Pomegranate Creme Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk*. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes! 

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details. 

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

Our choices for November 2019 were...

Chocolate Kiev Cake

• A Little Bit of All Right

German Prinzregenten Torte

• Sweet Sensations

Dundee Cake

• Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Camille Cooks
• All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• A Day in the Life on the Farm

Pomegranate Creme Cake

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• My Recipe Reviews
• Amandie Bakes

Pomegranate Creme Cake

I'll be honest: I chose the Pomegranate Creme Cake because we were having a joint birthday party for two of our best friends and I wanted Pia's cake to be pink! We are both permanent residents of Testosterone Land and when I have the chance to create something girly, I do!

If you follow this group - The Cake Slice Bakers - at all, I'm sure you've noticed several bloggers complaining about the recipes as written and how we've had to adapt Nesteruk's recipes. Well, this was the first time that I almost threw the entire cake in the garbage. While the mascarpone-whipped cream frosting sounded like a good idea, it was so bad that I scrambled to make my own pink-hued buttercream to save the cake before the birthday party. So, this cake was a hit, but it isn't the Pomegranate Creme Cake recipe as written.

And while I hated the frosting, as written, I loved the pomegranate syrup with which we soaked the cake layers. Wow! Also, I adapted the recipe slightly as I wanted four layers instead of three.

Ingredients 

makes a 9" four-layer cake

Cake

• 1 C butter
• 1-1/3 C organic granulated sugar
• 2 t pure vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 1 t pure lemon extract
• 3/4 C milk
• 3/4 C plain yogurt (whole milk)
• 5 eggs
• 2 C flour
• 1 C almond flour
• 5 t baking powder
• also needed: 9" cake pans, parchment paper

Pomegranate Syrup

• 2 C pomegranate juice
• 1/2 C organic granulated sugar

Buttercream

• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/3 C water
• 1 C organic granulated sugar
• 1 T organic corn syrup
• 2 C butter, softened
• 1 T organic vanilla paste 

Procedure

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 9" round baking pans by buttering them and lining the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, and baking powder.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until lightened and fluffy. Add in the vanilla paste and lemon extract, then the eggs - one at a time - and beat until well-incorporated. Stir in the milk and the yogurt.

Fold the dry ingredients into the yogurt mixture to form a thick batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely before assembling.

Pomegranate Syrup
Place pomegranate juice in a small saucepan. Stir in the sugar. Heat over medium until and swirl the pan until the sugar is completely dissolved. Simmer until the mixture thickens and is reduced by half, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. If you have leftover syrup after painting the cake layers and turning the buttercream pink, you can use this syrup with sparkling water to make homemade sodas.

Buttercream

Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beat on high until they are thick, pale, and ribbon off the whisks.

Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan. You can attach a candy thermometer to the side; I just kept testing until it reached soft-ball stage. If you're using a thermometer, heat until it reaches 238 degrees F. For testing otherwise, dip a spoon into the syrup, then into ice cold water. The syrup should immediately set up into a soft ball. Mine took about 8 minutes to reach the correct consistency.

Once the syrup is ready, remove it from the heat. While one hand hold the mixer, use the other hand to pour the syrup into the yolks. When all of the syrup is added, turn the mixer up to high and beat until the yolks have doubled in size and have reached medium peak stage. The bowl should be cooled and just lukewarm to the touch. Mine took about 9 minutes.

Begin adding butter, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. The more butter you add, the more firm the buttercream will be. Once your buttercream resembles what you think of as buttercream, add in the vanilla paste and 2 T pomegranate syrup and beat until well-combined.  

For Serving
Once the cake layers have cooled completely, use a serrated knife to cut the layers flat. Paint the top of each of the layers with pomegranate syrup. Place the bottom layer on your serving platter. Add a dollop of buttercream and spread to the edges, then place another layer on top. Repeat, then smooth the buttercream over the top and along the sides. Refrigerate to let the buttercream harden.

When ready to serve, let cake sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Top with pomegranate arils and serve!

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