Pomegranate Coriander Cake

This cake is tart. Tangy. Sour even. I made it for the Friday law clerks' breakfast and informally polled the people who ate it: one thought it could be a bit sweeter, but everyone else liked it just this sour. If you're baking for people who aren't nearly such fans of acidity, you may want to add an extra quarter cup of brown sugar.

2 c cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c pomegranate syrup or pomegranate molasses
3/4 c brown sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp vanilla extract (this seems like a lot, doesn't it? It worked, but you may wish to try a smaller amount --ed.)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cake pan with a circle of cooking parchment, then grease the rest of the pan.

Sift together flour, baking soda, coriander, and salt. Combine remaining ingredients; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. (I found that the melted butter re-solidified when combined with the chilly buttermilk and eggs. You may wish to bring these to room temperature before adding them. The butter lumps creamed out eventually, though. --ed.) Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture, stirring just until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

It's good with lemon cream cheese frosting:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of one lemon, grated
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more to taste, depending on one's sweet/sour preference
Beat all these in stand mixer until smooth and spreadable.

Ice cake with lemon cream cheese frosting (you can remove it from the pan and cover the whole cake for nicer effect, or leave it in for easy transport); garnish with candied lemon peel or fresh pomegranate seeds. You can also drizzle it with more pomegranate syrup, but this will be prettier if your syrup is actually red and not brown like the stuff I used.