Danielle Alvarez's ruby red grapefruit upside-down cake

Tip: Cream the butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes – it might seem like too long but it helps the buttery cake have a light, aerated texture.

INGREDIENTS

Topping

• 25g butter
• 80g brown sugar
• 3-4 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and sliced into rounds

Cake batter

• 225g butter, room temperature, diced
• 200g sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100ml milk
• 2 tbsp Cointreau or other orange liqueur (optional)
• 220g plain flour
• 2¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bi-carb soda
• ½ tsp fine salt

To serve

• creme fraiche, whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Grease the sides of a 22-25cm round cake tin and place a round of baking paper on the bottom.
2. Firstly, make the topping. Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar crystals have melted and the mix is bubbling. Simmer for 1 minute to ensure everything melts together, then pour into the prepared cake tin. Arrange and overlap the grapefruit slices on top of the caramel in any pattern you like. Try to cover as much surface area as possible, so each slice of the finished cake has plenty of fruit.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy – this takes longer than you might think, about 5-10 minutes. Next, add egg yolks, Cointreau and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
4. Separately, whip the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form, set aside.
5. In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add half the dry ingredients to the batter in the mixer and gently mix on low speed, then add all the milk with the motor running. Turn the mixer off and carefully add the remaining dry ingredients and finish mixing with a spatula. It will be very thick. Add about ½ of the whipped egg whites into this mixture and mix to combine and loosen the batter, then fold in the remaining whipped egg whites. Pour the batter over the grapefruit, spread it out and gently tap the tin on the benchtop to ensure the cake batter has dropped into place.
6. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a cake tester or bamboo skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly. Run a small knife around the edge of the cake. To flip it over, place a flat plate or cake tray inverted onto the top of the tin and, while holding this plate in place with your right hand, use your left hand to hold the tin up against the platter. When flipped, simply pull the tin off and peel away the baking paper.
7. Serve warm or cool with a dollop of whipped cream, creme fraiche or vanilla ice-cream. This cake is even better the next day.

Serves 8-10

Recipe brought to you by Dettol.

This recipe is from episode six of Good Food's new TV show, Good Food Kitchen, screening on Channel 9 at 1pm on Saturday, November 13, or catch up on 9Now.