Developing new recipes for this blog kind of goes like this: I might be standing in the supermarket or sitting in class when out of the blue an idea hits me. Sometimes I see the whole recipe, sometimes it is just a flavor, color or ingredient to start with which ends up being the key factor in coming up with something new. From this point on I am obsessed and won´t rest until I have tried the recipe at least once…which might slightly annoy the people around me when I decide that Sunday morning or Wednesday evening is the perfect time to make cookies. Mostly I already have a set up in my head on how to style and design the recipe for the photos. The thing is that as awesome it can be in my head, it´s no guarantee that it will turn out that way. Something might go wrong with the recipe, the lightning might be dull or something just might be off with the overall taste and feeling of the cake/cookie/dish in question. It´s kind of like the first-pancake-phenomenon, you always have to throw out the first one before the good stuff happens.

With this cake, I kind of had the colors in mind first. The bright red of the pomegranate seeds in combination with white mascarpone and dark chocolate cake. From there I started googling and searching in my cookbooks for ideas on how to make the cake and the filling. I found most of my inspiration at Smitten Kitchen, Call me Cupcake and a very old cookbook of mine that was originally written for children. This cake is definitely easier to make than my last one, all you have to do is make the cakes, top with frosting and pomegranate seeds and you´re done. It has a pretty amazing taste and I think the colors are just marvelous. If you can´t find or don´t like pomegranate seeds you could style the cake like the lovely Linda and just top tons of fresh berries on there.

For a 18 cm spring pan:

125 g butter

125 g sugar

3 eggs

70 g all-purpose flour

30 g cocoa powder

1 tbsp. baking powder

½ tbsp. salt

100 g chopped dark chocolate

For the mascarpone frosting:

250 g mascarpone

50 g powdered sugar

1 vanilla bean

A little bit of heavy cream or plain yoghurt if you like

For the topping:

Pomegranate seeds or fresh fruit

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter two 18 cm spring pans. Melt the butter, once it is melted add the chopped chocolate and stir until has dissolved completely. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until white and creamy. Whisk egg whites until stiff. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

2) Add the melted butter and the flour-cocoa mixture to the egg yolk-sugar mixture and stir carefully. Add one third of the beaten egg whites, stir in carefully before adding the rest of the egg whites. Fold in carefully. Divide the batter amongst the two spring pans and bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

3) Whip mascarpone, powdered sugar and the core of the vanilla bean until creamy. Add a little bit of heavy cream or yoghurt if you like a smoother consistency. Place on cake on a cape pan and top with half of the mascarpone frosting. Add the second cake, top with the rest of the frosting and decorate with pomegranate seeds.