There's no reason Moms can't have it all tomorrow.
We just may need to log some extra hours today to prepare for it.
A half a grapefruit is nice.
A grapefruit cake buoyed by tangy buttermilk, sunny olive oil, toasty almonds, and rivulets of glaze is better.
Especially with coffee that we measure out to octane-strength the night before and set on a timer.
Place some berries under a blinking neon sign in the fridge and then--in half the time and with half the clatter and half the crumbs--a most civilized, far-from-ordinary, dessert-for-breakfast will be ours to savor in bed.
Or the closet.
After all, isn't setting our loved ones up for success what Moms do best?
Grapefruit-almond buttermilk cake
Makes one loaf
Adapted loosely from smitten kitchen (which was adapted loosely from Ina Garten)
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. + a pinch salt, divided
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
- 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
- zest and juice of one large grapefruit, divided
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 6 shakes of grapefruit bitters (optional)
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan--tilting and smacking it to get flour in every crevice without dumping it all over your front.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, turbinado sugar, grapefruit zest, and almond extract.
Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in batches and then call for your rubber scraper. Use it to fold in the olive oil.
Pour the beautiful batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the loaf's belly button comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, juice the zested grapefruit into a liquid measuring cup. Siphon off 3 Tbsp. into a small bowl to use for the glaze. Add the rest (anywhere from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup depending on how mammoth your fruit is) to a small saucepan with the granulated sugar and the grapefruit bitters (if using). Warm the mixture over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves and it turns from cloudy to clear.
When the cake is out of the oven, let it rest in its pan for 10 minutes before running a knife along the edge and ushering it out, gingerly, onto a baking rack set over a sheet pan. While it's still toasty, use your cake tester (or a bamboo skewer) to poke 12-15 holes into the cake, stopping two-thirds of the way down. Slowly pour the grapefruit syrup over the cake, allowing it to seep into the holes. Let the soused cake cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the glaze by whisking those 3 Tbsp. of grapefruit juice with the confectioners' sugar and a pinch of salt. Also use this time to lightly toast your almonds.
Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and immediately shower it with nuts, love, and praise.