Recently I noticed that grapefruit and coffee compliment each other really well. That got me thinking about the possibility of a grapefruit cake, and this is what I came up with:

Grapefruit Poppyseed Cake

It’s one of those dense, rustic cakes that I love, with the poppy seeds yielding a subtle crunchiness. The yogurt and olive oil provide richness and complexity without overpowering the delicate grapefruit flavor. Whipped cream flavored with a touch of honey and fresh grapefruit curd are the perfect accompaniments. That, and a cup of coffee.

Grapefruit Poppy Seed Cake (makes two 8-inch round cakes)
I started with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but if you compare the two you’ll see I modified it a lot.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
juice of one grapefruit
zest of one grapefruit
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 8 inch round pans.

Sift together the flour and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs, then add the grapefruit juice and zest. Add the olive oil and yogurt and mix until well blended. Slowly add the flour mixture until it is all incorporated. Fold in the poppy seeds.

Pour the batter into the two prepared pans and bake about 45 minutes, until the cake is just starting to crisp at the edges and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then remove from pans and cool completely.

Grapefruit Curd
For this recipe I took my basic lemon curd and swapped out the lemons for grapefruit.

3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp grapefruit zest
2 eggs
2/3 cup fresh grapefruit juice
2 tbsp butter

Combine the sugar, zest, and eggs in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring continuously. Cook until the sugar dissolves and mixture is light in color (about 3 minutes). Stir in grapefruit juice and butter; cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes or until the mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon. Cool. Cover and chill (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

Honey Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp honey

Whisk together the cream and honey. With an electric mixer at high speed, whip up the cream mixture until peaks form.