Grapefruit and Olive Oil Loaf Cake

Rain, rain go away, I've had enough of the wet socks and frizzy hair combo that makes coming back to work after Christmas a real joy, OK?

Seriously 2014, you are not off to a great start so far.

As a pale, autumn-loving red-head it is not often that I crave sunshine, but this week I am craving its warmth and happiness.

What better way to cheer myself up and introduce a little sunshine to my insides than bake this cake! Grapefruits are bright little balls of happiness, with their jewel-pink interior and deliciously fragrant zest, they can be a little bitter on their own, but in this cake; heaven.

This is another gem from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook. I have about 25 recipes bookmarked to try!

Once again I played with the recipe a little, mainly down to the fact I didn't have some of the ingredients. I never have buttermilk, and usually I substitute milk with a little lemon juice, but this time I didn't even have that! So I used yoghurt thinned with a little milk. Ideally I would of used natural yoghurt but all I had to hand was a vanilla crunch corner.... It totally worked though!

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Grapefruit and Olive Oil Cake by January-16-2014
Ingredients

190g Plain Flour
2 tablespoons Grapefruit Zest
195g Caster Sugar
120ml Olive Oil
2 Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Bicarb of Soda
2 Tablespoons Grapefruit Juice
80ml Yoghurt (thinned with a teaspoon of milk)
For the Syrup
2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
80ml Grapefruit Juice
For the Glaze
120g Icing Sugar
2 Tablespoons Grapefruit Jucie

Instructions Start by rubbing the grapefruit zest into the sugar with your fingertips. This releases the oils and gives a big ol' punch of flavour.Next add the olive oil and the eggs, whisk to combine.In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In another bowl (I know, a lot of bowls, sorry) combine the yoghurt and grapefruit juice.Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to the sugar/oil/egg mix, starting and ending with dry.Once everything is combined, pour the batter into a greased loaf tin.Bake at 170C for 45mins - 55mins. Check after 45 with a skewer, if it comes out clean then it is done.Pop the cake out of the tin and sit on a cooling rack. I would recommend putting a tray or greaseproof under the cooling rack, as things are going to get sticky.Put the syrup ingredients into a small pan and heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Prick a few little holes in the top of your cake, I used a cocktail stick for this. Then slowly pour over the syrup.Once the cake is fully cooled, you can whip bu the simple glaze. Add the grapefruit juice to the icing sugar and stir.Pour the glaze over the top, et voila! Done!

I am ridiculously proud of these photos, I am steadily getting to grips with my new camera. What do you think?