Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake

Cake:

Butter for pan
1½ cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons freshly grated grapefruit zest (from 1 to 2 large grapefruits)
½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
½ cup (95 grams) raw or turbinado sugar (use granulated sugar if you can’t find the raw variety)
½ cup (120 ml) olive oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) grapefruit juice
⅓ cup (80 ml) buttermilk or plain yogurt

Syrup:

Glaze:

This cake has become my favorite January treat—not too sweet, not too unhealthy, and bursting with ruby-red flavor.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, rub the grapefruit zest into the sugars with your fingertips. This will bruise it and help release as much grapefruit essence as possible. Whisk in the oil until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, and whisk until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a second bowl. In a liquid measuring cup, combine 2 tablespoons of grapefruit juice and buttermilk. Add the flour and the buttermilk mixtures, alternating between them, to the oil-and-sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
Spread the batter in pan, smooth the top, and rap the pan on the counter a few times to ensure that there are no air bubbles trapped. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Combine 2 tablespoons of sugar with ⅓ cup grapefruit juice in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
When cake is finished, let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting it onto a rack set over a tray. Poke holes in cake with a skewer or toothpick, then spoon or brush the grapefruit syrup over cake. Let the cake cool completely while it absorbs the syrup.
Combine the confectioners’ sugar, grapefruit juice, and pinch of salt in a bowl, whisking until smooth. Pour the glaze over the top of cooled cake, and allow glaze to drizzle decoratively down the sides.