Clementine Pomegranate Olive Oil Bundt Cake

When my friend Angie was visiting we stocked up on snacky-type foods we could take on our road trip to NorCal, including a massive bag of cuties. We took about 8 or 10 with us and came home with about 7 or 9.

We generally failed on our quest to only eat out once a day and eat snacky-type foods the rest of the time. It was mostly all my fault because I made this rule that buying anything from a coffee shop didn’t count as eating out, even if we bought food at said shop. In my defense, most the time I buy food at a coffee shop it’s snacky-type stuff anyway. Like a cheddar scone. Or a bran muffin. (Do not get me started on bran muffins right now but suffice it to say, I love love love them.) Less often I’ll buy actual food (like a breakfast sandwich) at a coffee shop. It’s hard for me to eat real food and drink coffee at the same time because coffee is so filling.

At any rate since we barely ate any cuties while Angie was here and she shelled out money for them, I urged her to take some cuties back with her to Milwaukee. The teeny-tiny suitcase she brought (honestly I’ve never seen such a small thing—it was the size of a large purse–not even an extra large purse) was already bursting at the seems without any cuties strategically placed inside. When she left, I was left with a massive amount of cuties.

While I, of course, like eating cuties as is I began to get a bit nervous about the sheer amount sitting in my produce bin and thought back to the Blood Orange Olive Oil Bundt Cake I made a few weeks ago that was super-dee-duper-dee delicious. The original recipe called for clementines but I used blood oranges because I had a several on hand and thought it would be a good substitute. Since I had so many damn cuties laying around I decided to make the original clementine recipe. Until I dreamed up an idea of turning it into a clementine-pomegranate cake instead of a clementine-sesame seed cake. And that is the story of how this cake recipe was born.

This cake went a lot easier than the Blood Orange Olive Oil Bundt Cake. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I used cuties instead of blood oranges or the fact that my Vitamix is different than my sister’s. I threw those clementines into my Vitamix and easily whirled them into a puree whereas when I made the Blood Orange Olive Oil Bundt Cake I had to first cut the oranges in half to get the blender to event attempt to blend them and then I had to add olive oil to really get a puree going.

I also learned from the last cake that I had to do something about the bitterness without having to wait a day or more for the bitterness to subside. (I noticed a sharply bitter taste with the last cake that subsided more and more each day.) To that I end I added more sugar than what was originally called for. I also did the same thing I did last time and dumped some sugar on the batter before baking.

Admittedly it was too much sugar because when I turned the cake out onto a platter, sugar went everywhere.

I decided to make a pomegranate molasses instead of using cuties to make a clementine syrup. I was hoping there would be this amazing color contrast when I cut into the cake but the molasses didn’t really sink into the orange-hued cake. This time I reserved some molasses to add to the whipped cream which I made in my newish immersion blender. (I was skeptical I could turn the heavy cream into whipped cream using my hand blender because the motor didn’t sound as fast as a high-speed mixer but after a few minutes sure enough I had me some whipped cream.)

I had to cook this longer than the last bundt cake I made. I think it took about 45 to 50 minutes but that could be the difference between my oven and my sister’s.

Finally, I got all fancy and dropped some pomegranate arils on top the cake for a garnish; this was definitely a good decision. Not only were they pretty but they were pretty tasty.

ingredients.

• tangerines equalling 480g
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ½ c. sugar (I used 2 c.)
• ¾ c. plus 1 ½ T. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 c. plus 1 ½ T. all purpose flour
• 1 ½ T. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• pomegranate arils, for garnish

topping ingredients.

• ⅔ c. pomegranate juice
• 1 slice of lemon, juice of
• ⅓ c. sugar (I used ⅔ c.)
• 1 c. heavy whipping cream

directions.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Liberally grease a bundt pan with butter. (I used olive oil.)
2. In the bowl of a blender or food processor, add the clementines and process until you have a smooth pulp. Pour into a large bowl and whisk in the eggs, sugar, and oil.
3. Sprinkle the flour, baking powder, and salt on top of the wet ingredients. Combine with the rest of the batter. Pour batter into the cake pan.
4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean or with little moist bits of cake attached. (My preference is to have bits of moist cake attached.)
5. While the cake is baking make the pomegranate molasses. In a small saucepan combine the pomegranate juice, lemon and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and cook over medium heat, allowing the syrup to boil, until it has reduced down about half – you want a thicker syrup instead of a runny liquid. Adjust the temperature to a lower temperature as needed as the liquid continues to reduce.
6. Turn cake out of the pan onto a rack or plate. Prick the top with a toothpick. Generously brush the cake with the molasses reserving about 1 or 2 tablespoons for the whipped cream.
7. Beat the whipped cream to medium peaks, stirring in pomegranate molasses, then continue to whip until a bit more firm.
8. Slice the cake and top the slices with whipped cream and some pomegranate arils. Enjoy room temperature or cold. (I like it cold.)

This cake turned out a lot less bitter than the blood orange cake. I would describe it as having a twinge of bitterness.

If you try this recipe and you make your own pomegranate juice, I used about 1 1/2 pomegranates in this recipe. One pomegranate went solely for making the juice for the molasses. I whizzed up the arils in a high-speed blender and then pressed the “juice” through a fine mesh sieve. I had to crack open a second pomegranate to get some arils for garnish/serving.

Recipe rating: 