"Ting" Grapefruit Soda Cake

Using soda to make cakes has always fascinated me for some reason. The first time I actually tried it was about five Thanksgivings ago, after my Godmother challenged me to a friendly cake-off of sorts. Let me just say that my Godmother makes the best cream cheese pound cake that I’ve ever tasted…so I knew I had to step up my game. I decided to take the plunge and try baking a southern favorite: the 7-UP cake. It turned out to be a success and won the much prized respect of my Godmother, lol.

I still love 7-UP cake, and I make it occasionally, but I also really like to switch things up every once in a while. This weekend I got inspired to put a summery Caribbean twist on this classic cake.

I was curious to see how it would turn out if I replaced the usual lemon-lime soda with the Jamaican grapefruit soft drink Ting ( in this case Pink Ting, lol) and reinforce it with fresh citrus flavors.
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Finding Ting: You should be able to find Ting in Caribbean markets or even some West Indian restaurants. If you can’t find the soda near you, no worries…any natural grapefruit soda should be a suitable replacement.
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Some that come to mind: Izze Sparkling grapefruit, Trader Joe’s Italian grapefruit soda, Jarritos grapefruit soda… and I’m sure there are more options out there.

**I wouldn’t recommend using Fresca; it contains aspartame instead of sugar and the flavor won’t translate well.

Here is my recipe:


“Ting” Grapefruit Soda Cake
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temp
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Zest of one orange
Zest of one fragrant pink or ruby red grapefruit*
3/4 cup Ting soda or other quality grapefruit soda
*(you’ll need 2 grapefruits in total for the whole recipe: cake, glaze & syrup)

Icing glaze:
Zest of one ruby red or pink grapefruit
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh pink/ruby red grapefruit juice (or the grapefruit soda)

Syrup:
Juice of one grapefruit (~ 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup granulated sugar


Preparing the cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt or tube pan.

Combine the salt, flour and baking powder. Sift into a large bowl or over wax paper and set aside.

In a large deep bowl, cream the butter and zests thoroughly with an electric mixer. Slowly add the sugar and cream together until fluffy (about 5 minutes).

Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Slowly add the sifted flour mixture and mix in well. Quickly stir in the extracts and soda.

Transfer the batter into the prepared pan. On the middle rack of your oven, bake for 1 1/2 hours or until done.



Preparing the syrup

Before the cake is done, prepare the syrup by combining the 1/2 cup of grapefruit juice with the 1/2 cup of sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes; keep warm and reserve.

Cool the cake in pan on a rack for 5 minutes (bottom of the cake facing up). Place a large piece of foil, big enough to wrap around the cake, on top of the cake. For support, place a large plate on top of that, and then turn the cake out onto its proper side. Carefully lift off the pan.


Prick the top and sides of the cake with a skewer. Pour the warm grapefruit syrup slowly over the cake allowing it to absorb the syrup.

Bring the foil up over and around cake and seal it loosely. Allow to cool completely. This will help the syrup distribute itself evenly throughout the cake. Once cool, transfer the cake to large plate or cake stand.
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While the cake is cooling, prepare the icing glaze.
Combine the powdered sugar with the grapefruit juice and zest, stir until blended and smooth. Drizzle the grapefruit glaze over the cooled cake. Let rest 30 minutes before cutting.



Afterthoughts
I made 2 different icing glazes, one with the soda and the other with fresh juice. The juice glaze wins in my opinion...it had a brighter flavor, but the soda glaze was still good.
Overall I think it came out pretty well, the cake was moist, dense, and full of citrus…
Enjoy!