Matcha Harmony Cupcake v. 2 - buttery cupcake made with matcha powder, iced with white chocolate truffle flavored with matcha and topped with a white chocolate disc with a handmade imprint of the Japanese calligraphy character “harmony”. Now at reduced price!
same delicious taste at reduced price
I finally managed to check out the Japanese grocery stores in Cartimar after a recent visit there. My heart skipped a beat and I think I jumped a little from excitement when I discovered in the last store I entered a pack that appeared to be matcha. Though I could not understand the writing on the pack, the pictures told the story.
So I bought some and as soon as I got home, I prepared it the traditional way. It tasted pretty good, not as flavorful as the high-grade that I buy from Japan but good enough. There is also no trace of bitterness that usually characterizes lower grade tea. I thought it would work well with cupcakes and to my delight, it did—I was impressed! The taste is comparable to my original matcha cupcakes though the color is a lighter green. This is truly heaven sent! I will be using this matcha for my baked goods from now on. And since I don’t have to buy direct from Japan (no more expensive shipping charges!) that means the price of my Matcha Harmony Cupcakes will be greatly reduced.
Another thing I like about this matcha is that it comes in 1-gram foil packets. Aside from being convenient, I only have to open the packets I need so I get fresh matcha every time. Whereas in the traditional packaging, once you open it, you have to consume the matcha within several days or else the delicate flavor will begin to diminish.
The cupcakes made with this matcha still taste like Haagen-Dazs green tea ice cream. So what’s not to love?
As promised, here is a video on how to properly prepare matcha. Just listening to the lulling voice of the narrator is enough to transport you to a tranquil Japanese garden leading to a tea house for the tea ceremony!
Matcha is truly unique. Not only is it the only tea in powder form, but special utensils are used to prepare this drink—chasen (bamboo tea whisk), matcha-chawan (tea bowl), and chashaku (tea ladle).
There are two ways to prepare matcha: Usucha, the thin matcha which is the standard and consumed on a daily basis, and Koicha, the thicker matcha which is used in tea ceremonies and special tea parties.
For usucha, you need about 1 1/2 heaping chashaku or 2 grams of matcha (about 1 measuring teaspoon) and 70 ml of hot (not boiling!) water (about 1/3 cup). For koicha, you need 4 chashaku or 4 grams of matcha and 50 ml of hot water (about 1/4 cup). Only the higher grades of matcha are suitable for koicha. If you use the lower grade, the tea will be bitter.
To achieve the fine foam, the matcha powder and water are whisked using a quick back and forth motion as if writing the letter “M”.
I only prepare the thin matcha although the one I have right now can also be made as a koicha. Koicha is indeed very thick as can be seen here.
As long as you love the green tea you’re drinking, I believe one can enjoy drinking matcha even without the proper tools. I know because I do.
Matcha Harmony Cupcake - soft, buttery cupcake made with high-grade matcha powder from Japan, iced with white chocolate truffle flavored with matcha, and topped with a handmade white chocolate disc imprinted with a Japanese calligraphy character depicting “harmony”. Price available upon request.
going green and loving it
I admit I have never tasted a green tea cake before, let alone matcha when I thought of making these cupcakes. But I was intrigued by the flavor and its popularity in cupcake blogs so I gave it a try.
What is matcha anyway? Matcha is the green tea served in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. It has also become a favorite of tea enthusiasts because of its health benefits; it is rich in theanine, vitamin C, bioflavonoids, caffeine, and minerals. It is unique among all teas because it is ground into powder, thus when you drink it, you ingest all the nutrients and natural flavor of the tea leaf, including oil soluble constituents (vitamins A and E, fiber) which are not extracted into water when brewing loose tea leaves. According to one site, one cup of matcha is equivalent to 10 cups of brewed green tea in terms of nutritional value.
Finding the right matcha was a challenge. I found a sweetened matcha in the grocery but this was really just good as a beverage. I visited several local Japanese supermarkets hoping to get this precious stuff but I always end up empty-handed. After countless searches, I finally found this online Japanese store—yay! As I do not know which to buy, I chose one priced at mid-range and described as high quality (mind you, matcha IS expensive!). I liked it but there was a slight bitterness to it. Miss O._ of Ippodo advised me that the higher the grade of the matcha, the better it will taste. The Japanese refer to this unique flavor as “umami” which in green tea is characterized by full-bodied mellow sweetness (theanine, an amino acid is responsible for giving matcha this flavorful taste). Right. Higher grade = richer umami = costlier price!
I got another 20 gram-tin, two grades above the one I earlier bought. It definitely tasted better, brewed as a tea or used in baking. Still I searched for less expensive matcha. I had a friend send me restaurant grade baking matcha from the US but they were a big letdown. The color was a drab olive—it should be vivid green—and the bitterness stood out. To get the taste of authentic Japanese matcha, you have to get it from Japan itself.
To make these cupcakes, I added the matcha to a plain cupcake recipe. I wanted the flavor to stand out so these have a lot more matcha than other green tea cake recipes. To further highlight the flavor, I iced each with white chocolate truffle with matcha powder. The decorative topping is a white chocolate disc that I “imprinted” (using dark chocolate) with a Japanese calligraphy character depicting harmony which I believe is a very apt decoration. As declared by Sen no Rikyu, the revered Japanese master, there are four fundamental qualities that should be exemplified in the tea ceremony: harmony, respect, purity, tranquility.
These cupcakes are also the costliest in my repertoire. Aside from the fact that matcha itself is expensive, I get mine shipped direct from Japan via express mail service (EMS). Good thing Japan and the Philippines are neighbors; although still costly, whatever minimal savings I get from the EMS shipping rate is still welcome! The food grade is indeed a lot cheaper but the taste of high grade drinking matcha in baked goods is incomparable so that’s the only thing I use. The flavor of this tea also quickly deteriorates once a pack is opened so I never store matcha; I only buy this when there is a cupcake order to fulfill.
Because of all these tests, I have become a matcha drinker myself. I used to say earl grey tea is my tea of choice but it has now been relegated to being my second favorite—I am now a matcha junkie! I’m loving the matcha I get from Ippodo but I will surely try other brands coming straight from Japan as well. I would also love to get the special tea utensils so I can properly prepare matcha for drinking. Right now, I get by with a wire whisk, an ordinary teaspoon and a large cup. Serious matcha drinkers must be frowning upon me, I know! I’ll soon post a video on how matcha is prepared the right way.
I really love this cupcake because it is buttery and soft and to me, it perfectly captures the authentic taste of matcha. If you happen to like the Haagen-Dazs green tea ice cream, then you will like these cupcakes!
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why is matcha so expensive?
Matcha is expensive because of the labor involved in producing it. The tea plants are completely shaded for about 20 days using a large framework of reed screens and rice straws. Most tea farmers pick the leaves entirely by hand although machine picking is not uncommon. The harvested leaves undergo several stages—steaming, cooling, drying, deveining and destemming. The resulting leaves, called tencha, are stone ground slowly—a stone mill produces only about 40 grams of powder in an hour—to finally produce matcha.
There are many grades of matcha, from the ceremonial grade to food grades. Food grades are of low quality and only used in cooking and as an ingredient.
Starry Night Cupcake - cupcake infused with earl grey tea topped with thick chocolate earl grey ganache and decorated with chocolate stars brushed with edible gold dust. Price available upon request.
Hail to the Earl
Everybody seems to be all agog about green tea these days that I decided to turn to one of its “less celebrated” but equally healthy cousins: the earl grey tea. Being used to the Lipton Yellow Label tea while growing up, I was unfamiliar with the earl grey tea until I came across a chocolate earl grey truffle recipe in Bon Appetit magazine a few years back. So while making these cupcakes, I thought about these truffles and how perfect they would be as topping. Earl grey tea is so fragrant; one whiff and you will want to empty your teacup at once, burning throat and all. It is now my tea of choice.
This cupcake is delicately flavored but I must say that it is the truffle topping that takes center stage as it is so flavorful. Bergamot, the key ingredient in earl grey tea is often used to treat depression so I thought that a sparkling star (chocolate brushed with edible gold dust) would be an apt decoration. Come to think of it, having a delicious cupcake can also drive the blues away, don’t you think?
Fact: Earl grey tea was named after Charles Grey, a British Prime Minister in the 1800s, who received the blended tea as a gift. Fun trivia: Fictional characters who prefer earl grey tea include Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Bruce Wayne aka Batman, James Bond and Winnie the Pooh’s friend Piglet. (Source: Wikipedia).
Made only with the finest ingredients, baked to perfection and artfully decorated to give you a dessert experience nonpareil. All cupcakes are tested and developed in my kitchen in Paranaque, Philippines.
