Beer Pairing: The Brown Derby’s Grapefruit Cake & Belgian Witbier

When pairing beer and dessert, people’s first instinct is often to reach for a sweet stout or a sugar ladden fruited sour. This one does the opposite. The Brown Derby’s Grapefruit Cake already has what most desserts lack: tension. It’s sweet, yes, but it is also bright, lightly bitter, and distinctly citrus-forward. The cream cheese icing brings richness, while grapefruit juice, zest, and slices keep the finish from feeling heavy. That balance makes it the perfect dessert to play with in a drink pairing. Keep reading for a beer pairing for this dish, in addition to a recipe for it from George Geary’s new cookbook, Citrus Illustrated, which you can buy on Amazon.

Our recommended pairing for this cake is a Belgian Witbier.

Witbier brings citrus oil aromatics, soft spice, gentle body, and an effervescent carbonation. It mirrors the cake’s grapefruit-and-lemon profile without piling on sweetness, and it’s light enough to cut through the sweetness of the cream cheese dressing. With this pairing, the dish and the beer are fully working together rather than fighting for attention.

Why a Belgian Witbier?

Citrus builds on citrus

The cake leads with grapefruit and lemon. A witbier often carries orange peel and coriander notes, which complement the citrus profile while adding a different angle. Together, the two approaches to adding citrus build on each other.

Carbonation cuts the icing

Cream cheese icing can turn dense fast if the pairing is too sweet or still. Witbier’s carbonation resets the palate and keeps each bite tasting fresh.

Low bitterness keeps grapefruit in line

Grapefruit can make highly bitter beers come across as harsh. Witbier, on the other hand, brings a light creaminess. This allows the fruit to read as bright and elegant instead of sharp and aggressive.

The spice note makes the dessert feel more complete

A good witbier’s coriander and yeast character add a subtle savory-spice edge. That extra dimension helps the cake drink more like a proper dessert course and less like a sugar overload.

Three widely available witbiers to try

Allagash White
A reliable benchmark. Bright citrus, soft spice, and a clean finish make it an easy win with grapefruit and cream cheese.

Hoegaarden
A Belgian-brewed witbier with orange peel and coriander notes that naturally support the cake’s citrus profile.

Blue Moon Belgian White
Approachable and easy to find. It is a softer, crowd-friendly option if you want the pairing to lean a little more mellow.

Additional tips and tricks to get the most out of the pairing

Serve the beer cold, but not ice-cold

If the beer is over-chilled, you lose the citrus peel and spice aromatics that make the pairing click. Keep it crisp, but let the flavor speak.

Pour the beer into a glass

Witbier is aroma-driven. A proper pour gives you the citrus and coriander on the nose, which is a big part of why it works with this cake. If you can, use a weizen glass with a narrow body and a wide mouth to maximize aromatic expression.

Slice cold, serve slightly warmer

The cake slices cleaner when chilled. After slicing, let each slice sit for a few minutes before serving so the icing softens and the grapefruit aroma opens up.

Taste it in two passes

Try one bite with more cake than icing, then sip. Then try an icing-heavy bite, then sip. You will notice the beer doing two different jobs: matching citrus in the first and cleaning up richness in the second.

Skip the IPA instinct

Even grapefruit-forward IPAs can overdo it here. Grapefruit bitterness plus hop bitterness can stack and turn the finish rough.

The Brown Derby’s Grapefruit Cake, from Citrus Illustrated, by George Geary

Makes one 9″ round cake

The Iconic Brown Derby restaurant was open from 1926 to 1980 on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, California. This renowned cake first appeared on the menu in 1936 when chef Harry Baker developed it for Louella Parsons, Hollywood’s well-known gossip columnist, who requested a lower-calorie cake option with a bright yet creamy grapefruit frosting.

INGREDIENTS:

Cake

• 3 cups (360 g) cake flour
• 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ cup (120 ML) cold water
• ½ cup (120 ML) canola oil
• 6 eggs separated
• 6 tbsp (90 ML) freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• ½ tsp cream of tartar

Grapefruit Cream Cheese Icing

• 8 oz (230 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 4 cups (480 G) confectioners’ sugar
• 1 large grapefruit, sectioned

INSTRUCTIONS:

• To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, egg yolks, grapefruit juice, and lemon zest. Mix until very smooth. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed. Steadily increase the speed to high, and whip until the mixture begins to look thick and frothy, about 3 minutes. Continue whipping until the egg whites hold stiff peaks but do not look dry.
• With a rubber spatula, carefully fold the flour mixture into the beaten egg whites until just combined.
• Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans. Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown and springs back when the center is pressed, about 30 minutes. Cool completely on baking racks.
• While the cake cools, make the icing: in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend the cream cheese, juice, zest, and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until smooth. Add three grapefruit sections to the icing, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
  To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread a layer of about ¼ cup of icing on top and level out with a spatula. Repeat with the remaining layer. Ice the sides with the remaining icing.
• Once assembled, decorate the top of the cake with the remaining grapefruit sections.

For more iconic citrus-forward recipes (and the story behind them), you can purchase George Geary’s latest cookbook, Citrus, Illustrated: A Cookbook of 35 Sweet & Savory Recipes, here.

George Geary is known for creating iconic foods for the Walt Disney Company, where he was the award-winning pastry chef for ten years, and for food on TV shows, such as the cheesecakes on the hit show The Golden Girls. George is a sought-after speaker and culinary teacher. He is the author of 16 cookbooks, including; 125 Best Cheesecake Recipes, The Cheesecake Bible, 500 Best Sauces, Salad Dressings, Marinades and More, 350 Best Salads and Dressings, 150 Best Donut Recipes, The Cheesecake Bible Version 2, LA’s Legendary Restaurants, Fair Foods, Made in California Volume 1 & 2, and LAs Landmark Restaurants. Citrus, Illustrated is George’s seventeenth book.  He has been featured on the pages of many food magazines, newspapers, blogs, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. When not traveling to teach, George lives in sunny southern California.