American Cake - Cake #29: Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake

Time Period: 1917-1945

The legacy of the Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles is based on three things: Being the in place to spot celebrities eating back in the heyday of Hollywood, the Cobb salad, and this cake. Though the recipe used to make this particular cake didn't derive from that restaurant's kitchen, they did serve grapefruit chiffon, allegedly because the clientele requested a healthier alternative to other desserts. Insisting that a restaurant create a brand new menu item so that you can pretend you're not still eating cake is the most American thing I've ever heard, so this fits right into this project.

This cake has another significance as well. Grapefruit is one of Tiddy's favorite things to eat, so given that this incorporates grapefruit sections, grapefruit juice, and grapefruit zest, I could think of no better birthday cake to make him. I wish I could have made the final product look a bit prettier and photogenic, but this cake was a rousing success where it counted. It was a little bitter for me, but the birthday boy loved it.