It's common for desserts in Japan to be flavoured with green tea. Green tea also works well in cakes, if it's combined with vanilla or chocolate. Try Tarek Malouf's recipe for Green Tea Cupcakes which comes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook ( ©Ryland Peters and Small, £16.99) and appears here with permission. He says it's important to use green tea powder called 'Matcha' for the frosting, which you can buy in tea shops and specialist supermarkets.
Green Tea Cupcakes – Recipe
Ingredients – Makes 12 Cupcakes (18 if using UK, rather than US, cupcake cases)
- 120ml whole milk
- 3 green tea bags
- 100g plain flour
- 20g cocoa powder
- 140g caster sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 40g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Green Tea Frosting
- 250g icing sugar, sifted
- 80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 20g Matcha green tea powder, plus extra to decorate
- 25ml whole milk
Equipment - a 12-hole cupcake tray, line with paper cases
Method
- Put the milk and green tea bags in a jug, cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight if possible. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.
- Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
- Remove the green tea bags from the infused milk and combine with the egg and vanilla extract. Slowly pour half into the flour mixture, beating well until all the ingredients are well mixed.
- Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat well to make sure there are no lumps. Turn the speed back down to medium-slow and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth.
- Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
For the green tea frosting:
- Beat together the icing sugar, butter and Matcha powder in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
- Turn the mixer down to a slower speed. Slowly pour in the milk, then when it is all incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes.
- When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the frosting on top and decorate with a light sprinkling of Matcha powder.
Here's a recipe for Italian Lemon Meringue Pie - and one for Rich Chocolate Cake with Frosting, also from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
 |
