This photo taken Aug. 30, 2009 shows a Pomegranate and Sour Cherry Mandelbrot. Pomegranate molasses may be finding its way into your local supermarket. While not yet mainstream it is moving from exclusively Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes to a broader spectrum of cooking. Try this up-and-coming ingredient in this Pomegranate and Sour Cherry Mandelbrot. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)
Once the province of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking, pomegranate molasses recently has found its way onto television and into a growing number of supermarkets.
The thick, garnet purple syrup made by boiling down the fruit's bright red kernels packs all the pomegranate's punch but none of its hassles. Sometimes called pomegranate concentrate, it's a tart go-to item for glazes, marinades, salad dressings, even baking.
The emphatic flavor may make it the new balsamic for fashionable cooks. Television barbecue guru Bobby Flay glazes turkey with it. Food Network celebrity Alton Brown even has a recipe for making it at home.
Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes (15 minutes active)
Makes 2 dozen
1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
1⁄4 cup pomegranate molasses
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups all-purpose flour
13⁄4 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup walnut halves
3⁄4 cup dried sour cherries, plumped in warm water, then drained and dried
1 egg white, beaten
Heat the oven to 325 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, pomegranate molasses, honey, sugar and vanilla. Whisk in the beaten whole eggs. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, walnut halves and dried cherries.
Spoon out 2 rows of the dough about 8-by-3- or 4-inches wide. Brush the top with the egg white, then sprinkle with sugar.
Bake until the top of the dough seems firm and dry, about 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce heat to 300 F.
Carefully slide the mandelbrot off the baking sheet and cut them crosswise into slices 3⁄4 inch thick. Place a wire cooling wrack over the baking sheet, then arrange the mandelbrot slices on it. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until crisp and dry.
• Recipe adapted from Marcy Goldman's "A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking: 10th Anniversary Edition," Whitecap Books, 2009.
Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 188 calories; 71 calories from fat; 8 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 31 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrate; 3 g protein; 1 g fiber; 73 mg sodium.