The best white cupcake with tangy, creamy pomegranate buttercream makes these pomegranate cupcakes perfect for a special occasion.
I’m going through one of my fruit obsessions right now. I’m all about the pomegranates. I’ve been enjoying them plain, in smoothies, and, of course, I had to make a dessert of out them.
The little red jewels add so much color this time of year when everything is drab and brown (Although we finally did get some snow to brighten things up).
So I had fun editing some pretty cupcake pictures that evening (Eating one would have been even better, but they were long gone!).
Since I make so many dessert recipes for the blog, I rarely eat more than one piece of anything before gladly giving them away. However, this time I didn’t feel one bit guilty for eating almost the entire batch of these pomegranate cupcakes myself.
I’ve found my go-to white cupcake recipe. I gently adapted this white cake recipe from Cooks Illustrated via I Am Baker.
(And by adapted I mean I barely changed around 2 ingredients. No need to reinvent an amazing recipe.)
The frosting is a basic buttercream with reduced pomegranate juice. The beautiful pink color of the frosting came solely from the pomegranate juice, no need for food coloring.
Pomegranate Cupcakes – White Cake with Pomegranate Buttercream
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 cup milk room temperature
- 6 egg whites room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 and ¼ cups cake flour
- 1 and ¾ cups white sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 and ½ cups butter softened
For the Pomegranate Buttercream
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- 1 cup butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Instructions
Cupcake Instructions
- Line muffin tins with 24 cupcake liner. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the wet ingredients, the milk, egg white, almond and vanilla extract.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the cake flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the mix. Beat on low until crumbly (about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Pour all but ½ cup of the wet ingredients into the dry. Beat on a medium speed for about 1 and ½ minutes. Add the remaining wet ingredients and beat for another 1 minute. Pour batter into the prepared pans filling them about 2/3 full.
- Bake in the preheated over for 14-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the pans to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Frosting Instructions
- To make the frosting, pour 1 cup pomegranate juice into a small saucepan, simmer until reduced to about ¼ cup of liquid. The juice will be very dark and syrupy. Let cool completely to room temperature
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on high speed until fluffy and white in color (about 2 minutes).
- Gently stir in the powdered sugar. Beat in the reduced pomegranate juice and enough of the milk or cream to make a smooth, fluffy frosting.
Nutrition
{originally published 1/10/15 – recipe notes and photos updated 3/16/21}
Check out these other cupcakes that are perfect for special occasions!
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes – This was the first post I ever wrote, please be forgiving to my photography and pictures, but the cupcakes themselves are amazing!
Pink Champagne Cupcakes from Blahnik Baker
Red Velvet Cupcakes from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Banana and Caramel Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from Urban Bakes
Chicago Jogger says
I love love pomegranates, but I’ve never tried them in a cupcake – looks delicious and perfect for Valentines Day 🙂
eat good 4 life says
These cupcakes look so light and airy. I am sure they are sensational. Love the pop of pink in the frosting!
Kristen @ A Mind Full Mom says
Ohh, these look perfect. I love that you used Pomegrantes to color the icing. Genius.
Betsy @ Desserts Required says
I’m not sure which I look forward to trying more, the cupcake or the buttercream. The cupcakes remind me of a childhood favorite with a gorgeous update using pomegranate juice.
Kare @ Kitchen Treaty says
These are SO gorgeous! And I love that that frosting is *such* a pretty pink with no food coloring needed.
Melanie | Melanie Makes says
Such pretty cupcakes! Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says
These cupcakes are so beautiful, Mallory! Vanilla cupcakes are such a favorite and they sound amazing with the pomegranate frosting. Love the natural pink color too!!
Arlene Mobley says
These cupcakes are almost too pretty to eat! Notice I said almost!
Zainab says
These are just gorgeous!! I love Amanda’s white cake in her book so I can just imagine these are crumbly good.
Lucy @ Bake Play Smile says
Yes! Pomegranates are just the yummiest thing ever!! I love your cupcakes – so pretty!!
Jen @ Baked by an Introvert says
These cupcakes are stunning, Mallory! The pomegranate frosting is so creative and it sounds delicious!
Connie | URBAN BAKES says
These cupcakes look phenomenal!! I love the pink color of the frosting too!
Amanda says
I love everything about these cupcakes! So fun and creative!
Melanie @ Carmel Moments says
These turned out gorgeous! I would turn down a cupcake even in ‘healthy’ January!
Pinned.
Have a beautiful weekend!
Amber @ Dessert Now, Dinner Later! says
Wow! These are absolutely stunning! I love that you concentrated the juice down for the frosting and that the cupcakes are homemade!
Lindsay says
Hi there. I am looking forward to trying this recipe but I am a little confused about the amount of pomegranate juice. There seems to be conflicting amounts written down. How much juice should I begin with and how much liquid should be left when I add it to the buttercream?
Carlene says
I am confused also about the amt. of pomegranate juice. Is it one cup reduced to 1/2cup as in the recipe or one cup reduced to 1/4 cup?
nancy says
hey, the recipe looks amazing! i would like to make these cupcakes tomorrow. the amount of pomegranate juice is unclear. how much do you start with and how much should it be reduced to?
Mallory says
Hi Nancy, I updated the recipe to hopefully be clearer. But you should start with 1/2 cup of juice and reduce it to 1/4 cup.
Elli says
I made these but none of the ingredients were quite in proportion. My cupcakes collapsed, the batter was too thin, and there was a definite aftertaste of baking soda. I also tried to add more flour and confectioners sugar to make it thicker, but to little avail.