Pomegranate Poundcake

It's basically winter up here in New England, now that snow has fallen twice in a week. Unfortunately, my kitchen is not ready to give up on autumn yet--pumpkin in the fridge, pears on the table, pomegranate pips in the freezer.

I was inspired to make poundcake after watching the Good Eats episode on the subject. I'm inspired to make anything Alton Brown tells me to.

Naturally, vegan poundcake presents a problem--I didn't think a pounds worth of Ener-G eggs would cut it (they are great, but not exactly like eggs), so I started blog surfing to find a vegan version. Lo and behold, The Blooming Platter. The picture perfect slice on her poundcake post sold me.

And now for that pesky pomegranate. I had pomegranate juice before I ever ate a pomegranate pip, which is a shame, because I like the pips better than the juice. I mean, if you're trying to pound in a ton of nutrients lickity split, then the juice is the way to go, but if you like to take your time eating your food, pomegranate pips are awesome.

When Corey and I were sick we had no appetite whatsoever, but we drank cold or hot water constantly to relieve our fevers or chills. I found that I could stomach frozen pomegranate pips during the last day of my illness--it gave me the fluids I needed to stay alive, it was cold so it cooled me off, and it was in such tiny quantities that it didn't make me nauseous.

Not only does pomegranate pack a lot of fluid and antioxidants, which is what is making it famous these days, it also has a lot of vitamin K, fiber, and folate, plus iron, calcium, and B vitamins. It's got it going on.

The cake itself is very sweet (feel free to reduce the sugar by a half cup if you use the silken tofu I recommend) and the texture is perfect: moist and spongy, and the crust has a crispy, buttery flavor. I used frozen pomegranate pips, but you can use fresh ones, too. They add a slight tang to each bite. Warn your guests that they will encounter seeds--Corey was unpleasantly surprised by them. Lastly, if you have an airtight container your can fit the loaf into, I'd recommend storing it in the fridge that way--refrigerator flavored poundcake is gross. Otherwise, tightly wrap it in plastic wrap.

Pomegranate Poundcake
(Yields 1 5"x9" loaf)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup silken tofu, blended or food processed until smooth (I like Nasoya's vanilla flavored silken tofu) 
2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup pomegranate pips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 5 x 9 loaf pan.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer at medium high speed until soft and fluffy. Add half of the tofu and beat for 1 minute. Add the second half of the tofu and beat for another minute. Reduce the speed. Add half of the cake flour and stir to combine. Add the water, extract, baking powder, and the rest of the flour and beat on medium high speed for 1-2 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, fold in the pomegranate pips gently.

3. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top cracks and browns. Separate the loaf from the sides of the pan, but allow to cool before removing it.