Meyer Lemon Tea Cakes with Pomegranate Glaze

As I started reading a review copy of Sweet by Valerie Gordon of Valerie’s Confections in Los Angeles, the first thing I liked about the book was the one-word chapter titles. Pedestal (celebration desserts), Plate (everyday cakes), Tin (pies and tarts), Box (chocolates and confections), Bowl (desserts to eat with a spoon), Jar (cookies and bars), Larder (jams and marmalades), and Hand (breakfast and snacks to eat on the go). Each title defines the category so well and so simply and directs you to options for every possible occasion. Valerie’s Confections began as a boutique for toffees and chocolates and has grown to offer a wide variety of sweets. I was fascinated with the recipes for cakes from the past. Through research and trial and error, well-loved cakes from Los Angeles bakeries and restaurants that no longer exist have been recreated. Blum’s Coffee Crunch Cake, topped with coffee whipped cream and shards of a coffee-flavored, honeycomb kind of candy, looks delightful, and I have to try The Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake with cream cheese and grapefruit juice frosting during citrus season. The truffles, toffees, and caramels would all make great holiday gifts, and there are tips for packaging them beautifully. In fact, there are helpful tips throughout the book for making your sweets as pretty as they can be including best ways to frost cakes, how to score toffee before it sets, and how to candy rose petals or mint leaves for garnish. And, I was thrilled to learn of Valrhona pearls which are chocolate-coated bits of puffed cereal that dress up the vertical surface of a frosted layer cake. I made several mental notes of fancy cakes I’d like to attempt some day, but the recipes I wanted to try right away were the Salted-Peanut Blondies, the Hazelnut Orange Cakes with Orange Glaze, the Tangerine Sour Cream Pound Cake, and the Meyer Lemon Tea Cakes with Pomegranate Glaze. 

These are pretty, little, lemon, mini cakes with a pink topping from the pomegranate juice in the glaze. In the headnote of this recipe, it’s mentioned that these are popular items in the spring and summer, but I couldn’t wait to make them. And to me, Meyer lemon and pomegranate are fall ingredients. That’s when the Meyer lemons on my trees ripen and I get very excited to use them in new and different ways. The recipe makes 24 mini cakes, so I cut the quantities in half to make 12. Also, I used a muffin tin rather than mini cake pans. The little cakes are tender-crumbed and delicious with butter, creme fraiche, Meyer lemon zest and juice in the batter, and it’s an easy batter to make. It was scooped into buttered muffin tin cups and baked for about 20 minutes. After cooling, the cakes were dipped into the thin glaze, and they were left to dry. The cakes keep very well, and it’s noted in the book that they freeze well too before being glazed. 

These tea cakes are perfect for dessert, snacks, or tea time or for whenever you can get Meyer lemons. Next, I need to decide which candies to make for the holidays. It’s going to be fun having one more book on the shelf for sweets for all occasions. 

Meyer Lemon Tea Cakes with Pomegranate Glaze 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission. Excerpted from Sweet by Valerie Gordon (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2013. Photographs by Peden + Munk. 

makes 24 individual cakes 

We feature this cake every spring and summer at our farmers’ market booths, and time and again I hear the same question, “What is that?!” The jolt of pretty, pastel pink glaze always elicits a response from children and adults alike. Mini-cake pans, with 12 cups each, are available online. 




for the cakes: 
3 1/3 cups (17.3 ounces) all-purpose flour 
3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
3 3/4 sticks (15 ounces) unsalted butter, softened 
2 1/4 cups (15.75 ounces) sugar 
1/2 cup (4 ounces) creme fraiche 
6 large eggs 
1/3 cup grated Meyer lemon zest 
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Meyer lemon juice 

for the pomegranate glaze: 
2 cups (9 ounces) confectioners’ sugar 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1 tablespoon unsweetened pomegranate juice 

to make the cakes: 
1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Coat 24 large muffin cups or 3-inch mini-cake pans with nonstick baking spray or butter. 

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. 

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 

4. Mix the creme fraiche, eggs, lemon zest, and juice together in a small bowl with a fork or small whisk. With the mixer on medium speed, alternately add the dry and wet ingredients in batches and continue beating until the batter is smooth, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. 

5. Using a large ice cream scoop or a large spoon, scoop approximately 1/2 cup batter into each prepared muffin or cake cup. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes appear matte and the shiny center has disappeared; do not bake until the cakes turn golden. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing them. Cool the cakes completely on a cooling rack before glazing, about 1 hour. 

to make the glaze: 
1. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and pomegranate juice and stir with a small spatula until completely smooth. Let the glaze sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before using.to glaze the cakes 

2. Pour the glaze into a wide shallow bowl. One at a time, pick up each cake, rotate the cake so the top is facing down, and dip it into the glaze. Carefully move the cake in a slow, circular motion so the entire surface is coated with glaze, then shake the cake gently so any excess glaze falls back in the bowl and put on a baking sheet. Put the cakes in a cool, dry area and let stand until the glaze loses its sheen and sets, about 20 minutes. 

storing: Once the glaze has set, the cakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. 

tip: If you want to freeze some or all of these cakes for future use, freeze them unglazed and then glaze them only after they are completely defrosted. This recipe makes a lot of little cakes—feel free to halve it if you like. 

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Pomegranate-Glazed Salmon with Armenian Rice

I've been thinking about this dish for a long time. I made it for the first time ages ago, but I failed to take any photos. I don't remember why, but I must have been rushed. Since then, I kept remembering the citrus and ginger in the salmon marinade, the tart pomegranate molasses in the glaze, the buttery rice, and the pretty edamame and pomegranate seed garnish. It was time to make this again and this time with a camera in hand. The recipe is from the December 2009 issue of Food and Wine, and it's available online. Now, fresh, wild salmon and pomegranates are not in season at the same time, but this dish works well with previously frozen salmon. Whole Foods must have read my mind because just when I pulling out this recipe again, there was a special on wild salmon that had been frozen at the peak of the last season. The thawed and portioned salmon fillet does need to be marinated for about an hour, but then finishing the dish goes quickly.

For the marinade, soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, agave nectar, smashed garlic cloves, grated ginger, and salt and pepper were combined. The salmon pieces were placed in a shallow dish, covered with the marinade, and refrigerated for an hour. While the salmon marinates, you can make the glaze which is a mix of pomegranate molasses, agave nectar, soy sauce, minced garlic, grated ginger, and lime zest. Next, you should start the Armenian rice. The rice recipe makes a huge quantity, and I cut it in half. To start, butter was melted in a large saucepan, and then vermicelli broken into small pieces was added with pine nuts. That was cooked until everything was golden brown, and long-grain rice was added. Chicken stock was added and brought to a boil before reducing the heat to low, covering the pan, and cooking for 25 minutes. When cooked, the rice was fluffed and chopped mint was added. The salmon was placed on a baking sheet, brushed with half of the glaze, and cooked under the broiler for a few minutes. The rest of the glaze was brushed on the salmon, and it finished cooking for a few more minutes. To serve, the salmon was set on the rice, and the plate was garnished with edamame and pomegranate seeds.

The big, fresh, tart, and savory flavors carried by the salmon were highlighted by the pop of the pomegranate seeds, and the mild, nutty, herby rice was a great contrast. It's not all that often that I circle back and make the same thing twice, and I was thrilled to find this dish was definitely as good as I remembered.

Pomegranate Manhattan

Whether the holidays drive you to drink or the drinks are just part of the fun of celebrating, this is a good cocktail recipe to have on hand. I received a sample of PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur and was interested in several ideas from the accompanying recipe booklet. A PAMA margarita or martini would have been nice, but the thought of pomegranate flavor with bourbon in a Manhattan was something I had to try. First I tasted a sip of the PAMA liqueur on its own, and it was very much like pomegranate juice. This is not a sweet or syrupy liqueur. The flavor is very well-balanced, and it adds nice color to a finished cocktail.

A classic Manhattan includes bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters and is garnished with lemon peel and a maraschino cherry. The recipe in the PAMA booklet, replaced the vermouth with PAMA, omitted the bitters, and added a splash of soda water. I decided to create a sort of hybrid mix of that recipe and the classic. A cocktail pitcher was filled with ice, bourbon, PAMA, and bitters were added, the mixture was stirred until chilled, it was poured over ice in two small glasses, and it was topped with sparkling water and garnished.

I’ve always been a bourbon fan, and I was very happy with the way its flavor mingled with that of pomegranate. I used angostura bitters, and just a couple of dashes added a distinctive note. I can imagine a lot of delicious uses of PAMA liqueur, and I’ll definitely try the margarita eventually, but for a sophisticated twist on a classic cocktail this pomegranate Manhattan would be hard to beat.

Pomegranate Manhattan
2 ounces bourbon
1 1/2 ounces PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
2 dashes angostura bitters
Sparkling water
Lemon peel and maraschino cherries such as Silver Palate brand

-Fill a cocktail pitcher with ice. Pour bourbon, PAMA, and bitters over ice, and add dashes of bitters. Stir until chilled. Strain cocktail into two small glasses with ice and top with sparkling water. Garnish each with lemon peel and a cherry.