Grapefruit cake

I've been to the Vegetarian Cookery School in Bath a few times, and I almost always love everything we cook.

So it's a bit of a mystery why, when I get home full of new ideas and enthusiasm, I don't cook much of it. You know what that makes me? A daft sod. 

A few weeks back, I was going to visit my granddad, who has a grand total of two and a half teeth and a fondness for cake. 

Inspiration struck - I would make a cake for him, and one soft enough he could gum away on it happily. 

I knew exactly the cake I would make too: the almond and orange cake I made when I did the vegan desserts and pudding course. It was rich, moist and distinctly un-tooth-troubling mix of almonds, oranges, yoghurt and other bits and pieces (the recipe is here if you want to give it a go).

It takes a while to make - you have to boil the oranges with spices for a while until they fall apart, then mix with ground almonds, cornmeal, baking powder, and sugar, and bake for 45 minutes or so.

I remember when we made the cake, the cook in charge said if we fancied trying it another way, we make it with grapefruit instead of orange. And that's exactly what I did. 


I followed the recipe diligently, but added a bit of extra yoghurt in for maximum granddad compatibility.

It turned out a bit too grapefruit, and a bit too squidgy - it fell apart as I cut it. Disaster!  Turns out that getting experimental is fine, but when you've met perfection - and this cake recipe is pretty darn close to it - you shouldn't mess with it!

The granddad visit got postponed, though, so I've no idea if he would have liked it. But the next time I make it, I'm pretty sure I won't be moving even a hair's-breadth from the recipe.

Comments

  1. Aw, too bad that the substitution didn't work out! It was sweet of you to make a cake for your granddad, though, even if the execution went awry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe you could layer it with ice cream and make parfaits. Or turn it into pudding. Or use it to make bread pudding. Hope you schedule another visit soon, and make the orange cake. Your Granddad will no doubt love it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aw, that's a nice granddaughter story! Even though granddad didn't have a chance to eat it, I'm sure he would have appreciated it very much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It sounds delicious either way. I wish I were British and could call myself a daft sod and say words like squidgy and make grapefruit cake.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So nice of you to want to make something for Grandpa! Interesting idea to go with the grapefruit instead of the orange, I have a habit of swapping out ingredients in recipes too. Still looks good though, I second the idea of serving it with ice cream. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is so lovely that you made a cake for your granddad! My granddad is in Taiwan, so faraway....and I'm in Oregon :( I love citrus cakes, but I never had grapefruit-based cakes, so that sounds pretty good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love lemon and orange in cakes but would never have thought of using grapefruit! Sounds really good though. If you've any of the squidy one left would it work in trifle?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love grapefruit. Love Bath! And what the hell? Add more yogurt because I love it too! I'm sorry your recipe didn't turn out as you had planned -- and maybe your granpa would not have liked it. But I'm certain I would have! My new cookbook, incidentally, has a recipe for Grapefruit Tart using pink grapefruit. For us grapefruit lovers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Too bad about the grapefruit cake - love the idea! I really want to have a baking success with grapefruit one day, but they seem kinda fickle. Oh well, at least you know the original recipe works!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Squidgy or not, I'd still eat it! Sounds like a good mix even though it didn't turn out how you planned.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts