While finishing up a great lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Austin,  I was presented with the difficult decision on choosing which dessert to share with my good friend and fellow foodie Heather; Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake was the special of the day.  Honestly, I turned up my nose at the idea of a grapefruit cake!  Heather was shocked that I had not ever tried an olive oil cake and  insisted we order a slice but,  just to be safe we ordered a back up dessert!  Well, I took one bite and fell in love!

I ran across the following recipe which was adapted from Melissa Clark’s blood orange olive oil cake.   The cake has a great texture and isn’t overwhelmingly heavy or sweet. It is a wonderful treat to enjoy at mid-day with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

As I am an empty nester, a large bundt cake is just too much cake for the two of us.  I baked this recipe in three mini bundt pans; kept one at home and took two to the office to share with friends. These make beautiful edible gifts!

For the cake:
2 grapefruits
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar
juice from one of the grapefruits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard bundt pan.

Zest the 2 grapefruits into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar to the bowl, and using your fingers, rub the zest and sugar together until they’re well-incorporated to infuse the sugar with the grapefruit essential oils.

Halve one of the grapefruits and squeeze its juice into a measuring cup. Add buttermilk to juice in the measuring cup until there is a total of about 2/3 cup of liquid (you may not need the entire 1/2 cup of buttermilk, depending on the size of your grapefruit).Pour the grapefruit juice/buttermilk mixture into the bowl with the zest and sugar and whisk well. Whisk in the eggs and olive oil.

In another bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, until it is golden brown on top until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. When done, remove the cake to a rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Run a knife around the edges and unmold the cake onto a cake platter.

For the glaze, halve and squeeze the juice from the remaining grapefruit into a small sauce pan.  Add the brown sugar and simmer just to dissolve the sugar.   Using a toothpick, prick the cake all over, slowly brush the glaze over the entire cake.

Enjoy!