You may have tried citrus cakes like vegan lemon loaf or orange loaf cake before, but this easy pound cake highlights a sometimes forgotten winter citrus, grapefruit!
🧾 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make this vegan grapefruit pound cake recipe:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Fresh Grapefruit: I use star ruby grapefruit, but you can use other varieties of red grapefruit or pink grapefruit, which will be a hint more sour.
- Golden Caster Sugar: This is also labeled as raw superfine sugar, it gives the cake a beautifully fluffy crumb. If needed, you can swap for cane sugar, light brown sugar, or granulated sugar.
- Vegan Greek Yogurt: This acts as an egg replacer and helps to keep your vegan pound cake moist for several days! You can also use vegan sour cream or thick coconut yogurt.
- Olive Oil: I use EVOO a lot for baking and this grapefruit olive oil cake is no exception, but feel free to use canola oil, or sunflower oil if you prefer a more subtle flavor.
- Powdered Sugar: Also called confectioners' sugar or icing sugar, which is mixed with more fresh juice and yogurt to form a tangy glaze.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: This adds depth of flavor and balances the citrus.
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🔪 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make this easy loaf cake. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
Step 1: Add the fresh grapefruit juice and dairy-free milk to a jug, stir, and set aside for 10 minutes. It will curdle, acting as a vegan buttermilk substitute.
Step 2: Flavor the sugar by running the fresh grapefruit zest and sugar between your fingers. The mixture should feel "wet", to extract as much grapefruit flavor from the zest as possible!
Step 3: Whisk together the wet ingredients in a large bowl (vegan yogurt, olive oil, vanilla extract, and grapefruit juice with soy milk).
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 2 parts (that's all purpose flour, baking powder, and sea salt). Fold with a rubber spatula until just combined, but don't overmix.
Step 5: Transfer the cake batter to a prepared loaf pan and add a thin strip of vegan butter or oil down the center. Bake in the middle of a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until risen and evenly browned.
Step 6: Let the cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully lifting it onto a wire rack.
Step 7: Pour your homemade grapefruit glaze on the top of the cake once completely cool, and top with grapefruit segments or slices.
💭 Grapefruit Prep Tips
Wash your grapefruit thoroughly. Since we're using both the zest and juice it's important to wash off any residue or lingering pesticides. Let the fruit soak in salted water or vinegar water for 20 minutes, then rinse and dry.
Zest before juicing the grapefruit. If you have a Microplane zester, this is a game changer for quickly and efficiently testing your citrus! Zest only the bright-colored skin on the surface, and not the white pith underneath as this will add an unwanted bitterness to your cake.
Don't sift the grapefruit juice. A lot of the flavor comes from the flesh, so we want to include that. Just make sure you remove any seeds from the juice and you're good to go.
💬 FAQs
Place the cake in a sealed container or wrap well in plastic wrap. Store it at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Absolutely. First, slice the cake into servings and place them in an airtight container or freezer bag, separated by sheets of parchment paper. Then grab a slice and let it defrost at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.
While you can use coconut sugar, note that it will have a darker color and slightly caramelized flavor which can overpower the bright citrus flavor. If you want to reduce the sugar a little bit, you could probably bring it to 150g but any less would impact the texture a lot.
🍞 More Vegan Loaf Cakes
📖 Recipe
Moist Vegan Grapefruit Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- Zest of 2 pink grapefruits *note 1
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 4 teaspoons) pink grapefruit juice freshly squeezed *note 2
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 4 teaspoons) soy milk *note 3
- 190 g (1 cup) golden caster sugar (superfine) *note 4
- 120 g (½ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt *note 5
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 4 teaspoons) olive oil *note 6
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder sifted
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Glaze
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon pink grapefruit juice
- 1 tablespoon vegan Greek-style yogurt
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 160°C/320°F or conventional 180°C/356°F. Lightly grease an 8" loaf tin and place a sling of parchment paper into it to help lift out the cake once baked.
- Make "buttermilk": Add the grapefruit juice and soy milk to a jug, stir, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Flavor the sugar: Add the grapefruit zest and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar until it feels "wet".
- Wet ingredients: Add the vegan yogurt, olive oil, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Then add the vegan buttermilk (milk and juice mixture), and whisk again.
- Dry ingredients: Add the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl with the wet ingredients in 2 parts, and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just combined and there aren't any visible pockets of flour - be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Bake: Transfer the cake batter to the prepared loaf pan. Place thin strips of vegan butter or a knife dipped in olive oil down the center of the loaf, this will help the loaf crack in the center once it bakes (*note 7). Bake on the middle shelf for 50-60 minutes. Check the cake is ready by inserting a knife or toothpick into it, which should come out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack.
- Make the glaze: Meanwhile, add the powdered sugar, grapefruit juice, and yogurt to a bowl and whisk until smooth. Once the cake has cooled, place a sheet of parchment paper under the cooling rack to catch any icing. Pour the glaze on top of the cake, you can add more or less depending on your taste.
Notes
- Grapefruit Zest: Organic if possible, or wash thoroughly before use.
- Grapefruit Juice: There is no need to sift the juice however, remove any visible seeds.
- Soy Milk: Swap for almond milk or oat milk.
- Golden Caster Sugar: Can be labeled raw superfine sugar, sub with cane or light brown sugar.
- Greek-Style Yogurt: I use Alpro Greek-style plain yogurt (soy-based) sometimes labeled as Skyr or protein yogurt.
- Olive Oil: Or neutral oil like canola (rapeseed) or sunflower oil.
- Adding a thin line of butter slices down the middle of the batter helps to create a crack in the center of the cake.
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