Matcha Magic

By Nrupali Dave

Three years ago, I visited the United States for the first time. Being a foodie on Instagram, my intention was to at least try to keep up with all these picture-worthy food trends that were blowing up my newsfeed such as the rolled ice cream, liquid nitrogen ice cream, giant Lad Lard Donuts and of course a cup of matcha tea in New York City.

I began my journey and unsurprisingly, as I made my way through the streets of New York, I didn’t have to walk too far before stumbling upon one of a dozen cafés in Lower Manhattan specialising in the matcha Japanese green tea. You know when you find something and suddenly you start to see it everywhere. That’s what happened. Next thing I knew, it was trending on social media and even celebrities were talking about it; it was the current trend and rose in fame as more and more people tried it. My first sip of matcha was rather astonishing. It was an earthy and bittertasting product. I wasn’t too sure if I liked it or not but once I added a little sweetness in the form of some raw honey, it tasted divine. I was intrigued by the flavours and knew at that very moment I wanted to take some powder back home and experiment with it.

Three years later, I am still experimenting with matcha, creating new and different recipes, mostly matcha desserts which is the perfect way to balance sweet and savoury.

So what is Matcha? It’s a special type of powdered green tea that is mostly grown in the southern regions of Japan. Matcha comes from the same plant as green tea, but it is farmed differently. About one month before harvest, farmers cover their tea plants to avoid direct sunlight. This boosts the chlorophyll levels in the leaves turning them into that distinct green colour. This delicious vibrant green tea contains three times the amount of antioxidants that are found in regular green tea making it an antioxidant powerhouse.

Matcha, Pistachio and Rose Ice Cream

Photography by Nrupali Dave

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Avocados

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk or any other kind of milk (almond, regular milk)

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 2 tablespoons matcha powder

• 1/4 teaspoon lime juice

• A handful of pistachios

METHOD

1. Peel avocados or cut them in half and remove the pit, scraping out the flesh.

2. Smash avocado meat with a fork until no lumps or place in a blender.

3. Add all of the other ingredients and blend on medium until you get a nice smooth consistency. If you don’t have a blender, you can mix them by hand.

4. Take it out of the blender and pour it into small ramekins. Freeze it for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.

5. Finish it off with some matcha powder, a rose bud and pistachios

Matcha Tiramisu

Photography by Nrupali Dave

INGREDIENTS

• 3 large egg yolks

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2 Tablespoon Uva Wines Moscatel

De Setúbal

• 1 Browns mascarpone cheese

• 360 ml heavy cream

• ½ cup water

• 2 tablespoons matcha powder

• 24 ladyfingers

For the custard:

1. In the heat proof mixing bowl, add egg yolks, Moscatel De Setúbal and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and start whisking with a handheld electric mixer.

2. Set the bowl over the saucepan of barely simmering water and continue to beat the eggs. Keep your instant thermometer handy as you will be checking the temperature of the egg mixture. To consume Tiramisu safely, heat the egg yolk mixture until it reaches 71 ºC, about 10 minutes.

3. Cook, beating constantly until the custard is light and thick.

4. Once the custard reaches 71 ºC, immediately remove the bowl from the saucepan and set in the large bowl of ice water. Let it cool down for 1 minute to quickly stop cooking.

5. Put the mascarpone in another large bowl and soften it with a silicone spatula. Gradually fold the custard into the mascarpone.

6. Gently fold in until just smooth (the custard will be grainy if over mixed).

7. In a large bowl (you can reuse the bowl from ice bath, but make sure it’s completely dry), beat heavy cream until foamy, and gradually add sugar.

8. Beat until the medium peak forms.

9. Gradually fold in the heavy cream mixture into the mascarpone mixture. Fold in the mixture until well combined.

To assemble:

1. Combine the hot water - 80 ºC and matcha powder and whisk until there are no lumps. Transfer to a flat-bottom container that fits ladyfingers.

2. One at a time, quickly dip both sides of the ladyfingers in the matcha mixture until soaked but not soggy. Place them on the bottom of an 8-inch-square/rectangular baking dish, arranging 2 rows of 6 ladyfingers each.

3. Dip the remaining ladyfingers in the matcha mixture and place them on top of the custard.

4. Top with the remaining custard, smooth out the top and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap to cover the cream. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

5. Before serving dust with matcha powder and indulge!

Matcha Naked Stacks

Photography by Nrupali Dave

For the Vanilla Sponge:

INGREDIENTS

• 225g unsalted butter

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1⁄2 cup milk, room temperature

• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup cornflour

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC

2. Butter 2 x 20cm. Line the base with baking paper.

3. Place wet ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.

4. Place dry ingredients in a bowl and use a handheld beater on slowest to quickly whisk.

5. Add 1/3 of the butter, then put the beater whisk in the butter, and mix using slowest speed. Once the butter is incorporated a bit, speed up and whisk for 10 seconds.

6. Add another 1/3 of the butter then repeat, then add remaining butter and repeat again. It should look like wet sand.

7. Add half the wet mixture, beat until incorporated. Add remaining wet mixture, then beat on high speed until almost completely smooth.

8. Divide between cake pans, smooth surface (it levels out in the oven), then bake for 25 minutes.

9. Cool on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes then remove cake from pan Once the cake is cooled, using a medium-sized round cookie cutter, make small round cutouts.

For the Matcha Cream Cheese Icing

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Browns Cheese cream cheese

• 1/2 cup butter softened

• 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• 2 tablespoons Matcha Powder

• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence

METHOD

1.Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy and there are no lumps.

2. Slowly beat in 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons matcha powder until smooth Stir in vanilla essence

3. Pipe the icing on to the small round cutouts

4. Stack the cutouts.

5. Garnish with flowers of your choice