There are several different types of grapefruit cake that a baker can find recipes for, though a basic recipe requires combining only a handful of ingredients. Bakers can change up a recipe a bit by adding cream cheese or another type of frosting. Another option is to mix yogurt into the recipe. To make something that's more rich, make a pound cake version. An additional option is to make a combination of a grapefruit cake and a chiffon cake.

Only a few ingredients are necessary to make a basic grapefruit cake recipe. The wet ingredients needed are eggs, grapefruit juice, butter, milk and vanilla extract. The dry ingredients necessary include flour, grapefruit zest, sugar and salt.

Those who want the regular grapefruit cake recipe but with a little change can add grapefruit cream cheese frosting to it. The necessary ingredients needed to make the frosting include cream cheese, grapefruit zest, grapefruit juice and powdered sugar. For an extra touch of decoration and flavor, add sliced pieces of grapefruit. One option is to put the grapefruit cream cheese frosting only on top; another is to put it on top as well as in between cake layers.

Grapefruit-yogurt cake is another type of option to consider. It involves using all of the ingredients in the basic recipe in addition to adding yogurt to the mix. For another sweet touch, add powdered sugar on top of the finished cake. Serve it on top of powdered sugar and a few slices of grapefruit.

A rich grapefruit cake option to make is grapefruit pound cake. Standard pound cake recipes start with a lot of butter, but a cake can be made even richer with the addition of cream cheese and milk. Bakers can also add a butter glaze over the top of the finished cake. To make the glaze, add melted butter to sugar, mix it with vanilla and milk, then drizzle it on top of the cake so it drips over the sides.

Another type of grapefruit cake to make is a grapefruit chiffon cake. Some of the wet ingredients necessary include vegetable oil, eggs and grapefruit juice. The dry ingredients needed are sugar, cake flour, salt, baking powder, and grapefruit peel. Add a butter glaze, cream cheese frosting or grapefruit cream cheese frosting to the top for added decoration and extra flavor.