November is a time of contrasts: the street is gray and quiet, but in the kitchen you want lightness, freshness and bright accents. Grapefruit with its bitterness and mint with its invigorating aroma turn a simple dessert into a real vitamin shake. And there is no need for an oven, no whipping of egg whites, no long wait.
It’s enough to spend 20 minutes, and a velvety, cool cake with citrus sourness and a touch of freshness will appear on the table, which will ideally balance any holiday menu.
You will need:
400 g grapefruit or 2 large ones
150 g shortbread cookies
100 g butter
400 g curd cheese
80 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
20 g gelatin
100 ml water
fresh mint – for garnish
How to cook:
- Grind the cookies into crumbs.
- Melt the butter and mix with the crumbs.
- Place in a springform pan and press down on the bottom.
- Pour gelatin with water, let it swell for 10–15 minutes, then heat until completely dissolved.
- Peel the grapefruits and remove membranes, cut into slices, chop finely, and lightly squeeze out the juice.
- In a bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and warm gelatin until smooth.
- Gently stir in grapefruit.
- Spread the mixture onto the base and smooth it out.
- Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
- Before serving, garnish with thin grapefruit slices and mint leaves.
The cake turns out light, not cloying, with a subtle bitterness of citrus and a fresh aroma of mint.
Bon appetit!
