Pomegranate Blueberry Upside-down Cake #Christmas recipe from Molly MacRae

 

Pomegranates are amazing, aren’t they? They’re interesting enough on the outside, but opening them up, to reveal the hundreds of jewel-like berries inside, has always made me think of opening up a universe of possibilities. Ancient Assyrians believed that eating pomegranates would grant a long and prosperous life. That sounds like a universe of possibilities, too.

Want to know a mess-free way to get all the seeds out of a pomegranate in one minute? Watch this quick video from Natasha’s Kitchen.

The original recipe calls for only pomegranate seeds. When I went to make the cake, I discovered I’d used too many of the seeds in something else so I tossed in some blueberries. The combination was wonderful.

 

Pomegranate Blueberry Upside-down Cake

Adapted from the website “As For Me and My Homestead.”

 

Ingredients for the fruit layer

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 cups of mixed pomegranate seeds and blueberries

 

Ingredients for the cake

1 1/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2/3 cup sour cream

 

Directions

 Set oven to 350 degrees F. While oven heats, put the 2 tablespoons of butter in a 9-inch round cake pan and set the pan in the oven for a few minutes to melt the butter. Take pan from oven when butter is melted and tilt the pan so the butter coats the bottom and sides. Set pan aside.

In a small mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the 1/2 cup of softened butter with the 2/3 cup of brown sugar. When well combined, add the egg and vanilla and almond extracts. Stir until well combined.

Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and stir. Add sour cream and mix until just combined.

Sprinkle the cake pan with the 1/4 cup brown sugar. Spread pomegranate seeds and blueberries over the sugar.

Spoon the batter over the fruit, spreading the batter until it covers the fruit evenly. 

Bake for 35 minutes if using only pomegranate seeds, longer if you’ve added blueberries. Test with a toothpick inserted in the center. When it comes out clean the cake is done.

Cool for a few minutes. Then place a large plate upside down over the cake pan and, using potholders to hold the still hot pan, flip the entire thing over so the cake comes out of the pan, onto the plate, fruit-side up.  

  

💗💗 click here for a free printable pdf of the recipe 💗💗

 

It’s the time of year to curl up with a trio of cozies – a drink, a treat, and a good book. May I suggest a bit of armchair travel, too? 

Visit Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries.

 

Or travel to the Scottish Highlands in the Highland Bookshop Mysteries.

 

Spend time in northeast Tennessee in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, two stand-alone mysteries, and a collection of short stories.

 

Or travel from Cape Cod on the east coast to Monterey on the west coast, with a stop in Ohio along the way in my very gentle mysteries written as Margaret Welch.

 

Happy reading!

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.