Roasted Grapefruit and Brown Sugar Tea Cakes

Cake is a magical thing. No matter what the occasion, or mood, there’s a cake that suits it perfectly. A huge, towering concoction of cake, cream and colour, and you know there’s something to celebrate. There are dense, dark chocolate cakes for times when you want to celebrate, yes, but also for times when you crave comfort and solace. Little cupcakes can cheer someone up or congratulate them. Then there are seemingly simple loaf cakes and sponge cakes which are just for any day, really.

Every time I bake, I marvel at the amazing discovery that mixing flour, sugar, eggs and butter together in one way or another created this wonderful thing called cake. I mean, imagine life without it. Good things would seem less marked, and bad things would seem more inescapable.

Baking a cake is the best way to share a moment with someone (sometimes even when that someone is yourself). Cutting a slice of cake just says that this is a moment that should be remembered.

This cake is one of those little treats. Invite friends over, open up a bottle of prosecco or brew a pot of tea, and serve these small beauties. It doesn’t have to be a special occasion or anyone’s birthday, but a bite of cake tells everyone that you’re celebrating this moment.

Roasted Grapefruit and Brown Sugar Tea Cakes

Makes 12 cakes

1 pink grapefruit

1 tbsp light brown sugar

150g unsalted butter at room temperature

150g light brown sugar

200g ground almonds

2 eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

35g plain flour, sifted

100g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 12-hole muffin/cupcake tray well with butter.

Grate the zest of half the grapefruit and set aside. Cut the top and bottom from the grapefruit, and then carefully slice off the peel and pith. Cut out the segments of grapefruit from in between the membranes. Squeeze the remaining bits of grapefruit and set the juice aside for later.

Place the grapefruit segments on a baking tray lined with parchment or baking paper, and roast in the oven for 20 minutes, until slightly browned. Set aside.

To make the frangipane sponge, beat the butter and sugar together for around 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the ground almonds and grapefruit zest, followed by the eggs with vanilla and the plain flour.

Spoon evenly into the prepared tray and press a grapefruit segment on top of each cake.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted in the centre.

Let the cakes cool. When they are ready, sift the icing sugar and mix with 40ml of grapefruit juice. Drizzle the icing over the cakes and let it set. Serve with happiness and pride!

Recipe adapted from Lilli Vanilli’s Sweet Tooth

This recipe first appeared on Page Five, as part of Kitchenhoarder's ongoing collaboration with luxury vintage haven The Fifth Collection.