And she bakes again

So I mentioned before that the lovely people from POM Wonderful sent me some juice to bake with so here is my first venture, which turned out awfully well!

I made Pomegranate Orange Cupcakes!

First off, I made the Pomegranate Orange Curd for the filling. I modified a recipe from allrecipes.com but will admit to not cooking it long enough the first time but, luckily, it was easy enough to reheat, add a tablespoon of cornstarch, and cook a few more minutes and it sat up just fine. I also added a bit of red food coloring so it wasn't all brown and yucky. So here's my recipe!

Pomegranate Orange Curd

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup white sugar 5 egg yolks 1 cup POM Wonderful juice

1 orange, zested 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted Some red food coloring (if desired)

DIRECTIONS:

1.

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in pomegranate juice, orange zest and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the microwave, and pour into small sterile jars. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

For the cupcakes, I wanted a light pomegranate cupcake so I went with my favorite base recipe and added juice. In the end, there was a light fruit flavor but I'm not sure I would easily identify it as pomegranate. But it was good anyway. So here it is...

Pomegranate Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 cup POM Wonderful juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and lightly flour 14 muffin cups. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with the pomegranate juice and vanilla.

For the frosting, I again turned to an old favorite and went with a cream cheese base with a bit of juice. I also added about a tablespoon of the leftover Pomegranate Orange curd, just cause it was there. But I'm not gonna list that in the recipe.

Pomegranate Frosting

INGREDIENTS:

4 ounces cream cheese 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons POM Wonderful juice 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar Some red food coloring if needed

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Beat cream cheese and butter in a bowl until combined. Beat in powdered sugar and pomegranate juice.
2.	Beat in 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 cups more of powdered sugar till frosting is of spreading consistency. Stir in a few drops of red food coloring (if desired).

So, to put it all together, fill the pomegranate cupcakes with the curd (around a tablespoon or as much as you can squeeze in there) and then frost them! Awesome!