基本柚子蛋糕 Basic Grapefruit Cake

Moist and sufficiently sweet. This is the best grapefruit cake ever. 

Disclaimer: This is a recipe modified from Thomas Keller's Grapefruit Cake. See the original recipe. 

It takes me awhile to perfect this recipe to the degree that Honey K and I absolutely love.  This is a very moist cake with intense grapefruit sensation. You can definitely smell and taste how wonderfully the grapefruit syrup and the cake marry each other. I have tried many ways to adjust the original recipe as it is too sweet for us but we love the fragrant of the grapefruit in this cake. So, I remove the icing and reduce the sugar level. I attempted making a honey grapefruit cake in the past but it was slightly more complicated than necessary. It was also difficult to bake with honey as it made the cake easily burnt. Anyway, here, I present this easier version with slight adjustment from the original recipe. Basically, I added more grapefruit zest because I love the fragrance of grapefruit. I reduced the sugar to 2/3 cup. I used vanilla soy milk instead of milk. Everyone loves this cake!


材料 Ingredients﹕
低筋面粉 Cake Flour -  2 cups
發粉 Baking powder - 1 3/4 tsp
鹽 Salt - 1 tsp
蛋 Eggs - 2 
糖 Sugar - 2/3 cup
蜂蜜 Honey - 1/8 cup
香草精油 Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
柚子皮 grapefruit zest - 1 grapefruit
低脂牛奶 2 % skim milk/ 豆漿 Vanilla Soymilk- 1 cup
芥花子油 Canola Oil - 3/4 cup

基本柚子蛋糕的做法﹕
1. 把烤箱預熱 350F.
Preheat the oven into 350F.
2. 混合低筋面粉、發粉、柚子皮和鹽，放在一旁，備用。
Mix together cake flour,  baking powder, grapefruit zest, and salt. Put them aside.
3. 把蛋、糖和蜂蜜打在一起，加入芥花子油 和香草精油，再倒入牛奶，繼續搞拌至均衡，然後加入 (2)搞拌，注意千萬不要過份搞拌。
Mix together egg, sugar and honey. Add in canola oil and vanilla extract. Pour in milk or soymilk and mix well. Then, Pour in (2) and stir them together. Avoid over-stirring.
4. 把 (3)倒進一個長方蛋糕盆 (約5 x 9吋) ，放入烤箱烤30分鐘，然後轉一下烤盆，再烤30分鐘。*在長方蛋糕盆下放一盆水可以保持蛋糕的濕度，確保蛋糕不會烤得太乾。
Pour (3) into a rectangular baking tin (approx 5" x 9"). Bake about 30 minutes and turn the baking tin to the other side. 
* Put a tray of water underneath the baking tin will allow the cake to be moist.
5. 蛋糕出烤箱後，用筷子穿進蛋糕中(不要穿過底部)，然後慢慢拿出來，這樣可以檢查蛋糕是否完全熟透。如果蛋糕熟透的話，出來的筷子應該沒有東西(或只有很少的蛋糕碎) 黏著。
When the cake is done, use a chopstick to test if the cake is cooked. Poke into the middle of the cake. If it is cooked, your chopstick should come out mostly clean.
*6. 最後，用筷子在蛋糕針上一些小孔 (約十來多個)，然後按個人喜好，塗上適量的柚子糖漿，柚子糖漿會從一個個小孔滲透蛋糕中。
*Optional: poke several holes on the cake (about 10), depending on personal preferences. Brush on the top with grapefruit syrup when the cake is still warm.

Serve with fruit tea or flora tea. What a wonderful afternoon snack.  

柚子糖漿的做法﹕ Grapefruit syrup recipe 
*在烤的時候，可以準備約1/3杯的鮮柚子果汁，然後加入1/3的白糖煮至糖完全溶化。
When the cake is baking in the oven, prepare 1/3 cup of grapefruit juice and add in 1/3 sugar. Cook them well and until the sugar is dissolved. [I was lazy. I just put them in the microwave for this process.]