Florida Grapefruit & Cointreau Golden Cake

I’ll be the first to admit, this cake made me crazy. I was inspired to make it when my Insta friend across the globe, Roohi, received a bottle of Cointreau and asked me for some ideas.

I recalled one of my all time favorite cookbooks by Camille Glenn: The Heritage of Southern Cooking , is filled with scores of recipes using spirits and libations. Camille’s famous Gala Golden Cointreau Cake recipe premiered in this book- a confection she created for debutantes and brides in Louisville, Kentucky.

She describes the cake texture as “diaphanous.”

At first glance, the recipe seems to be a straight forward chiffon cake- eggs separated, yolks whipped until fluffy and luscious with sugar, egg whites folded in with orange juice and a touch of Cointreau.

But that’s where I decied to try my own thing, not wanting to copy this famous recipe exactly. How do I take a classic cake, make it my own and still keep it light, fluffy and like an angel’s kiss?

My first attempts at this cake were – okay, but not very flavorful. The orange juice and Cointreau were too sweet for my taste buds. And I kept overbaking the cake. There was no moisture at all.

So here I go- deconstructing yet another recipe.

I began with the juice. I switched to Ruby Red Grapefruit juice from my friends at Hollieanna Groves in Maitland, Fl. I nearly doubled the amount of juice AND Cointreau. Now we’re talking.

I baked the cake for only an hour, immediately turned it upside down (in an angel food tube pan with legs) and the cake was perfect. Light, airy, and yes- diaphanous. The bite from the grapefruit was what it needed. Ahhh- baking nirvana.

Pick up a copy of this classic enclyopedia of Southern Cooking. The vintage photogaphs and excellent instructions are something everyone who loves Southern Food should have in their cookbook library. You’ll find recipes like “Tidewater Feather Rolls”, her famous “White Trillium Cake”, “Jupiter Island Lime Meringue Pie” and “Old Seelbach House Tenderloin Chunks”.

Enjoy Roohi- this one’s for you.