Satsuma and Pomegranate Bundt

Why is it so hard to think of something different? It’s nigh on impossible to be original when it comes to baking, I find. Almost everything I can think of has been done before. Other people have experimented and discovered flavours that work together, textures that are right for certain tins and bakes, what happens when you add a bit of this or swap a bit of that…and if something hasn’t been done before, it could well be for a good reason.

That’s what happened when I started researching this cake. After being given some bargain pomegranates (after my friend Emma had an incident in the Morrisons reduced veg section, not dissimilar to my ginger incident) I wanted to bake a cake that had pomegranate seeds in it. The thing is, there aren’t many cakes on the internet that have the seeds actually baked in the cake. They’re usually used as a garnish or made into a syrup and drizzled over the top.

I wanted little speckles of bright red in the cake itself. Little bursts of pomegranetty excitement. But, I did think that baking them could make the seeds disappear and just be small dots of disappoinment instead. Throwing caution to the wind, I decided that nothing was to be gained by being cautious and I was going to chuck them in anyway. I also wanted a citrus flavour with it…keeping it seasonal I decided to go with satsuma, for something a bit different to the usual orange.

This recipe is for a 10-12 cup bundt tin. I used the NordicWare star tin, which is one of my favourites, but this should work well with most shapes except really intricate ones. For a 6-cup bundt tin simply halve the quantities!

Use the brightest, pinkest pomegranate you can find. They can be a bit of a bugger to get the seeds out and it can take ages. I don’t find the cheffy tip of bashing works, I just quarter it and gently peel off the thin, papery skins and pop seeds out. If you want to cheat and buy the pre-packed seeds because you can’t be bothered faffing with de-seeding your own, I won’t tell anyone.

Thanks as ever to Dollybakes for her basic bundt recipe, which can be found on her smashing blog. If you’re new to bundt baking, I strongly suggest you read her starter tips and get stuck in. Everyone I know who’s caught the bundt bug follows her recipes with success.

Ingredients

• 225g butter or margarine (I used Stork)
• 450g caster sugar
• 350g plain flour
• 250ml full fat greek yoghurt
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon orange extract (optional)
• 1 tablespoon satsuma juice
• zest of 4 satsumas (use more or less depending on your preference, but I like strong flavours)
• Fresh pomegranate seeds (about half a fruit)
  For the icing
• 100g Icing sugar
• Satsuma juice
• Pomegranate seeds and satsuma zest (to decorate – optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 160°C(fan) (320°F) and prepare your chosen tin by greasing or using cake release spray.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until it’s pale and fluffy. In a mixer, with a hand mixer, or with a spoon if you’re bonkers. This will take a good few minutes – if you’re not sure it’s ready, beat a bit longer.
• Gradually add the eggs, whilst mixing slowly. SLOWLY. If the mixture is starting to curdle a bit, add a sprinkle of the flour.
• Mix together the flour, bicarb and salt, and add half to the mixture. Keep it slow.
• Mix together yoghurt, zest, satsuma juice and orange extract. Add this to the mixture. Keep mixing slowly.
• Now add the rest of the flour. Sloooowly mix until it’s all incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times to make sure it’s all mixed in. You should now have an orangey, voluminous bowl of luscious cake mixture. Be patient, you can lick the bowl in a minute.
• By hand, fold in the pomegranate seeds.
  

  Fold in the seeds gently.

• Now dollop the mixture into your prepared tin. Make sure you’ve got it into all the crooks and nannies…give a little wiggle if necessary. Fill the tin about 3/4 full, not all the way to the top.
• Pop into the oven (middle shelf) and bake for around an hour and 15 minutes, might be a bit less or a bit longer depending on your oven. Check after an hour, but don’t open the door before then .
• Now you may lick the bowl. And the beaters/spoons.
• When done (no mix on a skewer, and the cake should be coming away from the sides of the tin), take out the cake and leave it in the tin to cool for as long as your patience will let you – at least 20 minutes though. If you turn it out too soon you’ll risk a tin-sticking incident.
• Once the cake is cold you can decorate it as you choose. Sprinkle with sifted icing sugar for the most simple effect. I chose to make a satsuma icing, by mixing juice into the icing sugar until it’s thick and drizzling over the top. Garnish with seeds and zest.

How was it? Well, my pomegranate wasn’t as pink as I’d have liked, but there were definitely little jewels of colour in the cake, which was what I was after. Did it taste very pomegranattey? No. Satsumay? Yes! Yummy? Definitely. Would I bake it again? Oooh yes. And I’ve come to realise that it’s ok not to be totally original. It isn’t the be all and end all. But just because something hasn’t been done by lots of people, doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, and giving things a whirl can pay off. Be brave…with cake anyway.

This cake was created for the Manchester North Clandestine Cake Club event – Telly Addicts. You can read all about our event on the Clandestine Cake Club website. I organise the Manchester North group and if you’d like to find out more and join us, please get in touch. It’s a fabulous way to share cake, meet people and experiment with your baking. And it’s free!