Mocha Pomegranate Cream Cheese Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

I love cupcakes.  I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I could.  I love discovering new cupcake bakeries, trying different cupcake combos and figuring out what frosting and cake pairings work the best.

I also love chocolate, but you already knew that :)

Imagine my excitement when POM Wonderful contacted me and offered a bottle of their Pom Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Concentrate in exchange for creating a CUPCAKE recipe using the product.  They are having a cupcake recipe contest in honor of American Heart Month and are donating $1 to the American Heart Association for every recipe contributed.  How could I say no?  (Shameless plug: you can vote for my recipe here!)

The Pom Concentrate is fabulous - you can simply add it to recipes or beverages for the delightful pomegranate flavor, or dilute it with water to make your own pomegranate juice.  A little goes a long way so I'm excited to have some in my fridge to use later on.

I decided to combine my love of chocolate with pomegranate and cream cheese for that extra gooey goodness.  Here we go!

The recipe requires a lot of ingredients, but don't worry, it's pretty simple to put together.

Mix together your dry cupcake ingredients:

Add sugar,

and all the wet ingredients.

Chocolate batter in all its glory.  Mmmm :)

Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full, not 3/4 like I did.  That's another story for another day.

Now make your filling with some cream cheese, sugar, an egg white, and a little pomegranate extract.  Mix this happiness in a bowl together until it's nice and smooth.

Now add a dollop of the cream cheese mixture to each cupcake liner.  Do not overfill them like I did.

Bake your cupcakes at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until they're firm on top.  

There should be a picture of the finished cupcakes here, but they overflowed and looked really ugly so I'll spare you the horror. 

Once the cupcakes have cooled, get going on your frosting already.  You'll need more butter, more cream cheese, more cocoa, more pomegranate extract, and pretty much a whole box of powdered sugar. Embrace it and love it.  It's Valentine's Day, goshdarnit!  You'll be glad you did :)

First you fluff up the cream cheese and butter.  (I now embrace the irony of making cupcakes filled with dairy products and sugar in honor of American Heart Month.  Well, these cupcakes are good for your emotional well-being.  That counts, right?)

Then add in your cocoa and pomegranate extract, and gradually add in the powdered sugar.

Add milk as needed to smooth things out.

Ohhh yes.  It's as divine as it looks.

Give the cupcakes a once-over with a little frosting to smooth them out, then frost 'em again to make them look pretty.

Chocolate chips and shaved chocolate add that little extra something, don'tcha think? :)

Here you can see the gooey cream cheese mixture at the bottom of the cupcake.  Yes, it's delicious.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Much love to each and every one of you <3

Mocha Pomegranate Cream Cheese Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons espresso powder or instant coffee
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup POM Wonderful 100% Pure Pomegranate Juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 6 oz. cream cheese (3/4 of a regular package), room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp. POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice Concentrate

For the frosting:

• 2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tbsp. butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp. POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice Concentrate
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. milk

Directions

For the cupcake batter:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 paper liners. 
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, and sugar. 
• Add oil, pomegranate juice, vinegar, and vanilla extract and stir until combined. 
• Fill each muffin liner 2/3 full with the batter.

For the filling:

• Beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg white, and pomegranate concentrate in a large bowl until combined. 
• Add a spoonful of the mixture to each cupcake.
• Bake cupcakes for 25 minutes or until firm to touch. 
• Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

For the frosting:

• Mix together cream cheese and butter on a low setting until fluffy. 
• Add cocoa powder and pomegranate concentrate and mix on high for 2 minutes. 
• Gradually add powdered sugar until it is incorporated. 
• If the frosting is dry, add a tablespoon of milk at a time as needed until smooth.
• Frost cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Don't forget to vote! :)

Disclaimer: POM Wonderful sent me a complimentary bottle of their 100% Pomegranate Juice Concentrate in exchange for submitting a recipe to their Cupcake Contest.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not compensated.