This light summery grapefruit coconut cake is perfect for citrus lovers.
Full disclosure, grapefruits are my favorite fruit. In college, I would go through a 5-pound bag of them in a week (just ask my roommate!). I find few things more refreshing than slicing a grapefruit in half, grabbing a grapefruit spoon and eating the halves as they are, no sugar on top. But I’ve found something that’s even more refreshing than that… and that’s this grapefruit coconut loaf cake. In general I find grapefruit desserts to be cloyingly sweet or too bitter. But this super tender, zesty, and moist cake hits the sweet spot (no pun intended).
If you love grapefruits, then this is the dessert for you. This cake is great as is or you can quickly whisk together some grapefruit juice and powdered sugar to make a sweet and zesty layer of frosting to layer on top.
Ingredients and Process
For this recipe, I recommend zesting two grapefruits over a medium or large bowl. Right after zesting, I recommend grabbing a separate small bowl or container and juicing both grapefruits (slice in half and squeeze by hand). You should have about one cup of juice but if it’s slightly less or more, that is fine. Set the juice aside as we’ll be using it later for the batter and also for the frosting. Going back to the zest bowl, , add about 1/4 cup of the 1 cup sugar to the zest and rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers. This will help release some of the citrus oils and nicely infuse the sugar with some grapefruit flavors. Set aside roughly 1 tbsp of this zest sugar mixture for later use in the frosting (just set it aside). To the remaining zest/sugar mixture, add the rest of the sugar as well as the butter. Using a handheld mixer, combine until lighter and fluffier (about 4 minutes). Next, add in the two eggs and mix together for about 2 minutes. Then, add in 1/2 cup of the reserved grapefruit juice and mix together for 1 minute.
Next, add in the flour, baking powder, and shredded coconut and mix until just combined. Now we’re on to the baking stage. Take a standard loaf pan and butter the bottom and sides of the pan with about 1 tbsp of butter. Then, pour 1 tbsp of sugar into the pan then lift the pan with both of your hands in order to tap it on all sides so that the sugar coats the bottom and about an inch of the sides.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 mins until golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted into it comes out clean.
Quick Citrus Frosting
Let the grapefruit coconut loaf cool, around 45 mins. Once cool, take a medium bowl and pour 1 cup of powdered sugar as well as the remaining zest mixture and 1/4 cup of the grapefruit juice together. Whisk for about 30 seconds until a frosting starts to come together that’s relatively runny so that it will be easy to drizzle on the cake. Feel free to skip this step or to just drizzle the frosting on the cake. I opted to coat the entire top of it here. Let it stand and harden a tad for about 15 mins. Slice up and enjoy!
How to Store the Grapefruit Coconut Loaf Cake
This cake is best eaten the day of or the next day, but you can also cut up some slices, wrap them up individually and freeze for later. They taste just as great as they did on day 1!
Grapefruit Coconut Cake
Equipment
- Loaf Pan standard size
- zest grater optional (but makes life way easier)
- Hand mixer optional
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 grapefruits for zesting and juicing
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter room temp
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ⅓ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 cup powdered sugar for the optional grapefruit zest icing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare baking pan by coating the bottom and halfway up the sides with butter (about 1 tbsp butter) and then sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar in pan and tap pan on all sides so that sugar coats all the butter.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, shredded coconut, and baking powder.
- In a large bowl, use a zest grater to zest both grapefruits. In a separate small or medium bowl, juice the zested grapefruits. Set aside for later.
- To the zest, add ¼ cup of the sugar and with your fingers mash the sugar with the zest so that the sugar coats all the zest flakes. Set aside 1 tbsp of zest mixture to use later for the frosting.
- To the large bowl with zest, add the remaining ¾ cup of the sugar and room temp butter. Cream together until paler and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one by one and making sure that each is incorporated into the batter.
- Take ½ cup of the reserved grapefruit juice and add it to the batter. Keep the remaining juice for later use in the frosting.
- Once juice and eggs are mixed into the batter, take the flour mixture and in two batches, pour into the butter batter. Try not to over mix.
- Pour into buttered and sugared loaf pan and place in oven for 30-35 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or sharp knife into batter to see if it comes out clean (if not, add a few more minutes to the bake time).
- Let cool once removed from oven (about 45 mins).
- For the frosting: whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, remaining grapefruit zest and ¼ cup grapefruit juice to produce a white and runny frosting.
- Using a spoon or spatula, drizzle the grapefruit frosting onto the cake, making sure the top is completely covered. Or if you prefer a minimal frost top, use as little or as much frosting as you like.
- Let frosted cake stand (about 30 mins). Cut and serve. Cake can be wrapped in cling wrap or stored in airtight container for up to 3 days. It can also be cut and stored in the freezer for future use.