October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. My gran was among the one in eight women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. She fought it valiantly and with dignity, only to have it metastasize and come back stronger years later. Since she has had such an impact on me and my love of cooking and baking, this month I wanted to focus on recipes that would show my support for her and bring attention to the work of organizations that support women who are fighting this disease. How appropriate that I would be sent a case of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice just as October begins - many studies demonstrate pomegranate may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of various types of cancer including breast cancer!
I had used POM in my smoothies before, but never in my cooking and baking. There seemed to be so many interesting recipes out there and I didn't quite know where to begin, so why not with dessert? POM Velvet Cupcakes with a Pomegranate Cream Cheese Frosting, served with Pomegranate Ice Cream.
I started with the ice cream. I don't have a ice cream maker, unless you count the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Ball (and I don't, unless my nieces and nephews are around to do the shaking), so Nigella Lawson's No-Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream recipe caught my eye straight away. It was really simple, only four ingredients, and took just minutes to prepare. Beating the cream prior to freezing made such a difference in the texture - I could tell it would from the beginning and it made it really hard to wait while it set in the freezer!
I next turned to the cupcakes. I chose the Pom Chocolate Cupcakes recipe from Epicurean.com as it had a good balance between the amounts of cocoa and pomegranates. Besides, I wanted to be frugal with the use of the POM - they sent me 8-8oz "mini-bottles" and i wanted to stretch them as far as I could!
For the frosting, I modified a Pomegranate Cream Cheese Frosting recipe posted by swirlycinnacakes on recipeczaar.com, swapping the pomegranate molasses for straight POM juice, adding enough to make the frosting my desired consistency.
How did it taste? Wonderful! The ice cream was smooth and creamy, with a great POM flavor and a hint of lime, while the cupcakes were moist and chocolaty. You can't really taste the pomegranate in the cake itself per se, but it gives that little extra something that makes it really stand out. The frosting? Yum. Pink, tangy, POMmy and not too sweet. I would certainly make them again.
