Vanilla Pomegranate Cake Food

VANILLA & POMEGRANATE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the lemon zest and juice and vanilla extract. Fold in the flours with a metal spoon until well mixed. Transfer to the cake tin, smooth the top, then bake for 50 mins until risen and golden.
• To make the syrup, mix the lemon juice with the pomegranate juice, caster sugar and vanilla, then heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and reduce slightly until syrupy. Remove from the heat and cool slightly, then tip in the pomegranate seeds.
• Remove the cake from the oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes before poking holes all over it with a skewer and pouring over the pomegranate syrup. Enjoy warm or cool completely in the tin.

OLIVE OIL-WALNUT CAKE WITH POMEGRANATE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan or cake pan. Place a parchment circle in bottom of pan and lightly oil parchment. Dust with flour and shake off excess. Set pan aside.
• Add the walnuts to a food processor and grind to a coarse powder. Place ground walnuts in a bowl, and add 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt. Stir and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. With a rubber spatula, transfer the whites to a sheet of parchment or to a separate bowl.
• Put egg yolks in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add sugar and whisk on low speed until sugar is dissolved. Then increase speed and continue beating, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary, until the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 5 minutes.
• Beat in buttermilk, vanilla extract and orange zest, then slowly add the flour mixture at low speed. Slowly add 1/2 cup/120 milliliters olive oil and beat for a minute or so to combine. Using a rubber spatula, quickly fold in the reserved beaten egg whites. (First, fold in 1/3 of the whites to lighten the batter, then fold in remaining whites.) Scrape batter into prepared cake pan, put pan on a baking sheet and place in oven on middle shelf.
• Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack, then invert onto a cake plate.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup: In a small saucepan, put sugar, orange juice, cinnamon stick and cloves. Simmer over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Spoon half the syrup over top of cooled cake. Cut cake into wedges and serve with a dab of crème fraîche, if desired. Spoon more syrup over each portion. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

IRAQI VANILLA CAKE WITH POMEGRANATE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C Grease and flour a large loaf pan.
• Beat egg yolks until thick & creamy. Gradually add vanilla and powdered sugar. Add dry ingredients and butter, beating with an electric mixer for 3 minutes on high speed, scrape down sides of bowl once or twice to ensure thorough mixing.
• Whip egg whites until stiff and fold them lightly into batter. Spread mixture into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes: until it tests done (by a toothpick coming out clean when poked into it.).
• Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Whisk in sweet pomegranate juice. Bring to a boil, whisking continuously. Boil for about 2 minutes, until smooth thick and glossy. Remove from heat and stir in rosewater. Chill.
• To serve: brush a plate with pomegranate sauce and arrange 2 or 3 overlapping thin slices of cake over the sauce.

EASY VANILLA CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a round, deep 20cm tin, then line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
• Using electric beaters or a tabletop mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and ¼ tsp salt together until pale and fluffy, then pour in the eggs, one at a time, giving the mix a really good beating before adding the next.
• Add 1 tbsp of the plain flour if the mix starts to look slimy rather than fluffy. Beat in the yogurt. Mix the flours; then, using a large metal spoon, fold them into the batter, followed by the milk.
• Spoon the mix into the tin and bake for 1 hr 20 mins or until well risen and golden - a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup by gently heating 50ml water with the sugar and vanilla in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Once the cake is out of the oven, leave to cool for 30 mins in the tin, then use a skewer to poke holes all over the cake, going right to the bottom. Pour the syrup over, letting it completely soak in after each addition.
• Leave to cool completely, then either wrap the cake well or fill and ice it. If you wrap it with baking parchment and cling film, the unfilled cake will keep well for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to a month.
• For ideas on how to decorate the cake and to try out some variations on this basic cake mixture, have a look at the 'Goes well with' recipes for Simple elegance wedding cake, Birthday bug cake and Summer celebration cake.

SPICED POMEGRANATE-PEAR CAKE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine juice, brown sugar and ginger. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved; remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Place pears in a bowl or shallow dish; pour juice mixture over pears and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of 3 greased 8-in. round baking pans with parchment; grease paper. In a small bowl, combine milk and vinegar; let stand 5 minutes until curdled. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk mixture, beating well after each addition. , Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely., Drain pears, reserving marinade; pat dry. For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter, 2 tablespoons reserved marinade, vanilla and, if desired, food coloring until blended. Beat in confectioners' sugar alternately with enough milk to reach spreading consistency., To assemble cake, using a long serrated knife, cut each cake in half horizontally. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; brush with 1/4 cup reserved marinade. Top with 2/3 cup pears. Top with another cake layer; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Repeat layers, ending with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with 2 cups frosting. Pipe remaining frosting around top and bottom edges. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over top of cake. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.