I was talking to Carolyn Broughton-Willett, at AJ Hastings. Hastings is a classic, center-of-town store in Amherst, MA that has everything. Carolyn and I often (okay, always) talk about food when I’m there. Two weeks ago, she was raving about a recipe she made, from the NY Times, for a pomegranate molasses butter cake. I can honestly say that I’d never baked with pomegranate molasses, and had no compelling reason to start. Until Carolyn started raving. She said the cake has a sweet and exotic taste. That sold me. And what sold me even more was that it was so easy to make. I made some slight changes to the recipe, and that was only to make it even easier. Another reason the cake is great is because it has three distinct parts that set it apart from most other cakes. First, there’s the cake. By itself, it a nice butter cake. Then there’s the 2nd part: the easy syrup that you brush on the top, made with the pomegranate molasses, milk, and confectioner’s sugar. The third part? Walnuts with a hint of heated sugar and the pomegranate molasses. This last part is crazy-easy. Just put the three ingredients into a saucepan, gently heat them, and toss them (Okay. Gently place them) on the cake.
So try it. The pomegranate flavor is subtle, but really changes to the cake from being a familiar butter cake to one that will bring a “wow!” to everyone. I bought the pomegranate molasses at Whole Foods. Look around. You can probably find it in other stores, too. It’ll be worth it. And, in case you missed it, here’s the recipe.
