5.17.2009

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake

Did You Know? Pomegranates have existed for 50 to 70 million years. The plants themselves live 100 to 150 years in the wild, and 300 years or more in cultivated gardens. They bear fruit in their second or third year, and can produce 440 to 660 pounds of fruit annually.

With a huge case of POM Wonderful and some tubs of Oikos, I needed a recipe to put these ingredients to use, preferably all at once. I'd had a recipe for grapefruit yogurt cake bookmarked for some time, and with a few substitutions, I knew I could have something really great. The original recipe had mentioned that the grapefuit syrup did not thicken up as hoped, so I made sure to let the pomegranate juice reduce down for a few extra minutes; it ended up being my favorite part.

As for the cake itself, it has a wonderful crumb, and is super-moist. Flavorwise, it's definitely more lemon than pomegranate, but I expected that. The original recipe had praised the grapefruit-zested sugar that was incorporated, but with no rind to zest from a pomegranate, I opted for a lemon instead, and threw in a tablespoon of pomegranate juice for good measure.



Lemon Sugar

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake
Adapted from Joy the Baker

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup pomegranate juice, plus one tablespoon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt to blend.

On a clean surface, or in a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and zest. With the back of a spoon or a flexible bench knife, rub the lemon zest into the sugar. The essential oils will release into the sugar creating a wonderfully fragrant lemon-sugar.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and lemon-sugar until the eggs are thick and pale yellow. Add the yogurt, oil, one tablespoon of pomegranate juice, and vanilla extract. Stir well to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted near the center. Place the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, and cool completely on the wire rack.

In a small saucepan, combine the powdered sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice and bring to a boil Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 10-15 minutes, or until the glaze is slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

To finish, pierce the cake all over the top with a skewer and pour the warm pomegranate syrup slowly over the cake.

Store at room temperature, wrapped well, for 2 days.

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake

26 comments:

  1. That would be great with a cup of tea in the afternoon. I love adding yogurt to baked goods.

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  2. Pomegranate looks so good in this! I don't care for grapefruit so I like your version on this so much better!

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  3. ohhh this looks like the perfect little citrus-y cake!!

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  4. I think those flavors would work beautifully together--and it looks gorgeous, too. :)

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  5. Yogourt and pomegranate. Sounds like a delicious cake.

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  6. This is a beautiful cake. It sounds fabulous!

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  7. I'll have a slice of that with my coffee please.

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  8. Lovely combination of ingredients in your cake.Here we use a lot of pomegranate syrup, which goes well with lots of things!

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  9. Looks wonderful! I love pomegranate although I'm still mad that I stained one of my favorite t-shirts w/pomegranate juice years ago.

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  10. this is fate--i have pomegranate juice and i have greek yogurt, both of which need to be used immediately. i'm so happy to find an awesome recipe to try--thanks!

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  11. I love pomegranate! Your cake looks beautiful and it looks so moist!

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  12. This cake looks fantastic. I'm never let down when I visit your blog.

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  13. I bet this tastes even better the next day? I love the color of that syrup....so pretty.

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  14. Nice picture. You make me want to eat some cakes.

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  15. What a great combination of flavours. Gorgeous cake!

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  16. Isn't it wild how all these popular fruits and veggies have been around forever then we discover how good they are for us and they are instantly popular. I love it.

    This cake looks fabulous. What a wonderful combo of flavors. I would love to try it in its original version with grapefruit too.

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  17. Beautiful cake! Pomegranate just gives it a delightful twist.

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  18. Yum, yum, yum!

    Now I know what to make with all my free Pom and greek yogurt!

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  19. That's a great idea! The pomegranate syrup sounds delicious.

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  20. I can just imagine the pomegranate syrup with the yogurt cake - so yummy! You are awesome!

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  21. Pomegranate cake, great idea...it looks delicious and with yogurt? Very creative, and the pictures are just very nice. By the way, thanks for visiting my site.

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  22. Oh wow, this looks glorious! I love pomegranates in anything! It looks so moist and syruppy... perfect for an afternoon tea out in the deck!
    Thanks Hayley!

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  23. What a great way to use the POM Juice!

    Now I wish I had a bundt pan. I wonder if you could use two regular round cakes pans?

    Great recipe!

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  24. I love the color of the glaze. Great job combining the two ingredients.
    ~ingrid

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  25. Yummy! I'll bet the yogurt makes it reaaaaally moist too.

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  26. You had me at pomegranate...but I bet that yogurt makes this so moist and robust. Yum.

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