Green Tea again?!

I can't get enough of green tea.

Let's see, I have paired it with...

Cream Cheese

White Chocolate

Strawberry Yoghurt

So far... so good... but I still want to see how far I can go with this flavor so I decided to pair it with another tea... Red Rose Tea. They are these dried little rose buds which smells so heavenly. You'd only need to steep 2 to 3 buds a cup and you're all set to enjoy an afternoon tea.

Green Tea Cupcakes with Rose Tea Buttercream

Green Tea Cake

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons Matcha green tea powder

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 - 9 inch round pans. Sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, salt, and green tea powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together sugar, oil, and eggs until smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes before turning out of the pans.

Rose Tea Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter

1 pound powdered sugar

2 tablespoons cooled steeped rose tea (from 2-3 rose tea buds steeped from 1 cup hot water)

Steep 2 - 3 rose tea buds in a cup of warm water. Set aside to cool 2 tablespoons and enjoy the rest.

Cream butter for 1 minute and add the powdered sugar slowly.

Add cooled rose tea water until well combined.

Happy Cupcaking,

Aikko

Green Tea Cupcakes with Strawberry Yoghurt Buttercream Frosting

Can't believe it's almost March. Can't believe summer's here. Can't believe my birthday is right around the corner... well almost. I just got reminded today. Will be a year older - yebahhh!!

To welcome summer and the scorching heat that goes along with it that makes us all want to go to the beach, I decided to incorporate refreshing flavors to the cuppies. How about green tea?! The green tea I have in stock expires in April and I still have some left. So why not use it?

What goes well with green tea? Let's see... I've done cream cheese and white chocolate. It's time to be more adventurous. Why strawberry yoghurt? Why not?

Verdict: I didn't use enough green tea. Well, that's because the pack is almost empty. Anyway, next time, I'll use more.

Happy cupcaking!

Aikko

White Chocolate Cupcake with Green Tea Frosting and White Chocolate Shavings

It's good to be back!


Its been a while since my last post but I intend to post as much as I can


I love green tea!!! But I don't know what to pair it with... cranberry? chocolate? hmmm has to be a bit subtle so the green tea flavor will come out. I eventually decided on white chocolate.


I love how it turned out, the white chocolate cupcake are a bit crinkly when I took them out of the oven but I guess this is fine because the white chocolate wafting in the air is heavenly. And I guess I should not worry since I will top then with the green tea frosting anyway.

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone!!!

Happy Cupaking,

Aikko

White Chocolate Cake

(adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, November 2004)

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sticks butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk

8 ounces white chocolate, melted

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter at low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. At low speed, alternately beat in the dry ingredients and the milk in 2 additions. Add the melted white chocolate and beat just until incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the surfaces.

Bake the cakes in the center of the oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Green Tea Frosting

(from Food Mayhem)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

4 teaspoons matcha powder

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure

To make frosting, sift together confectioner’s sugar and matcha powder. Set aside. Using a heavy duty mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on medium speed for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add sugar/matcha gradually. Once all of the sugar/matcha is mixed in, increase speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes more.