Day 12 of 12: Pomegranate Buttercream

Here we are, finally, on our last day of the 12 Days of Pomegranate! Soon we'll be back to just soup again here at the GB, but our other recipes will live on at our new sister site. Thanks for humoring us. We hope somewhere in these 12 posts you found something worth trying.

The friendly folks at Pom Wonderful got wind of our little pomegranate celebration and were kind enough to send us a package of their juice along with information on the pomegranate's many health benefits. Thanks Pom Wonderful! While we still debate whether or not straight-up fresh pom juice tastes better than the bottled kind, there's no doubt the bottled stuff saves time and energy for recipes like this one.

This recipe is our most decadent of the 12 days and it was inspired by my first ever bite of a Cakelove masterpiece. We live down the street from Warren Brown's original Cakelove and Love Cafe shops and while our proximity is a detriment to our waistlines our tastebuds do a little dance anytime we stop in. What's more is that in light of the state of the economy, Warren has slashed prices, provides online coupons, and has started offering two-layer (as opposed to 3-layer) cakes, so now our wallets are happy too. Margaret prefers Neil's Hat Trick which features chocolate ganache and vanilla buttercream with fresh raspberries. I, on the other hand, am a fan of the Razz Ma Tazz featuring chocolate ganache and bright pink raspberry buttercream. The first time I tried a slice of this cake and tasted the Italian meringue version of buttercream that Warren uses for all his sweet treats, I couldn't help but wonder if a pomegranate version would work. Well, I took my idea to the mixer and let me assure you it does. The tang of the pomegranate with the richness of chocolate is a marriage made in heaven!

The only thing we noticed was that it didn't end up quite as pink as we'd expected. We kept ours natural, but you can always add red food coloring in Step 8 if you want a more dramatic color. We took the buttercream and used it for layers of something much like an opera cake, but you can use it however you like!

Pomegranate Buttercream

2 (8 oz) bottles of pomegranate juice (we used Pom Wonderful)
5 large eggs
1 1/4 c extra-fine granulated sugar*
1/4 c water
4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and brought to room temperature

* To make granulated sugar extra fine at home simply pulse it in a food processor for about 3-5 minutes.

1. Pour pomegranate juice into saucepan, bring just to a boil and then simmer over low heat to reduce the juice for about 30 minutes until it yields about 1/2 cup pomegranate syrup. Set aside.




2. To make a simple syrup, prep by measuring 1 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup water in a saucepan and affix a candy thermometer to the edge of the pan. Don't heat yet.

3. Separate egg whites from yolks and reserve yolks for another use. In a mixer, whip egg whites at high speed to stiff peaks, and with mixer running, add 1/4 cup sugar to the whites and continue to whip for another minute, just until whites are glossy.



4. Turn on the saucepan and heat the sugar/water mixture from Step 2 over medium-high until the candy thermometer reaches 245 degrees.



5. With mixer on medium-high speed, slowly pour the simple syrup into the meringue, being careful to avoid the sides of the bowl and the whisk, then keep whipping meringue at medium-high for about 2 minutes.

6. Reduce the mixer to medium speed and continue to whip for an additional 3-4 minutes until the mixture has cooled. (You can put your hand on the bottom of the mixer bowl to determine this).

7. Add butter cubes one tablespoon at a time until all butter is added. Increase the speed to high to fully incorporate the butter into the buttercream.



Note: For the next step, we actually took half the buttercream and set it aside to keep as plain vanilla for the center layer of our cake, but it's up to you whether you want the whole batch to be pomegranate or not.

8. Add the pomegranate syrup to taste, adding a little at a time, mixing and tasting as you go. We ended up using about 6 teaspoons total for our half of the buttercream (so we'd estimate it would be about 12 teaspoons for the full batch). Here's where you'd also add red food coloring if you like. Once you're satisfied with the taste, cover and chill the buttercream in the fridge until ready to use.






On a side note, for those of you wondering how George (the dog) is doing post-surgery. It took about 2 weeks for his wounds to heal. During this time we did everything in our power to ensure his maximum comfort. He didn't waste anytime taking advantage of this situation, meaning he even joined us on the (normally verboten) couch! He's doing fun