WHB #240. Recipe: grapefruit syrup cake

I have the pleasure of hosting weekend herb blogging #240. This event is going well under the care of the lovely Haalo of cook almost anything at least once.

This week, I come with a simple but delicious cake made from grapefruit.

I adore citrus fruits and grapefruit is no exception. Actually i prefer ruby grapefruit juice to orange juice anytime. There's something about the tangy and slightly bitter note of grapefruit that really appeals to me.

This grapefruit cake is something I've wanted to make for a while. It's based on an excellent lime syrup cake from Neil Perry's 'the food I love'. It is a really simple cake to make - no creaming, no whipping required.

The cake is as wonderful as I remember it. The citrus fragrance is there. And the syrup does have that tangy goodness, giving the cake a sweet-sour balance. A simple cake that is perfect with a warm cup of tea.

Grapefruit syrup cake

Ingredients
350g castor sugar
300g self rising flour
90g desiccated coconut
zest of 1 grapefruit
250g butter, melted
2 eggs
250ml milk

Grapefruit + lemon syrup
225g castor sygar
zest of one lime
Juice of 2 grapefruits + juice of 1 lime

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease 20cm square cake tin. Line base and side with baking paper, extending 2cm above the side. (Or better still, use a spring form pan - grease and line)

Sift together sugar + flour. Mix in the coconut and zest. Stir in the butter. Combine the egg + milk and add to the bowl. Mix until smoith.

Spoon mixture to the tin and bake for around 1 hour (check with a skewer to the center of the cake). If the top of the cake browns too quickly when baking, cover with foil and bake until cooked through.

Meanwhile, prepare the syrup: Put the sugar and 185ml water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar is fully dissolved. Add the lime jest and juice, boil and reduce the heat. Simmer, uncovered for 8 mins. Strain.

Remove the cake from the oven. While the cake is hot, use a skewer to poke a few holes evenly over the cake. Slowly pour the hot syrup over the cake. Let it stand for 20 mins. Then turn the cake out onto a wire rack lined with baking paper and cool {be careful not to break the cake - using a springform tin is much easier}.