No Substitutions—Grapefruit & Tarragon Upside-Down Cake

In No Substitutions, Food Editor Emily Ziemski goes on a personal journey in a multiverse-of-madness-level amount of chaos with herself (a suffering of her own making) in order to bring you THREE different Test-Kitchen-Approved riffs on one original recipe. In this episode: A vegan version, an “I-am-so-out-of-baking-powder” swap, and a cornmeal swap.

My favorite citrus was the star of my Plus One column at the start of the year, when I devised a cake that harkens back to my favorite 90s food trend: bruléed, halved grapefruit.

With tarragon for a note of sweet licorice, demerara sugar on top for that brulée vibe, plus cornmeal in the batter, my Grapefruit & Tarragon Upside-Down Cake hits that trifecta of sweet, tart, and crunchy that I love.

But I couldn’t just leave it there, in its most delicious and perfect state. As a famously dairy-free person, I know the true pain of finding a recipe I love and then disappointingly closing out the tab when realizing the perfect recipe has dairy. Boo.

So, for everyone who needs a substitution—or is just seeking out something different—and also wants that extra security of seeing the Test Kitchen-Approved checkmark, this is for you.

First up, the vegan version. My personal favorite version (shh, don’t tell the others) swaps out the usual makings of a cake and swaps in olive oil and flax “eggs,” a trick using rehydrated, ground flax that gives a gelatinous texture similar to hydrated gelatin. For this cake, expect a tighter crumb—you lose some aeration from the lack of eggs—but a super moist interior that invokes an almost flourless cake-like quality.

Grapefruit & Tarragon Upside Down Cake—Vegan Variation

Serves: 5 to 6
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Prep Time: 7 minutes

Ingredients:
1 grapefruit, zested then peeled, de-seeded, and sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
⅓ cup demerara sugar
½ cup butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 cup cake flour
¾ cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ small bunch tarragon, de-stemmed and finely chopped

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment. Sprinkle demerara sugar evenly over parchment. Keeping an even layer, line the bottom with the grapefruit slices, trying not to overlap.

Hydrate the flaxseed in ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water. Let sit until gelatinous. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend the oil and brown sugar together until thoroughly combined and slightly airy.

Add the flax eggs, zest, 2 teaspoons of water, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Sift in dry ingredients and blend on medium-low speed until incorporated. Fold in tarragon. Pour mixture over assembled grapefruit slices.

Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. After resting at least 15 minutes, gently invert cake onto a serving stand. Serve once cooled, or tightly wrap (or place in an airtight container) and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Opening up your pantry cabinets to find a lack of chemical leaveners can be a serious bummer. An easy swap here would have been adding cornstarch to baking soda, but this one’s for the real desperate bakers who are lacking all leaveners, or for the folks who like a challenge (hi, its me). In this variation, baking powder is removed, and we’re using the powder of whipped egg whites to act as an aerator. Adding a third egg gives us a little extra oomph in the lift, and the extra egg yolk brings even more golden color to the already yellow-hued cake.

Grapefruit & Tarragon Upside Down Cake—No Baking Powder Variation

Serves: 5 to 6
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Prep Time: 7 minutes

Ingredients:
1 grapefruit, zested then peeled, de-seeded, and sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
⅓ cup demerara sugar
½ cup butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
1 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 cup cake flour
¾ cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ small bunch tarragon, de-stemmed and finely chopped

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment. Sprinkle demerara sugar evenly over parchment. Keeping an even layer, line the bottom with the grapefruit slices, trying not to overlap.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend the butter and brown sugar together until thoroughly combined and slightly airy. Add the egg yolks, zest, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Sift in dry ingredients and add tarragon; blend on medium-low speed until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Using half at a time, gently fold the egg whites into the batter until just barely combined. Pour mixture over assembled grapefruit slices.

Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. After resting at least 15 minutes, gently invert cake onto a serving stand. Serve once cooled, or tightly wrap (or place in an airtight container) and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

In our final swap (phew), I would be remiss to not include a dry ingredient change. Though I subbed out the cornmeal here, this could also be a suitable swap to have millet flour in place of the cake flour, depending on your dietary needs or desires. The final product here was a much-fluffier cake, thanks to the light airiness of millet versus the dense cornmeal, but one that still provided the welcome texture the original cake was loved for.

Grapefruit & Tarragon Upside Down Cake—No Cornmeal Variation

Serves: 5 to 6
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Prep Time: 7 minutes

Ingredients:
1 grapefruit, zested then peeled, de-seeded, and sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
⅓ cup demerara sugar
½ cup butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 cup cake flour
¾ cup yellow cornmeal
¾ cup millet flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ small bunch tarragon, de-stemmed and finely chopped

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment. Sprinkle demerara sugar evenly over parchment. Keeping an even layer, line the bottom with the grapefruit slices, trying not to overlap.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend the butter and brown sugar together until thoroughly combined and slightly airy. Add the eggs, zest, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Sift in dry ingredients and blend on medium-low speed until incorporated. Fold in tarragon. Pour mixture over assembled grapefruit slices.

Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. After resting at least 15 minutes, gently invert cake onto a serving stand. Serve once cooled, or tightly wrap (or place in an airtight container) and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

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