Grapefruit, Rosemary, Olive Oil Cake

A textural dream falling somewhere between cake and scone and dotted with frosted rosemary: a winter dessert to wow

This cake has really rocked our socks. I first came across the original Ottolenghi recipe in the New York Times last year, which uses orange and looked like a beauty so I decided to give it a go. I thought the cake looked like it might be a bit dry and I wanted to doctor it up a bit. I made the cake in two 8 inch round pans and stacked them on top of each other with an orange-lemon curd in the middle. The result was super pretty and pretty tasty but honestly, I didn’t love how floral the orange and rosemary were together and my addition of curd was popular among my trial victims - but I didn’t like what it did to the texture of the cake after sitting a few hours. When I took to making it again this year I decided to stick to the simple bundt pan presentation but made the decision to swap out orange for grapefruit. The grapefruit was subtle but made for a deliciously fresh and light cake. The texture of the cake when made just according to the instructions is superb and begs no addition of curd. The original recipe calls for sour cream, I have used sour cream, yogurt, and a combination of the two due to what I had on hand at the time. I might say I have a slight preference for yogurt, but they surely do the same thing so whatever you have is just fine.

The texture of this cake is what makes it. It is wonderfully moist and has a great mouthfeel-reminiscent of a super light and airy scone. Make sure to follow the directions carefully, the 1 minute high speed whip at the end is especially important!

Please note: This recipe also works to make 6 mini bundt cakes. They will bake for 18 minutes.

Rosemary Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake

Original Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi for New York Times

Serves 8

Active time: 30 minutes, Total time: 1 1/2 hours

For the cake:

2 tbsp cold butter for greasing the pan

2 cups all purpose flour plus more for flouring the pan

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary leaves, lightly packed

zest of 1 large grapefruit, about 1 tbsp

10 small strips of grapefruit rind, optional, for decorating

2 large eggs

1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt or sour cream

For the icing:

4.5-5 tbsp grapefruit juice

2 cup’s confectioner’s sugar

For the crystalized rosemary:

1 egg white, lightly mixed

10 small sprigs rosemary

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Method:

Make the crystalized rosemary:

Set up a small assembly line. From left to right: Rosemary sprigs, a small bowl with the egg white, a saucer with the sugar on it, a cooling rack.

One at a time, dip each rosemary spring in the egg white, shake it off a little, roll it around in the sugar, tap off the excess, and set on the cooling rack to dry.

Ottolenghi recommends allowing 6 hours for these to dry, I have never had that much time. At least 1 hour is a good place to start. They will be fine.

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 325˚F

Liberally grease a bundt pan with 1 tbsp of butter, making sure to get all the little crevices. Place in the fridge to harden. After 10 minutes, grease the pan with the second tbsp of butter then flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, put the olive oil, sugar, rosemary, and grapefruit zest. Let this mixture sit for a few minutes to infuse a bit while you combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Give the flour mixture a brief whisk.

Mix the olive oil, sugar, rosemary, and zest with the whisk attachment on medium speed until well combined.

Add eggs one at a time and mix on medium for a minute or two until the mixture has become thick. Add the yogurt/sour cream and mix on low speed until just combined. scrape down the sides.

Add the dry ingredients and mix on high speed for 1 minute.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30- 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack.

Make the glaze:

Combine the grapefruit juice powdered sugar in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together until smooth.

Assemble the cake:

Once the cake is cooled, place the entire cooling rack, cake and all, over a cookie sheet or large plate. Pour the glaze over the cake allowing it to run off the sides.

Arrange the crystalized rosemary and grapefruit rind, if using decoratively on top.

Allow the icing to set before serving. Cake will keep well at room temperature for two days.