Super Moist Orange and Pink Grapefruit Cake

Easy recipe, only 10-mins to prepare! 

An earthenware dish sits on a rustic wooden counter with a freshly baked orange and pink grapefruit cake covered in baking paper.

As we’re right in the peak grapefruit season it’s well worth exploring a few tasty grapefruit dessert recipes. This recipe combines the sweetness of fresh oranges with the tangy tart flavors of pink grapefruit to make an irresistible grapefruit cake

Perfect as a mid-afternoon snack, a special treat, or just because it’s grapefruit season, this delicious grapefruit cake recipe (bizcocho de pomelo) can be whipped up in around 10 minutes and is ready to eat in an hour.

Easy Dessert Recipe | Authentic Spanish Cuisine | Spanish dessert | Fruit Recipe | Grapefruit Recipe | Orange Recipe | Cake in an Hour | Baked Recipe

Serving:

8-10 slices

Ready in:

Under 1 hour

Skill level:

Super easy

Serve with:

Alone or fresh cream 

Grapefruit dessert recipes

Grapefruits had something of an awakening in the early 80s and I still remember as a kid receiving half a grapefruit sprinkled with sugar as a tasty summer breakfast served alongside a refreshing glass of OceanSpray Ruby Red Original grapefruit juice (Hey, it was the 80s!). 

With those sugar-laced days being well behind me, I’m now looking for a more healthy way to enjoy grapefruit and this humble cake is a great option (and far less sugar!).

When is grapefruit season? 

In the USA, the best grapefruit are grown in Florida or Texas and can be found at their peak sweetest and juiciest around March to May each year. 

Pink Grapefruit

Pink grapefruit is actually one of the first grapefruits you’re likely to find and often starts appearing as early as October each year. Pink grapefruit is the most popular variety grown in the USA and a majority of pink grapefruit production comes from the southern states of Texas, Arizona, California, and Florida.

Grapefruit benefits  

Grapefruits have been part of the Mediterranean diet for a long time and offer a fantastic range of health benefits. Grapefruits are low in calories, high in antioxidants, and a good source of beta-carotene, which is known to reduce chronic diseases such as cancer.

Grapefruit (in particular red and pink grapefruit) are rich in potassium and a good source of fiber, which many health experts agree help manage blood pressure and cholesterol levels. 

Besides being one of your 5 a day, a 3 oz/80 gram serving of grapefruit (around half a grapefruit) contains the following nutrients:

  • 24 calories/101 KJ
  • 0.6g protein
  • 0.1g fat
  • 5.4g carbohydrates
  • 1.4g fiber
  • 160mg potassium
  • 29mg vitamin C
A slice of orange and grapefruit cake sits on a white plate and is garnished with a slice of candied orange

How to make orange and pink grapefruit cake

 

Equipment

  • 1 cake tin 12×9 inches / 30×23 cm in diameter and 2-3 inches / 5-7.5 cm deep 
  • Blender

Ingredients

Method (step-by-step)

(makes 1 cake around 12 x 9 inches / 30 x 23 cm))

  • 1 orange with skin (without seeds)
  • 1 pink grapefruit 
  • 3 eggs
  • 2.3 fl. oz/70 ml olive oil
  • 6 oz/170 g sugar 
  • 9 oz/250 g self-raising flour

Note: If you don’t have self-raising flour you can easily make it by using plain flour and baking powder to a ratio of 1.75 oz / 50 grams of plain flour to 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

    Method (step-by-step)

    • Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C 
    • Add the oil, sugar, and eggs to a blender. 
    • Wash your orange and grapefruit under running water and pat dry.
    • Chop up the orange into slices with the skin still on and remove any seeds. Add the seedless slices to the blender.
    • Cut the grapefruit in half. Remove the skin from one half and discard. Add the skinless half and the half with skin into the blender.
    • Blend ingredients until smooth (around 5 minutes)
    • Next sieve the self-raising flour into a large bowl. 
    • Slowly add the liquid mixture from the blender to the flour and continue to stir until the mixture and flour are combined. 
    • Cover a cake tin with some baking paper and pour the mixture into the tin. 
    • Bake at 350°F/180°C for around 40 minutes (slightly less time for a fan-forced oven).
    A slice of orange and grapefruit cake sits on a white plate and is garnished with a slice of candied orange

    Super Moist Orange and Pink Grapefruit Cake

    Byron
    Perfect as a mid-afternoon snack, a special treat, or just because it's grapefruit season, this delicious grapefruit cake recipe can be whipped up in around 10 minutes and is ready to eat in an hour.
    4.67 from 9 votes
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 40 minutes
    resting time 8 minutes
    Total Time 58 minutes
    Course afternoon tea, bake, cake, Dessert, healthy, Snack, treat
    Cuisine American, Authentic Spanish recipe, Spain, spanish
    Servings 8 slices
    Calories 302 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 cake tin 12x9 inches / 30x23cm in diameter and 2-3 inches / 5-7.5 cm deep
    • Blender

    Ingredients

    • 1 orange with skin without seeds
    • 1 pink grapefruit
    • 3 eggs
    • 2.3 fl. oz/70 ml olive oil
    • 6 oz/170 g sugar
    • 9 oz/250 g self-raising flour

    Note: If you don’t have self-raising flour you can easily make it by using plain flour and baking powder to a ratio of 50 grams of plain flour to 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C
    • Add the oil, sugar, and eggs to a blender.
    • Wash your orange and grapefruit under running water and pat dry.
    • Chop up the orange into slices with the skin still on and remove any seeds. Add the seedless slices to the blender.
    • Cut the grapefruit in half. Remove the skin from one half and discard. Add the skinless half and the half with skin into the blender.
    • Blend ingredients until smooth (around 5 minutes)
    • Next sieve the self-raising flour into a large bowl.
    • Slowly add the liquid mixture from the blender to the flour and continue to stir until the mixture and flour are combined.
    • Cover a cake tin with some baking paper and pour the mixture into the tin.
    • Bake at 350°F/180°C for around 40 minutes (slightly less time for a fan-forced oven).

    Notes

    Orange and grapefruit cake

    Orange and grapefruit cake

    Keyword authentic Spanish cuisine, Baked, cake, citrus, dessert, Dessert recipe, grapefruit, orange, pink grapefruit, spanish, Spanish dessert