I’m flying by the seat of my pants for yet another holiday at home.  But, before I pack up my crap and ship myself down to my mom’s in Delaware, I wanted to share another fab cupcake recipe from the Betty Crocker Big Book of Cupcakes.

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time:  1 hr 15 min
Makes 24 Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

• 2 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 & 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 5 egg whites
• 1 & 1/4 cups milk
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 package 8oz light cream cheese
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2-3 tsp skim milk
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Garnish Ingredients

• 6 tbsp pomegranate seeds
• Fresh mint sprigs

The first thing you’ll want to do is cut open and clean out the pomegranate (I only used a single one).  If you’ve never done this before, I recommend getting a large bowl of water for the cleaning.

Pomegranate juice is pretty dark and can stain, so cleaning out the seeds into a bowl of water really helps.  The seeds will sink and the other stuff floats to the top of the bowl.  Just cut it in half, and start pulling apart the fruit as shown.  You can google other tips, it’s a bit of a time consuming process but worth it. 

Ta da!  Now on to the baking!

Heat oven to 350F  and place cupcake liners in baking pan.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder then set aside.  In a large bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Gradually add in sugar, about 1/3 at a time, beating after each addition.  Beat for 2 min longer, then add egg whites one at a time while beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  On low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beating until just blended.  Stir in pomegranate seeds by hand.

Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full and bake about 18-20 min or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 5 min in pan, then transfer to cooling rack to fully cool.

To make the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and 2 tsp of milk in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth.  Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.  Gradually beat in remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable.  Place in frosting bag and pipe onto cupcakes, or spread as desired.  Sprinkle remaining pomegranate seeds on top of frosting and garnish with mint sprigs.

I cannot wait to eat these with the fam tomorrow!  They’re almost too pretty. 

Well, I’m off to go gather up my stuff and hit the road.  Hope everyone has a great Christmas weekend.  I’ll be lounging and playing around with my new Kindle Fire from Scott!  He’s such a good egg. 

 
What are your plans for Christmas?