Grapefruit Vanilla Bean Mini-Bundt Cakes

What's a girl with a craving for citrus cake that extends deep down to her toes to do?  And in the midst of said craving, she's fortunate enough to receive a case big, fat, beautiful Texas Grapefruit from Bonnie at Sweet Life and find an adorable mini-bundt pan on clearance and have some plump, fragrant Vanilla Beans from Beanilla that she happened to win from Dessert Wars beckoning her from the cupboard?

She gets busy baking.

This are light and spongy and mini...which always reels people in.  Really.  Just ask the looky-loos who were lurking behind me while I was busy with this photo shoot.

Grapefruit Vanilla Bean Mini-Bundt Cakes

from the kitchen of girlichef

makes 12

½ c. unsalted butter, at room temp.

¾ c. vanilla sugar

2 Tbs. finely grated grapefruit zest

1 vanilla bean

2 large eggs, at room temp.

½ c. sour cream, at room temp.

¼ c. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

1½ c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. fine sea salt

½ tsp. baking soda (my favorite is Rumford by Clabber Girl...it's aluminum free)

icing:

~ ¼ c. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

2 c. confectioners' sugar

 seeds from ½ of a vanilla bean

Preheat oven to 325° F.  Set out a non-stick mini-bundt cake pan to use.  Or, if it's not nonstick, grease the pan.

In a large bowl, cream butter, vanilla sugar, grapefruit zest, and the seeds scraped from one vanilla bean until light and fluffy.  One at a time, beat in the eggs.  Add sour cream and grapefruit juice and beat until just combined.

Whisk flour, baking powder, sea salt, and baking soda together, then add to bowl and beat until just combined. 

Scoop batter into a pastry bag (or large zippered baggy w/ one corner snipped off) and pipe evenly into 12 mini-bundt forms (my pan makes 12 individuals).  They should be ~¾ of the way full. Alternately, you could use this batter to make cupcakes or even one small cake (~8"...and in this case, no pastry bag required, simply scoop/pour batter into prepared pan).  Slide into the preheated oven and bake for ~20 minutes, or until it passes the tooth pick test.  Cake will be golden and springy and pull away from edges.  Time may need to be adjusted if making one large cake...but it shouldn't take too much longer. 

Immediately (and carefully) turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

While the cakes are cooling, whisk together the ingredients for the icing.  If it seems stiffer than you like, add a bit more juice to adjust consistency.  Drizzle over slightly cooled cakes.

These are equally delicious without any icing, or try sifting some confectioners' sugar over the top or serving with some lightly sweetened whipped cream.

The grapefruit that I used to make these cakes was sweet.  Super sweet and juicy.  I do recommend tasting your grapefruit before using it to make these...if it's extremely sour, you may want to add more sugar.  As they are, the cakes are not overly sweet. 

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Dessert Wars: Vanilla Dreams
Iron Chef challenge: Baking Powder sponsored by Clabber Girl