The Opponent: The Game Plan:
Find the best way to maintain the flavor of the pomegranate, while also making it work in a cake batter.
What happened:
I added butter...
Then flour, salt and baking powder....
Some egg whites, so it wouldn't be too dry.....
Then I mixed it all together....
BUT THEN.......
The batter was divided so that two tests could be done! In test number one, the sparkling juice was added directly to the batter without any preparation done to it...just straight from the bottle. After mixing it in, I added 1/2 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips...because who doesn't love chocolate?
But from the look of the batter...it was lacking the dark purple color that I expected to get from pomegranate juice. But I waited to see what happened after they came out of the oven....AND....
still not purple :( So I had no choice but to move on! I knew it was time to reduce that juice! And that is exactly what I did...
Three cups of sparkling juice soon boiled down to only 1/2 cup...which I added to the batter. Then came 1/2 cup of chocolate chips for this batch too!
So I evenly divided the batter into the cupcake tin and popped it in the oven!
To my delight, this batch turned out just the way I wanted it to!
I whipped up some pomegranate buttercream icing (much easier to do than the cupcake batter), and piped it on top of the cake!
Winning Recipe!
Pomegranate Cupcakes
Test #2 (with reduced juice)
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour plus about a tablespoon
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups sugar
5 egg whites
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla
½ cup reduced pomegranate sparkling juice **
1.
Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2, 12 cup muffin tins
with cupcake liners.
2.
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and
salt; set aside.
3.
In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed 30
seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/3 cup at a time, beating well after each
addition. Scrape bowl occasionally. Beat 2 minutes longer. Add egg whites, one
at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well. On low
speed, add flour mixture gradually. Add pomegranate juice and mix well. Stir in
chocolate chips.
4.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
5.
Bake 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted
into the center of each comes out clean.
**I reduced the juice by boiling it over the stove until it
became slightly thicker. It took me a little less than 3 cups of juice to get ½
cup of the reduction.
Runner-Up...still good but the pomegranate taste was not really there. It tasted more like a chocolate chip muffin with a hint of berry flavor...
Pomegranate Cupcakes
test #1 (recipe using straight sparkling juice no reduction)
2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups sugar
5 eggs whites
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ¼ cups sparkling pomegranate juice
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1.
Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2, 12 cup muffin tins
with cupcake liners.
2.
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and
salt; set aside.
3.
In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer
on medium speed 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/3 cup at a time,
beating well after each addition. Scrape bowl occasionally. Beat 2 minutes
longer. Add egg whites, one at a time, beat well after each addition. Add
vanilla and mix well. On low speed, add flour mixture gradually. On low speed,
add sparkling juice gradually. Stir in chocolate chips.
4.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
5.
Bake 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted
in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans;
place on cooling racks to cool. Frost with pomegranate frosting (recipe shown
above)
Pomegranate Frosting Recipe
Pomegranate Frosting
(frosts 24 cupcakes)
6 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
¼ cup sparkling pomegranate juice reduced**
Milk (add as needed)
1.
In large bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter
with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla, pomegranate juice.
2.
Gradually beat in milk as needed to get the
right consistency.
**Sparkling pomegranate juice can be reduced by boiling it
on the stove. I used about 1 cup of juice and reduced it to ¼ cup.
So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed our sparkling pomegranate juice test! Check back on my blog or my twitter account CJCupcakery to find out what next week's ingredient is!
~Carolyn
No comments:
Post a Comment