours, baking power, bicarbonate and salt together into another bowl.

Juice one grapefruit into a measuring cup - hopefully this will be between 65-100ml (if not add some from the other fruit). Top up with the yogurt to 165ml. Add to the zest/sugar mix and whisk until combined. Pour in the olive oil, whisk, then add the eggs and whisk again until silky smooth. Tip the flour into the bowl and fold in with the whisk until everything is combined - don't overwork. Pour into the tin and put into the oven. Bake until golden brown and a skewer/toothpick comes out clean from the middle - mine took 35 minutes, but it could be up to about 50.

Leave to cool on a rack for 10 minutes or so then turn out - I put a plate or rack on top then flip over. You might need to give it a tap. Stir the icing sugar with a bit of leftover grapefruit juice until it's thick and smooth. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cake.

(Serves about 6-8)

Ginger Root Bundt Cake

Today I had lunch at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. I'm no restaurant critic but it was a truly wonderful meal.

The menu is full of surprises and combinations you wouldn't imagine. The infamous meat fruit is charming, incredibly realistic and delicious. I went with my friend Helen (it was our bon voyage lunch - she's about to go off on a long trip) and her main of chicken with cooked lettuces sounded a bit odd but oh my - I'll never question cooked lettuce again.

All of the dishes needed to be balanced on the fork. Eating one element alone often didn't quite work, but when you had a little of everything - BAM. The brown bread ice cream with salted butter caramel and malted yeast syrup (and a touch of apple and lemon) needed careful balancing. The most magical part of it was that every bite is different - each one a unique combination. It seemed to evolve as you ate.

I adored the Autumn tart - figs and blackberries with vanilla cream and blackcurrant and perfect pastry and biscuit ice cream. (I just can't stop raving. I should probably take a step away from the computer and calm down before I post, but I don't want to. You're just going to have to live with the barrage of delicious/mind-blowing/delighful/wonderful. And yes, if you're confused, I did have a starter and two puddings.)

As a final 'sweet taste' we were given tiny pots of Earl Grey ganache (made with a mixture of milk and dark chocolate) and a long finger of a shortbread-esque biscuit, flavoured with caraway seeds. I've never tasted a sucessful Earl Grey dessert before. I've never tasted caraway in a sweet dish before. Each element was delicious, but together? The combination totally blew me away. It seems so unlikely and difficult to imagine but they blended and enhanced each other perfectly.

This cake also works on an unusual-but-good combination. I chose the recipe because I was intrigued by the ingredients. Lots of treacle, sunflower oil, wholemeal flour, ginger, lots of raising agent and parsnip? As I was putting it together and baking it I was pretty unconvinced.

Yet I liked the first slice. The second? Even more. It just keeps on growing on me. I can only really describe it as dark gingerbread with a nutty taste. The drizzle adds a lovely contrast.  It's perfect with a cup of tea and a book (I'm currently addicted to an Icelandic Saga to the point that I missed my tube stop this morning because I was so entranced).

Ginger Root Bundt Cake
(adapted from Short & Sweet by Dan Lepard)

For the cake:
2 eggs
100g dark brown sugar
100g black treacle
150ml sunflower oil
150g parsnip, roughly grated*
4 chunks of stem ginger, chopped
75g plain flour
75g plain wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger

For the drizzle:
50g icing sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon (approx)
finely grated rind of 1/4 lemon

Carefully grease a bundt pan with butter and dust with flour, making sure you get into the cracks and don't forget the central funnel (you can also use a normal 20cm round cake tin - line it with greaseproof paper). Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan).

Separate one of the eggs and set aside the white. Place the yolk and the other egg into the bowl of a stand mixer with the dark brown sugar and whip for 5 minutes - the mixture should be paler and have increased in volume. Add the treacle and oil and whip again until smooth and fully combined. Add the parsnip and ginger and stir to combine. Sieve in the flour, wholemeal flour, baking power, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger and fold in. Finally whisk the remaining egg white to soft peak and gently fold into the mixture.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer can be inserted into the middle and come out clean or with a few small crumbs. Turn out immediately and let the cake drop down from the pan in its own time (a little boiling water can be poured onto a towel to place underneath the rack if you like - the steam seems to help it unmould).

While the cake cools, sieve the icing sugar into a small bowl. Finely grate the lemon into the bowl. Add the juice litle by little until you have a smooth icing that dribbles off the spoon. Place the cooled cake onto a plate. Either drizzle onto the cake with a spoon or place in a small piping bag.

*Dan suggests you can also use swedes or turnips. You can also use 100% wholemeal flour instead of a mixture.

(10-12 slices)

Sour Cream Chocolate Bundt Cake

During the 11 days of my exam period, I had a craving for a dark yet light chocolate cake with a sour cream tang. The day before my last exam, I bought the ingredients for this cake so I could make it once I had finished. I had been dreaming about the day I would finally finish my degree for months. I felt as if the moment I was told to stop writing the sun would suddenly start shining and life would start again, beautiful, vibrant and exciting. I daydreamed about idyllic summer days with perfect friendships and relationships and lots of cake and laughter. 

Unfortunately, as something deep inside me suspected, finishing was not all I wanted. I sat in the examination room with my heart thumping loudly inside my chest, waiting for those last few minutes to tick away. Nothing changed when the clock hand hit 12:30. I had a nice afternoon but the elation never came. I was utterly exhausted. The next morning things started changing out of my control and my daydreams started to fade quickly from sight. Instead everything around me blazing into colour, I felt desaturated even further and stuck in a bleak landscape I didn't have the energy to escape.

Though my life is not how I imagined it to be a few weeks ago, I cannot say that I am not hopeful for the future. I am proud of myself for what I have achieved in finishing my degree. I have learnt valuable lessons in the past ten days. I believe in taking the best from a situation and that everything happens for a reason. As every day passes the exhaustion seeps away and I feel stronger. I have many exciting challenges and adventures to come and, I'm sure, many bright happy days. 

As it happens, I have had one part of my wish: lots of cake. Exactly a week after I had sat writing my last exam, I finally stood in my kitchen in Oxford making this cake. It's delicious and all I had hoped it might be. My 22nd birthday on Friday also had cake despite the sad notes that hung over the day. I'll post about my birthday cake and another treat I made while recovering in Switzerland soon. Posting should generally resume, as my life is slowly beginning to. 

Sour Cream Chocolate Bundt Cake

(cake adapted from Citrus and Candy, icing adapted from Joy the Baker)

For the cake:

3 eggs

240g sour cream

55g best quality cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

230g plain flour

150g caster sugar

100g soft brown sugar

1 and 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

225g unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 175C. Grease the bundt tin well with butter. Lightly beat the eggs in a large jug then whisk the sour cream, cocoa and vanilla in until combined.  In a mixer whisk the flour, sugars, baking powder, bicarb and salt together until evenly distributed. Add the soft butter and half the cocoa mix and slowly whisk until nearly combined, then increase the speed until fully incorporated. Slowly add more of the cocoa mix from the jug until fully incorporated. Transfer the mixture to the bundt tin and tap it a few times on your worktop to flatten and evenly distribute the mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes - it's ready when a skewer/tester can be removed cleanly from the centre of part of the ring. Leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. 

For the icing:

35g chocolate

40g butter

75g icing sugar

35ml sour cream

15ml coffee

(1 tbsp milk)

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove the water from the pan then melt the butter in the pan. Slowly add the melted butter to the chocolate while whisking. Add the sour cream and sift half of the sugar over the top and then whisk to combine (I did the s.c. first without the sugar and it went a bit funny, so I recommend following Joy's instructions and doing them together). Add the rest of the sugar and whisk again. Finally add the coffee and whisk once more. If too stiff, add a tbsp of milk and whisk again. 

(Serves 12-14)

Spiced Caramel and Pear Bundt Cake

As my blog title suggests, I love pears. Pears with caramel is a combination I've tried before (see Pear and Caramel Cakes) and I've poached pears before (see Rosé Poached Pears) but I've never made anything quite like this. I think it's really a dessert cake, but it's pretty yummy at any time of day.

This cake started when mum came home with these absolutely gorgeous corella pears. They sat in the fruit bowl looking pretty while I deliberated for ages over what to do with them. In the end I googled corella pear recipes and came up with this.  I felt awful peeling them - the skins are just so pretty.

The original recipe calls for four big sponge cakes sandwiched with whipped creme fraiche and cream, topped with the pears.  Instead I decided to give my new bundt tin a whirl and arrange the pears in the centre. I served it with a good dollop of creme fraiche instead of including another element.

A few days before I decided to make this cake, I bought a jar of star anise. This provided the perfect opportunity to try it out - I don't think I'd even smelt it before - though I know aniseed as a flavour from things like aniseed balls.

Before I saw this recipe I had never thought of turning a poaching sugar syrup into a caramel. I hadn't even made or tasted a spiced caramel before. Both were great - I'll be using them again.  

Instead of using dessert wine in the caramel I used pear juice. I didn't want it to be alcoholic and I thought it would be nice to increase the pear aspect. I switched the volumes around - there was more dessert wine than cream. I might slightly decrease the liquids added to make a thicker caramel - if you want to do the same, I'd recommend using 100ml of cream instead of 120ml. 

The cake itself was nice, but mainly served as a base for the rest of the dessert. I halved the original recipe and I ended up with far too much - I had another whole tin full. I've therefore put a quarter recipe below, which should be about right. 

Overall, this made for a lovely dessert with friends. I'm very glad I made it and discovered the various methods below - the caramel and pears were fantastic. 

Spiced Caramel and Pear Bundt Cake
(Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller, see here)

For the pears:

375g granulated sugar

juice and rind of a lemon

juice and rind of an orange

1 cinnamon quill

1 star anise

1/2 vanilla bean

500 ml water

3 corella pears

Put all the ingredients except the pears into a big saucepan. Put over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Meanwhile, peel the pears, split them in half and then use a melon baller to scoop the pips etc out. When the syrup is ready, put the pears into the saucepan. Cover with a circle of parchment paper and weigh down with a plate. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes until the pears are tender.

120 ml double cream

90 ml pear juice

15g butter

When you are ready to make the caramel, remove the pears from the syrup to another bowl. Strain the liquid into a deep sided pan (or the same big saucepan). Heat over medium-high until the mixture turns a deep golden caramel - this takes about 20 minutes or so. Whisk in the cream, then the pear juice, then the butter. Put the pears back into the pan and glaze for a few minutes. Remove to a bowl to cool.  

For the cake:

3 eggs

25g caster sugar

55g brown sugar

seeds of half a vanilla bean

75g plain flour, sifted

1/4 tsp baking powder

30g butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a bundt tin by buttering and flouring. Put the eggs, sugars and vanilla seeds into a mixer and beat until it has tripled in volume and holds a trail - this took me about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter and set aside to cool. When ready, sift over the flour and baking powder and fold until just combined. Finally add the butter and fold in carefully. Pour into the tin and put into the oven. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and springy to touch. Remove from the oven and let cool in the tin for ten minutes before turning out. Brush the whole cake with some of the caramel to glaze. Serve slightly warm with the caramel pears spooned into the middle and the spare caramel on the side in a jug. 

(Serves 6 with some cake leftovers)