How To Make Pomegranate Molasses Step By Step

Pomegranate molasses is not the easiest ingredient to find in grocery stores, which is why I prefer making it myself with pomegranate juice that I can just get at grocery stores.

HOW TO MAKE POMEGRANATE MOLASSES

It’s actually quite easy to make. All you do is boil down pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice for about 1 hour, and that’s it. You can use store-bought pomegranate juice to make the molasses. I prefer using fresh pomegranate juice because the color of the molasses will look much brighter (and better for photographs). To juice the pomegranate, we’re going to dig into those ruby globes and separate the arils. Find the crown of the pomegranate (the part that’s sticking out). (Did you know that the crown is actually the bottom of the pomegranate?) Holding the paring knife at a diagonal, start cutting underneath the crown. Make a full circle around the crown and remove it. Score the pomegranate. Tear the pomegranate apart into different sections. Remove the arils by prying them loose from the rind. To prevent pomegranate juice from splattering everywhere (because it will), loosen the arils inside a large bowl filled with water. When you’re done, you’ll notice that most of the seeds have sunken to the bottom of the bowl and the loose membrane will float on the top. Remove any stray pieces of membrane, and drain all the water. Pour the arils into a high-speed blender or food processor, and pulse or gently blend until all the arils have been crushed. Strain the juice through a fine-mesh strainer. Use a spatula to press down on the purée so that you can squeeze out as much juice as possible. Right, we now have pomegranate juice. On to making the molasses!

TIPS FOR POMEGRANATE MOLASSES RECIPE

You can overcook the molasses: When I was making the video for this, I wasn’t keeping an eye on the molasses carefully and overcooked it. The molasses turned from a beautiful magenta color to brown. Once the molasses cooled, I ended up with a very thick and stiff substance that was very difficult to remove from the jar and difficult to work with. I ended up throwing it all away. The last 10 to 15 minutes of the cooking process are the most critical. You may need to reduce the heat slightly. How to tell when the molasses is done: After an hour, you’ll notice that the bubbles will start to look thicker at more viscous. That’s a good sign. You want the molasses to be able to coat the back of a spoon (see below). I also like to pour the molasses into a glass measuring jar to see how much liquids I have. Once I’ve boiled everything down to a little over a cup, I’ll stop. This recipe should yield 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of molasses.