Weekend trips to the grocery store have become somewhat of a tradition for us as a couple. Wandering up and down each aisle deciding what will be on the menu for week is fun for us…ok, we may be weird, but there is just something about discovering a really interesting ingredient that we haven’t used yet in the kitchen that gets our creative juices flowing. Charisse loves the colors and variety in the produce section while Eric usually gets stuck in the cheese and chocolate section of the market. During our last outing food shopping, Charisse picked up two pomelos but honestly had no idea what she was going to do with them. For those of you who are not familiar with this large citrus and like Eric ask “What the heck is this?” A pomelo is a cousin of the grapefruit. It is large in size with a green peel and has a tart kick that it’s sweet cousin doesn’t have. A few days later, after the cheese and chocolate had been eaten, the pomelo still sat in the fruit basket when Charisse decided to attempt to use it in a sweet dessert. That night called for cake and Eric called out “Let us eat cake” in his best British woman voice, which sounded like an Australian dog being hit by a car. With a bundt pan in hand Charisse whipped up a dense but not overly sweet cake that incorporated diced segments of pomelo into the batter. After 40 minutes of baking and 30 more minutes of cooling, it was time for the tense moment when the cake is inverted and with fingers crossed and a bit of good luck, pops out in one piece. Unfortunately for Charisse lady luck was not with her this time and our poor pomelo cake broke into multiple chunks. After much pouting, Charisse put the boo boo lip away and reassembled our humble bundt; not the prettiest sight in the world. It was at that moment we decided that in order to hide the seems of our cake, a nice dark sauce should be drizzled over the top and no one would be the wiser. And so a beautiful combination was born, pomelo cake with blackberry sauce was served up and enjoyed by all. Just a tip for all of you readers out there that can’t find a pomelo, a grapefruit may be substituted for an even sweeter cake. 

Pomelo Cake with Blackberry Sauce
What You Will Need

1/2 cup butter 

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

grated rind of half a pomelo

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

5 – 6 segments of pomelo, diced


Blackberry Sauce


What You Will Need


12 ounces blackberries (I used frozen)

1/4 cup water (If using frozen blackberries then only use half of the water)
3 Tbs sugar


Preheat oven to 350*


Grease and flour bundt pan and set aside. 


Cream together the butter and sugar until well combined and fluffy. Add eggs and milk and mix. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients and slowly add into the wet batter until smooth. Gently mix in pomelo zest and diced segments. Pour into bundt and bake for 40 minutes. Allow to cool before popping out of the bundt pan.


To make the blackberry sauce, puree the berries with water and sugar. Press through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and chill. Sauce will thicken as it chills. 

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Tags: Pomelo Cake with Blackberry Sauce

23 Responses to “Pomelo Cake with Blackberry Sauce”

1. soundless_space says:

   March 29, 2011 at 5:59 am

   I've never used pomelo in anything, this looks and sounds so good!
2. ♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ says:

   February 6, 2011 at 4:37 am

   An absolutely wonderful site!Lovely recipes and great pics!Ur photography link is so good! I can see how ur kitchen is a studio!The combi is real good !!
3. Meaghan Luby says:

   February 2, 2011 at 12:54 pm

   this cake looks pretty close to perfect. fruity, simple, delicious. i love the blackberry sauce, that can have several uses! thanks for posting -meg@ http://www.clutzycooking.blogspot.com@http://www.myscribblednotebook.blogspot.com
4. Hester Casey - Alchemy says:

   January 31, 2011 at 3:41 am

   This is a very imaginative cake – and a nice rescue with the sauce. The mark of a great cook is the ability to snatch a great dish from the jaws of disaster (and turn a crumbly cake into a triumph!)
5. Christina of Form V Artisan says:

   January 30, 2011 at 8:23 pm

   NICE! Hard to find recipes using pomelo.
6. thecoffeebreak says:

   January 29, 2011 at 3:25 pm

   I never had pomelo but always seeing it in the stores tempted to buy. Now I definitely will buy and try it!
7. Rosy says:

   January 29, 2011 at 1:23 pm

   It looks so elegant. I've never had a pomelo either but this recipe looks great.
8. M.Clark says:

   January 29, 2011 at 12:05 am

   Marshall and I have enjoyed a similar routine with going to the grocery story together. We would leave Sunday afternoons for our weekly trip. We usually bring a list, otherwise we come home with everything we did NOT need and nothing we DID need. But, we certainly enjoyed planning for the week's meals before leaving the house and crossing things off the list as we went.I've never had a pomelo, but I have seen people bring them into the office around Chinese New Year, as I think they are supposed to bring good luck.
9. Stephanie says:

   January 28, 2011 at 11:45 pm

   I love finding new things at the grocery store too (that's even how my blog started, finding one unusual thing each week last year). Your cake looks wonderful, especially with the blackberry sauce.
10. Kimberley says:

    January 28, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    Pomelo! I've been wanting to make something with them before their season is done. Thanks for the inspiration!
11. Torviewtoronto says:

    January 28, 2011 at 4:46 pm

    yummy cake looks wonderful with the sauce
12. A little bit of everything says:

    January 28, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    i love pomelo but never used it in deserts. your cake looks so good, love the running blackberry sauce. thanks for sharing, hope you'll have a wonderful weekend p.s. sent you a foodbuzz friend request, hope you'll accept it, thanks
13. Suchi says:

    January 28, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    that looks great! nice trick with the sauce
14. Becky says:

    January 28, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    What a creative way to save your "cake disaster", and no one was the wiser, except for all of your Foodbuzz friends. I won't tell.
15. dreamsofcakes says:

    January 28, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    So different from my usual cake tastes. I will give it a try. Thank you for sharing. Beautiful photos.
16. Stephanie says:

    January 28, 2011 at 12:08 pm

    OMG, looks wonderful! I always see those beautiful pomelos and wonder to myself…hm…what could I make with those? Now I know! Thanks for the inspiration!
17. Pauline says:

    January 28, 2011 at 11:49 am

    Beautiful – So how come you can do such accurate impressions of the way I speak ! )Glad I'm not the only person who spends time in the aisles talking to herself because her husband has gone off in another section ( apologies to Publix in Haines Area ) but I was a visitor. Love the colour of the sauce and a great fan of the sweet and sharp combo.
18. Viviane Bauquet Farre - Food and Style says:

    January 28, 2011 at 11:32 am

    Beautiful cake and recipe! I love the tartness of Pomelos… What would we do without those succulent citrus fruits?
19. Adora's Box says:

    January 28, 2011 at 11:17 am

    What a lovely and innovative way to use a pomelo. Have never ever seen pomelo in a cake recipe before. I love the stuff and I think I'm going to like this especially with the blackberry sauce.
20. DessertForTwo says:

    January 28, 2011 at 9:13 am

    OMG how freakin' cute is that pomelo with a heart in the center? Wow! This cakes looks delicious! Thanks for sharing
21. briarrose says:

    January 28, 2011 at 8:15 am

    Fabulous mix of flavors! I love the blackberry sauce.
22. amy (fearless homemaker) says:

    January 28, 2011 at 7:00 am

    looks great, + what lovely pictures! i especially like the one of the halved pomelo with the heart at the center. =) i'll have to give this recipe a try!amy
23. the constant hunger says:

    January 28, 2011 at 5:37 am

    This looks delicious. I'm not much of a baker but this seems doable.