Just the other day, after I posted about my beautiful garnet red pomegranate seeds, I realized I had no idea what to do with them outside of eating them plain, or in a salad.

So I scoured the internet for inspiration, and came up with a nice idea of what flavours other people thought went well with the pomegranate, and I hit the kitchen.

What I emerged with is simply delicious AND festive. This recipe could easily be made for any holiday get together. Also, it made my entire apartment smell divine.

Maple and cocoa tea cakes with pomegranate cream icing.

I also made a pot of pomegranate infused hot cocoa, and they worked quite nicely together.

I was actually pretty amazed with how well the maple, chocolate and pomegranate went together. I had found many recipes for chocolate flavoured goodies with pomegranate flavoured frostings, glazes or syrups, but the addition of the maple was iffy. I know that chocolate and maple go together well, so why not all three?

Well, it worked… And they were damn tasty, too.

So here is the recipe-

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3\4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.In a small bowl, combine the flours and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually followed by the maple syrup and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into greased cupcake tins, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Pomegranate Cream icing-

1/2 cup pomegranate syrup (homemade grenadine)
1/4 cup cold cream cheese
1/2 cup cold butter
4-5 cups powdered sugar

In an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft, add the cream cheese and beat together until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, until the mixture is is grainy, like breadcrumbs.

Slowly add the pomegranate syrup and beat the mixture on high for about a minute and a half, until everything is smooth, creamy and fully incorporated. Refrigerate until needed, keep leftovers sealed and refrigerated.

Sprinkle with nonpareils and brown sugar!

It really is a nice flavour combination. The cake has a sort of soft gingerbread flavour to it, and the tartness of the icing really accents the softness of the cake flavour. You could also definately serve this as a breakfast cake, or use the “waffler technique” and bake the batter in a greased non-stick belgian waffler!

However you do it, its delicious.

-A.

P.S. to make pomegranate hot cocoa, just add a tablespoon of homemade grenadine to your regular hot cocoa mix, and enjoy!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 3:19 am and is filed under November 2007, The Cupcakes!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.