Pomegranate Cake

A slice of cake filled with whipped cream, pomegranate and raspberries on a plate with a spoon.

5 from 11 votes

Everyone will love this Pomegranate Mascarpone Whipped Cream Cake Roll. Soft, sweet vanilla cake with a delicious mascarpone whipped cream filling.

Prep Time40

Cook Time15

Chill Time1

Total Time55

Course: Cake

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Calories: 379kcal

Author: Natalie

Ingredients

Cake Roll

¾ cup cake flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs room temperature, separated
½ teaspoon almond extract or 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar divided

Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

¾ cup heavy whipping cream cold
⅓ cup powdered sugar add an extra tablespoon or two, according to taste
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces mascarpone cheese drained, cold
1 cup pomegranate arils from about 1 pomegranate, plus more for decorating (optional)
1 cup raspberries fresh, not frozen, plus more for decorating (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 15½ by 10½ by 1 inch jelly roll pan with baking spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Tap out excess.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks on medium high speed til thick and lemon colored. With the mixer running, slowly add ¼ cup of sugar followed by the almond extract or vanilla extract.
In another large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites on high speed til frothy. Once, frothy, with the mixer running, slowly beat in 1/2 cup sugar. Beat until you have stiff, glossy peaks.
Use a spatula to fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture. Next, fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Spread the batter into the jelly roll pan making sure to spread it evenly into corners as well.
Bake 11-14 minutes or until top springs back when gently touched with your finger.
While the cake is baking, spread out a clean kitchen towel onto the counter and use a sieve to generously dust it with powdered sugar.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, run a knife or metal spatula along the edges of the pan to loosen the cake if it's sticking to the pan in any spots.
Invert the cake onto the kitchen towel. Remove the parchment paper. Use a knife to trim the browned crust along the edges. Use a sieve to dust the top of the cake with more powdered sugar. Start at the narrow end and use the towel to roll up the cake and towel. Set the cake seam side down and alow it to cool completely.
Once the cake has almost finished cooling or has cooled, make the mascarpone whipped cream. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract on high speed until you have soft peaks.
Add the mascarpone cheese and whip til stiff peaks form. Reserve 1/2 cup of whipped cream for decorating or serving.
Stir the raspberries and pomegranate arils into the mascarpone whipped cream. Unroll the cake. Spread a thick layer of Mascarpone whipped cream filling evenly over the cake, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Roll up the cake up starting at the narrow end but without the towel. Wrap the cake in a towel or loosely with plastic wrap. Set the cake seam side down on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
Dust with powdered sugar, pipe leftover whipped cream on top or top with extra pomegranate arils or raspberries.

Notes

Cake flour: Cake flour gives the cake a nice tender texture. If you don’t have cake flour, you can make a cake flour substitute. For 1 cup of cake flour, sift together 14 tablespoons (110 grams) all purpose flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. From there, you can measure out 3/4 cup for this recipe. You can also just use all purpose flour in this recipe. The texture won’t be as soft, but it’ll still be delicious.

Cake pan: A jelly roll pan works best for this recipe. If you don't have one, you can also make this cake using a 12×17-inch rimmed baking sheet rimmed baking sheet.

Whipped cream: You can also make this cake using regular whipped cream if you don't have mascarpone cheese.

Storage: Since the cake is filled with mascarpone whipped cream and fruit, this cake is best served the same day. However, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Nutrition