Normally I would make some small dessert for two Valentine’s day thing, maybe a molten chocolate cake or something, but this year I wanted to make a big ole cake! I love citrus, and grapefruit is my favorite, freshly squeezed only please, but I wanted a little something extra to brighten the flavor up and add some depth. The solution of course is champagne! ?? I made a six layer grapefruit cake, a grapefruit champagne curd for the filling, a grapefruit champagne buttercream for the inside and crumb coat and an Italian buttercream for the final coat! So good! I had some extra curd left over so that went right on some morning toast/ I just ate it by the spoonful… I want the dollops on top to have a twist so I piped them separately, chilled them and placed them on one by one. Just easier for me and I didn’t have to worry about mistakes. Full recipe and more photos up on the blog (link in bio) ????
Champagne Grapefruit Cake
Grapefruit and champagne combine to make this a very special cake.
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 cup grapefruit juice
- 1/4 cup champagne
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
For the Cake
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 4 tbsp grapefruit zest
- 1 cup grapefruit juice
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
For the Buttercream
- 1 pound unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 pound confectioners' sugar
- 3 tbsp gragefruit juice
- 2 tbsp champagne
For the Italian Buttercream
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 16 oz unsalted butter room temperature cut in one inch cubes
Instructions
For the Grapefruit Curd
Whisk together sugar and the flour in a heavy-based saucepan.
Add the grapefruit juice and egg yolks and whisk to combine.
Put the saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture boils.
Cook while stirring constantly, the mixture will become thicker and clearer.
Whisk in the champagne and allow mixture to boil for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
Transfer to a bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and chill.
For the Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 4 six inch cake pans
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cream together the butter, sour cream, and grapefruit zest.
Slowly add the sugar, mixing until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions and scraping down the sides.
Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the grapefruit juice to the creamed mixture, beating well on low speed after each addition. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the four prepared cake pans. (I also use cake strips on my pans for more even baking.) Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 22 min. Cool the cake layers in the pans for 10 min. and then loosen the layers by running a knife between the cake and the edge of the pan. Remove the layers from the pans and put them on a rack to continue cooling.
For the Crumbcoat Buttercream
Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar in several batches and beat until well combined. Add in the grapefruit juice and champagne a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
For the Italian Buttercream
Beat the egg whites, salt, cream or tartar and 1/3 cup of sugar until soft peaks form.
In a medium saucepan add the remaining sugar and 1/3 cup water then place on low heat.
Stir constantly until sugar melts and becomes clear.
Maintain at medium high heat until temperature reads 240F.
Drizzle the sugar into the mixer immediately.
Run mixer until meringue is body temperature.
Add room temperature butter into running mixer one piece at a time.
Beat until butter is combined and mixture has reached a silky consistency.
I used an 869 tip to pipe the dollops, froze them, and then placed them on top.
For the cake pictured I doubled the recipe and made six 8″ layers. That’s double the cake batter, double the grapefruit curd, double the grapefruit buttercream but not double the Italian buttercream. I had JUST enough of that. If you make a taller cake I suggest chilling it once you’re 3 layers up so the whole thing doesn’t collapse! Let me know if you have any questions! ?
My favorite citrus! So refreshing.
WHY did I make a six layer version of this recipe?!? Not the easiest to assemble but I loved the end effect. Just make sure to chill the cake as you assemble if it becomes unstable.
Part of me wanted to leave the cake just like this. I really liked the play of colors, but it definitely looks a bit messy. You can see the rings of color piped on to create the ombre effect. just smooth together and it will look like a gradient.
I did not eat all of this. I actually put it in a piping bag and used it for the dollops!
I think you need to have this cake with a glass or two of champagne.
Did I mention how good this grapefruit champagne curd is?
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Normally I would make some small dessert for two Valentine’s day thing, maybe a molten chocolate cake or something, but this year I w…
Hello I have a question you said to butter 4 6inch cake pans but then in the recipe you said to fill the two cake pans evenly !!! Am I just being dense here?Lol if you could just please clarify I would love to try this recipe .. thanks so much Lori
No, I was in typo land (corrected it)! This recipe makes 4 six inch cakes or two fluffy 8 inch cakes. BTW I doubled the recipe for 6 thinish 8″ layers 🙂
Hi.. I would like to know what kind of sugar do you used in the filling and the cake!!
And why you didn’t put the dollops directly on the cake !!
The curd used granulated white sugar. I piped teh dollops on separately and chilled them so I could get a nice swirl and not worry about messing up, totaly optional!
Can I use cane sugar instead of granulated sugar? Is there a difference for baking? Thank you!!!
IN LOVE!!!
WOW…. AMAZING!
Is the Italian buttercream flavored at all?
This cake looks incredible. I wanted to make it for a friend’s birthday party but she doesn’t like grapefruit that much. Have you got any suggestion for something i could use instead of grapefruit?
Miriam,
You could use raspberry juice instead!
John