Grapefruit Cake Loaf With Rosemary

Grapefruit cake is a delicious olive oil cake that's moist, easy to make, and is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. The zesty grapefruit glaze really helps the grapefruit flavor shine. This recipe is dairy free with a gluten free option.

Author: Lindsey Jenkins

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all purpose flour or GF flour if needed, see notes below
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt reduce to ¼ teaspoon if using any other kind
¾ cup organic cane sugar
½ cup olive oil
2 large eggs room temperature
½ cup plain unsweetened dairy free yogurt I used Cocojune
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grapefruit zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

Grapefruit Glaze

½ cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons grapefruit zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed grapefruit juice plus more if needed to thin

Instructions

Prep pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F/175ºC. Grease a 9x5 or 8x4 loaf pan with oil or a nonstick baking spray. Alternatively you can line it with parchment paper with some overhang.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
“Cream” together the egg and oil. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and olive oil using a whisk until well combined.
Mix wet ingredients. Whisk the room temperature eggs into the sugar and oil mixture until smooth then mix in unsweetened yogurt, vanilla extract, grapefruit zest, and grapefruit juice. Mix in 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary.
Fold the wet into the dry. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and fold them together using a silicone spatula until just combined, don't over mix the batter.
Transfer to a loaf pan and bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-48 minutes (check after 45) or when a toothpick/the tip of a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool. Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the loaf from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, grapefruit zest, and grapefruit juice. Thin with a little more grapefruit juice if needed. When the loaf is nearly cool, drizzle it on top of the bread, slice and enjoy!

Notes

See the blog post for step-by-step photos, helpful tips, storage, and recipe FAQs.

Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations

Make it gluten free - Use gluten-free 1:1 flour (either Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur) in place of the all-purpose flour. If using a different brand, make sure it contains xanthan gum for the best results.

No organic cane sugar? - use white granulated sugar.

Not dairy free? – use plain Greek yogurt or sour cream.

Add ins - crushed toasted nuts on top after you add the glaze such as pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts or walnuts, garnish with thin grapefruit slices or grapefruit segments.

Variations

Lime - use a combination of lime zest and juice along with grapefruit zest and juice.

Orange - use a combination of orange zest and juice along with grapefruit zest and juice.

Lemon - use a combination of lemon zest and juice along with grapefruit zest and juice.