Texas grapefruit shine when baked into desserts
Sure, these sunny orbs can be eaten as is, but in dessert, they really shine
Texans, do you have any idea how lucky you are?
Our winters may be mild, but they are winters all the same. You’re inside all the time, you’re probably working on your third cold of the year, and the promise of spring seems like a joke someone made up to sell timeshares in Cancún. But then! The sudden appearance of citrus in the supermarket: orange and yellow and pink orbs of sunshine.
And they grow right here. Texas Ruby Red grapefruit, all sunset hues on the outside and bright pink sass on the inside. They’re all ours, and they serve as a vitamin C-laden reminder that cold snaps will break, winter sniffles will pass and bluebonnets will bloom again.
Sweet enough to eat plain but with a tart edge, the grapefruit occupies a citrus middle ground, somewhere between the snap of lemons and the candy brightness of oranges. Grapefruit lends itself to pale winter mornings, to shock you out of a cozy slumber. Its flavor plays well with cocktails — anything from a grapefruit margarita to a spritz laced with the Italian amaro Campari. It’s a complex fruit, with hints of black pepper and a
high note that can only be described as pink. How best to honor to the grapefruit?
To start, a Grapefruit Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake. This one is for the grownups: the caramel sweetness of the traditional upsidedown cake is countered by slightly bitter slices of grapefruit, peel and all. The sweetness of the cornmeal means you can use less sugar in the batter, and as an added bonus renders the cake glutenfree. But I chose cornmeal for the texture — there’s something about the way the grapefruit caramel plays with the coarse texture of the cake that’s simply delightful. Make a pot of coffee, invite a good friend over to catch up, eat the cake standing up around a kitchen counter.
And then Pistachio Coconut Grapefruit Bars. These are a bit friendlier to young ones with sweet tooths, and very pretty to boot. Think lemon bars with a twist — pistachio shortbread is thinly layered with a grapefruit custard-like topping, which is in turn studded with coconut flakes and more pistachios. If you are a fan of toasted coconut, you might toast the flakes slightly before baking. The result is a wonderful mashup of textures (as all good bars should be), just solid enough to eat a piece with your hands and just gooey enough to feel like a real treat.
A pair of baked goods, then, to carry us through to spring. It’s closer than we think (heck, maybe it has already arrived). But then again, so is the end of grapefruit season. Let’s appreciate them while they’re still here.
Paula Forbes is the author of “The Austin Cookbook” (Abrams). She also publishes Stained Page News, a cookbook newsletter. Email: paula.forbes@gmail.com.