Cast Iron and Wine: Grapefruit Olive Oil Bundt Cake

One of the great things about moving to Texas is the grapefruit. Seriously. Texas pink grapefruit are so delicious. They are fragrant and surprisingly sweet, as grapefruits go. Plus, they are inexpensive here. So, I end up buying them in 5 lb bags. I, um, I mean we, have been going through them so fast I may start buying the 20 lb bags. I think it's safe to say, I won't end up with scurvy in the near future.

With all these grapefruit laying around, I figured it would be good to experiment and since it's National Bundt Cake Day today, I came up with this beauty. I served this for desert, but I think it would also be great as a breakfast or tea time treat.

This cake isn't too sweet, has a nice crumb and is, delightfully, subtle. If you'd like the cake to have more "punch", feel free to double the grapefruit zest and cardamom. I think it's perfect as is.

Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake with Cardamom
Adapted from Food & Wine

5 large eggs, room temp*
1 cup sugar
Zest of 2 pink grapefruits (approx. 1 Tablespoon)
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil**
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Juice of 1 pink grapefruit (approx. 1/3 cup)
Powdered sugar, for sifting on cake

*If you are impatient, as I am, place cold eggs in a bowl of hot tap water for 10 minutes.

**Yes, you read that right. It sounds weird, but it works. Make sure you use an extra-virgin olive oil you like the flavor of. The fruitiness does come through in the cake.

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 10" Bundt pan. Don't skimp on the greasing. My cake, almost, didn't release from the pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Place eggs, sugar and zest in a bowl and mix until combined.

Slowly add the olive oil. Mix until creamy.

Add the dry ingredients slowly. I did this in three increments, allowing the the flour to mix in before adding more. Add juice and mix until combined.