Hold On! Do Not Panic! This is not a giant red asteroid about to hit the earth!
It is, on the other hand, a very close-up iphone photo of a Texas Rio Star Grapefruit that I just turned into the most delicious upside down cake.
Last year about this time I was writing about Blood Oranges and baking little tartlets. This year I have turned to Texas Rio Star Grapefruits & Upside-Down Cakes. Deep winter is the only time I can find these ruby red-orange grapefruits in our local markets.
An Upside-Down Cake is such a classic and simple, homey & cozy dessert…the perfect foil for this jewel of the citrus world.
This recipe was inspired by a recipe for upside-down Blood Orange Cake I saw in The New York Times, Wednesday, January 16, 2013 in an article by Melissa Clark. Here is my version using Texas Rio Star Grapefruits .
Here is what you will need:
1 1/2 stick of Butter softened + 1/2 stick for baking pan
2/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 TBSP freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
1/2 cup White whole-wheat Flour
1 cup Yellow Cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Generous pinch of Sea or Kosher Salt
1 cup Raw Sugar
4 Eggs
1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 TBSP grated Rio Star Grapefruit peel
1 TBSP Vanilla Extract
Here is how you make this cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the 1/2 stick butter over medium heat in a 10 inch iron skillet. Remove from heat. Stir the dark brown sugar & lemon juice into the melted butter. Set aside.
2. Slice off the top and bottom of each of the Grapefruits. Cut the peel & pith away from the Grapefruit. Cut peeled Grapefruit into 1/4″ circles. Remove any seeds.
3. Arrange Grapefruit slices over the bottom of the iron skillet covering the butter-sugar-lemon juice mixture.
4. In a bowl mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder & salt with a whisk. Using a mixer, blend together in a large mixing bowl the 1 1/2 stick softened butter & raw sugar. Scrape down side of bowl when needed. Add eggs one at a time mixing well between each addition. Add zest, yogurt & vanilla extract. Add flour mixture by 1/2 cupfuls at a time to the butter-sugar-egg mixture until well mixed. Do not over-mix. Batter will be thick. Scrape batter into the skillet over the grapefruit slices spreading out to edges and smoothing top of batter.
5. Bake for about 40-45 minutes until the center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake for a few minutes in the pan.
6. Invert cake upside-down on a large plate or platter and serve warm or at room temperature.
Here, have a bite….
This is a very moist cake, with a slight bit of crunch from the cornmeal, very citrusy and not too sweet. The colors are to die for and will make you very happy in these dark days of February.
Drink it or eat it, but get some Vitamin C however you can!
