Grapefruit olive oil pound cake from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Wisdom from an Obsessive Home Cook (page 241) by Deb Perelman

Ingredients

all-purpose flour
Buy Now
- King Arthur Baking - United States
- Hayden Flour Mills - United States
confectioner's sugar
Show all ingredients...

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

TheresaH on March 15, 2026

Really moist cake. The grapefruit came through for me. Everyone that tried it liked it.
ellwell on January 22, 2026

Just okay for us. I used the yogurt option as I did not have buttermilk. Mine took only 45 minutes to cook and that may have been too long for optimum crumb. The cake itself did not taste grapefruit-y but the glaze added that element. If I made it again, I think I would throw in some poppy seeds for textural interest.
nomeshk on January 20, 2026

Absolutely delicious and incredibly easy to make. I didn't end up making the final glaze/drizzle but I don't think it was needed.
snoozermoose on December 06, 2021

This is a wonderful loaf cake with great grapefruit flavor. We don't typically like syrups on our cakes but it's not too sweet here, and the cake is a bit plain without it. We've made it multiple times with great results.
louie734 on January 28, 2021

Used a 'mystery citrus', maybe a pomelo, maybe a yellow grapefruit? Didn't use turbinado sugar, instead some coconut sugar (consider decreasing total sugar by a few T next time). Successfully subbed out 1 egg for 1 chia egg, masking the seeds by adding 4 t poppyseeds to the batter (nice texture!). I think the rise was a bit lower with the egg sub, but worth continuing to tinker for a lower-cholesterol cake. Wanted to highlight the floral citrus notes so in the soaking syrup grabbed a dark honey instead of sugar, plus a dash of vanilla. And my final tweak, and one I'll repeat, was to cut the glaze quantity in half (still a very sweet cake); this maximizes the contrasts of dripping glaze, not a completely coated top.
Lepa on December 22, 2020

I like the bracing flavor of grapefruit in the cake. I was concerned it wouldn't have the right texture without butter but it did.
Rutabaga on May 02, 2016

I actually found the grapefruit flavor very subtle. In future, I'd try doubling the amount of syrup, as the cake, while not too dry by any means, wasn't quite as moist as I expected. While it wasn't overly dark, perhaps 45 minutes in the oven really was too much, so next time I will check it sooner. My husband quite liked it, especially since he prefers a more subtle taste of grapefruit.
louie734 on February 21, 2013

This was really very good, so grapefruity, looking forward to making it again.
Astrid5555 on February 17, 2013

Very grapefruity and a little tangy-ideal for citrus lovers. Omitted the glaze, still very good. Mine was finished after 30 minutes in the oven instead of 45-60 as stated in the recipe, probably due to my dark loaf pan.