Pomegranate Carrot Cake

Thanksgiving inspires a plethora of wonderful side and dessert recipes. Having a stronger sweet tooth, I’d say, my attention is always immediately drawn to the cakes I see. Cake recipes, pictures, descriptions, you name it. I’m all over cakes. One of the cakes I’ve been meaning to check off of my To Do list most recently is the Carrot Cake. It seems like such a natural idea to make a vegetable cake in the wintertime, I don’t know why. It’s kind of the same weird inclination that makes you want to eat fruit in the summertime, just a body clock thing I suppose.

While researching a good Carrot cake recipe, and eggless mind you, I noticed that a good number of recipes tend to mix a fruit juice into the batter. I’ve so far seen orange juice, pineapple juice, and applesauce used. In an effort to use what I have, and to put a personal spin on the dish, I ended up squeezing some pomegranate seeds to make a few teaspoons of pure juice that I put into my cake batter. In keeping with the pomegranate accent, I filled the center of the cake with pomegranate seeds. It’s a very interesting cake. And most importantly, MOIST. I’m very pleased with this cake, and plan to make it many times again in the future. 

Carrot and Pomegranate Cake
(makes two mini 2-layer cakes, or alternatively one 9-inch round cake pan. I make my mini layered cakes by baking in crème brûlée dishes)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp flax-seed powder mixed in with 3 tbsp warm water (this simulates the inclusion of one egg)
1/2 stick of butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar in the raw
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tsps pure pomegranate juice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt) in a bowl.

In a separate, and large bowl, heat your butter for about 15 seconds in the microwave. To this bowl, add the wet ingredients (flax-seed ‘egg’, brown sugar, sugar in the raw, vanilla extract, milk and sour cream). Mix until all of the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while mixing. Once thoroughly incorporated, add the carrots and pomegranate juice.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9-inch round cake pan, or 4 crème brûlée dishes.

Bake on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the cake(s) is(are) able to pass the toothpick test.

Garnish with cream cheese frosting & 1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream cheese frosting
(from Breakfast Lunch Dinner Punch)

4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 lb icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Beat ingredients together until fully incorporated.

If looking for a quick fix for the topping, try my lazy trick of mixing 1 part ready-made frosting with 3 parts cool whip. The cool whip acts to tone down the sweetness of the ready-made frosting. You can control the level of sweetness by adjusting the ratio of cool whip/ready-made frosting accordingly.