I can’t believe it’s already March! 2019 is flying by and that means that St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and with it, my desire to tint food all shades of green.
While many of my St Patrick’s day recipes (such as my grasshopper pie, mint chocolate fudge and chocolate mint sundae cupcakes) rely on food colouring for their hue, these cupcakes get their colour entirely from the natural Japanese green tea powder, matcha.
I have wanted to make these extraordinary looking cupcakes ever since I received the Hummingbird Cupcake Bakery Cookbook in 2011, and finally had the opportunity to when farewelling a matcha-loving colleague last month.
The cakes themselves only have a mild matcha flavour but the frosting really packs a punch. If you’re not a big matcha fan or want to appeal to a wider audience, I would recommend only adding in a fraction of the matcha powder into the frosting initially and adding more to taste. Or alternatively, frosting the cakes with vanilla buttercream instead.
Ingredients (makes 12)
120ml milk
3 matcha green tea bags
100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
40g butter
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Matcha frosting
250g icing sugar
80 butter
20g Matcha green tea powder (plus extra to decorate)
25ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method
Put the milk and green tea bags in a jug, cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with patty pans.
Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low until it reaches a sandy consistency with everything combined.
Combine the tea-infused milk (with tea bags removed) with the egg and vanilla extract. Slowly pour half into the flour mixture, beating until all ingredients are well combined. Repeat with the remaining milk mixture. Mix for a further few minutes until the mixture is smooth.
Spoon the mixture into the patty pans until two-thirds full and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes spring back when touched. Leave cakes in the tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting, beat together the icing sugar, butter and matcha powder on a medium-slow speed until it comes together. Turn the electric beater down to low and gradually add in the milk and vanilla. Continue beating for a further 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Using a Wilton 2B icing nozzle, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and sprinkle with extra matcha powder. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from ‘Green Tea Cupcakes’ from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
Bakerholics Anonymous 