Honey-Grapefruit Cornmeal Cake
This recipe was entered in our We ♥ Local Cornmeal recipe contest by Andrea Solazzo. Andrea says,"This recipe combines tasty citrus from my original home state of Florida and the "stick to your ribs" ingredients of Vermont. It was born in the Old North End of Burlington and originally made for a friends 30th Birthday party. This dish celebrates the bitter flavors of grapefruit, floral honey of Vermont, freshly ground local cornmeal and fluffy, flavorful eggs from Maple Wind Farm. This truly is a crowd pleaser and often requested at potlucks, birthdays and various community celebrations."
Prep Time
Cook Time
Yield
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat the oven to about 335 F. Grease and line an 8 inch round cake tin.
In a bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add in the eggs one by one - beat well, then add in a small amount of ground pecans at a time. Stir in the cornmeal, candied ginger (optional) and baking powder.
Thoroughly zest the skin of grapefruit (careful not to include bitter white part of skin) and also squeeze grapefruit juice into bowl. Mix juice and zest well and then scrape half of the mixture into mixing bowl with other ingredients (keep other half of juice / zest for syrup).
Bake on the middle rack of the oven for between 45 minutes to an hour - check to make sure a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.
While the cake is baking, add remaining grapefruit juice and zest in a small saucepan with the 6 tablespoons of honey. Stir to combine and then heat over a gentle heat until the honey has dissolved.
When the cake is is done, remove it from the oven and prick all over with a skewer - immediately pour the grapefruit-honey syrup over the cake and let it soak in. It will seem like there is a lot, but it will all soak in!
Allow to cool.
Enjoy finished cake with some tasty local ice cream on the side. Strafford Organic Ginger Ice Cream is especially delicious!