Pomegranate Cupcakes – White Cake with Pomegranate Buttercream

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The best white cupcake with tangy, creamy pomegranate buttercream makes these pomegranate cupcakes perfect for a special occasion.

Pomegranate Cupcakes

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).

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Pomegranate Frosting is the perfect topping for white cake

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.

The best white cupcake with tangy, creamy pomegranate buttercream makes these cupcakes perfect for a special occasion.

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.

Perfect White Cupcakes with Pomegranate Frosting
The best white cupcake with tangy, creamy pomegranate buttercream makes these cupcakes perfect for a special occasion.

Pomegranate Cupcakes – White Cake with Pomegranate Buttercream

The best white cupcake with tangy, creamy pomegranate buttercream makes these pomegranate cupcakes perfect for a special occasion.
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cuisine: American
Servings: 24

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

Serving: 1cupcake · Calories: 241kcal · Carbohydrates: 40g · Protein: 3g · Fat: 8g · Saturated Fat: 5g · Trans Fat: 1g · Cholesterol: 22mg · Sodium: 254mg · Potassium: 55mg · Fiber: 1g · Sugar: 31g · Vitamin A: 258IU · Vitamin C: 1mg · Calcium: 58mg · Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @chocolatewithgrace or tag #chocolatewithgrace!

{originally published 1/10/15 – recipe notes and photos updated 3/16/21}

White Cupcakes with Pomegranate buttercream


Check out these other cupcakes that are perfect for special occasions!

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Red Velvet Cupcakes from Sally’s Baking Addiction

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  1. 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?

  2. 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?

  3. 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?

  4. 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.