Friday, February 27, 2009

Pomegranate Cupcakes with Chinese Five Spice Buttercream

I got it in my head I wanted to use Chinese Five Spice Powder in my cupcakes this week, not sure why as I hadn't used it in forever. I figured it would be a good flavoring for a buttercream with an unusual anise flavor. But what flavor for the cake to go with it?
Pomegranate Cupcake
My original thought was a fruit flavored cake, maybe cherry or apricot. Then on the morning I'm about to do my baking this little package shows up from POM.
Morning 57 - The perks
Well, that settled it the cupcakes would be flavored with pomegranate. I was a little worried about texture of the cake since the batter seemed a little thinner than most but it made a nice moist cupcake. The flavor is sweet & a little tart.

Pomegranate Cupcakes with Chinese Five Spice Buttercream

Pomegranate Cupcake

2 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 c + 2 T sugar
1 large egg yoke
1/4 c pomegranate juice
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 c plain yogurt
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/8 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 4 muffin tins.

Cream the butter & sugar together. Beat in the egg, pomegranate juice, vanilla, & yogurt. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt.

Divide between the muffin tins, filling them 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool on a rack.

Chinese Five Spice Buttercream

4 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 t Chinese Five Spice Powder
1/2 - 3/4 c powdered sugar

Beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the Five Spice Powder & 1/4 cup sugar until completely incorporated. Add another 1/4 cup of the powder & completely incorporate. Add the remaining powdered sugar as needed to reach desired consistency.

Makes 4 cupcakes.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

These sound really good. Was it enough pomegranate juice to turn the cake bright pink?

Anonymous said...

What an interesting combination of flavors!

Maris said...

There are so many great recipes out there using pomegranate juice and I can't believe that I've never even tried it!

vanillasugarblog said...

Oh I would so love these! I love my POM juice in the morning. Great combo!! you should enter these into a contest!

kat said...

Jillian - they weren't bright pink just a soft light pink

Lori said...

How creative! A great use for the POM juice. I bet these are so tasty!

Jennifer said...

Such a creative idea!!!! I love it!

Margie said...

Gorgeous photo! I'm assuming the cupcake was as delicious as it looks!

Dana Fallentine said...

THe picture is amazing!

Lori said...

What a nice gift. I keep buying POM hoping to make Kevins, muhamarra. Then I end up using it for other things. Like the roasted pork.

I never would have thought to use five spice powder. I bet it was a good combo!

grace said...

see, never in a million years would i have thought of this combination. nicely done--i'm sure it'd make me happy. :)

MrOrph said...

I have pomegranate juice every day because of its anti-everything, but a cupcake? Genius!

I have used the juice in savory applications, like a reduction for duck breasts, but never even though of using it in a cake.

Peter M said...

These cupcakes are pretty...almost too good to not eat...almost!

Deborah said...

What an interesting cupcake! It sounds delicious.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Get Email Updates!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Measurement Abbreviations

T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon
c = cup
lb = pound
oz - ounce

Labels

Blog Archive

Contributors

Blog Directory for Minneapolis, Minnesota