Matcha Madness

Passport & Plate - Green Tea Matcha & Almond Cupcakes

Japan | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients:
1/2 cup strawberry soy yogurt
2/3 cup rice milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 to 4 teaspoons matcha tea powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
For the Green Tea Glaze:
2 tablespoons margarine
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon matcha tea powder
1 to 2 tablespoons rice milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract Drop of vanilla extract.

How to prepare this recipe & Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line cupcake pan with liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, rice milk, vanilla, oil, and almond extract, beating well to blend in yogurt. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, matcha powder, salt, and sugar. If using rice flour it will be a little lumpy. Beat a little longer to break up any large lumps. Fill liners two-thirds full and bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted through the center of one comes out clean. Cool on racks before topping with glaze. Make the glaze: With a fork, beat the margarine to fluff, and then mix in confectioners’ sugar and matcha to form a crumbly mixture. Slowly beat in 1 tablespoon rice milk, almond extract, and vanilla. Assemble: Use a tablespoon to pour green tea glaze into the center of each cupcake. Spread out a bit with the back of the spoon but it’s nice if you can see the green edges of the cupcake.

The story behind this recipe:
"Why is my frap green?" I asked my super busy, teen barista.
"It's what you ordered, a Matcha Frappuccino," she sneered.
"No, I said mocha, what the heck is Matcha?
"It's green tea powder," she responded mater-of-factly.

Intrigued and a bit grossed out, I mean who drinks green tea powder, I took a sip and have been matcha obsessed ever since. matcha, a fine tea powder is a beautiful, dark jade color with an earthly, smooth flavor, it must be what emeralds taste like. Top quality matcha is revered I mean really revered, they have ceremonies for it. Completely smitten by my newfound delicacy I made my way to the closest Asian market to purchase a tea kit and any other contraption that honored matcha. I loaded up on various types of match brands and spent many a weekends, legs crossed on my living room floor in a kimono mastering the tea making process. I demanded that all my Japanese friends bring me back quality matcha when they went back east to visit their families. And quickly de-friended anyone who got caught up in the moment with their loved ones and forgot my matcha. During a one hour layover in Japan a few years back I ran around the airport like a madman collecting matcha goodies, then devoured them without mercy on the twelve-hour flight back home. One fateful day as I flipped through a deserted, dessert cookbook I'd received as a gift one year I came across the holy grail of desserts, a green tea matcha cupcake covered in an almond, green tea frosting. I rushed out to gather all the necessary ingredients and spent the better half of my morning baking. The results were beyond amazing the matcha flavor was perfectly presented and not overpowered by any of the other ingredients. It has since become my signature dessert especially when friends and family come over, I watch as they initially scoff at the sight of a green cupcake and then take one bite and fall head over heels for the intoxicating goodness of matcha.