Green Tea (Matcha) Chocolates

Powdered Green Tea (Matcha) is an exotic and unusual ingredient which adds a unique flavour to sweet treats.

It is a little expensive to buy ($24 for 30g!) but a little goes a long way. I bought a small packet a few months ago and used some of it to make Green Tea Gelato. There was plenty left over and I could have used it to make more gelato or some cute cupcakes but why stop at one expensive ingredient.

After reading Not Quite Nigella’s recent blog post on making your own dark chocolate I bought some cocoa butter ($16 for 250g!) to experiment with making some green tea chocolates.

I made filled chocolates using both white and dark chocolate. Personally I much preferred the dark chocolate with the flavoured marzipan, but some people prefer white chocolate.

Experimenting with expensive ingredients is quite extravagant but I always use my blog to rationalise these culinary indulgences. Do you buy crazy and expensive ingredients?

Green Tea (Matcha) Chocolates

Adapted from a recipe from Bitter Sweet

makes about 10 chocolates

1/4 cup (2oz or 55g) cocoa butter
1/4 tsp powdered green tea powder (matcha)
1/3 cup (50g) icing sugar
1/2 tsp milk powder (I used coconut milk powder because that is what I had in my pantry)
Fillings (optional; I used freeze-dried raspberries and crystallised ginger)

Melt the cocoa butter in the same way you would chocolate, either in the microwave or in a bowl placed over just boiled water. Do be careful though as it melts at just 35C.
Place the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and stir, making sure there aren’t any lumps.

Add the melted cocoa butter and stir until all the ingredients are well combined. Pour into the mold of your choice, with or without fillings, and place in the fridge to set.

Dark Chocolate with Green Tea Filling

I didn’t want to use up all of my cocoa butter so I simply used melted dark chocolate for these but if you are interested in making your own dark chocolate from scratch check out Not Quite Nigella’s blog post

makes about 8 chocolates

100g dark chocolate
30g marzipan
1/8 tsp powdered green tea powder (matcha)

Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a bowl placed over just boiled water. In a separate bowl mix the marzipan and green tea.

Fill the bottom of the molds with a small spoonful of melted chocolate and ease it up the sides to evenly coat the inside. Allow the chocolate to set a little (I impatiently put mine in the freezer briefly) before adding the filling. Then add some more chocolate to fill the rest of the space. Place in the fridge until firm.

Irish Tea Cake with Whiskey Butter

May10

This cake is heavily studded with dried fruits and nuts with extra flavour and moistness coming from tea. Since there is no added fat, and it’s full of fruit, it’s quite reasonable to have an extra slice! However if you are after a more deluxe treat then consider serving it with some rich and boozy whiskey butter.

The original recipe is from Delia Smith’s book Delia’s Cakes. I have changed Delia’s recipe, not because I thought it needed it, I simply wanted to use what I had in my pantry. I also had to omit the dried peel since my husband, like many people it seems, thoroughly dislikes it. With this type of cake you have the opportunity to easily adapt it to suit your own taste.

Delia promises that it toasts well the next day so I am looking forward to trying this for breakfast tomorrow!

Which dried fruits do you prefer in your fruit cake?

Adapted from Delia Smith’s Very Fruity Irish Tea Cake

150ml hot tea (I used Irish Breakfast Tea)
50g brown sugar
100g currants
100g dried diced plums
130g sultanas
200g plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange*
juice of 1/2 large orange
100g pecans, chopped
1 egg or egg substitute**

This cake is very easy to make but you do have to start it the day before baking.

Place the hot tea in the bottom of a large jug or ceramic bowl. Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Add the dried fruit and stir. Cover with cling film and leave it to soak overnight.

When you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 170C. Line a loaf or cake tin.

Mix the plain flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add the dried fruit mix and the remaining ingredients; gently stir until combined. Spoon the thick batter into the tin and bake for about 45 minutes on a lower shelf in the oven (the top of the cake should be level with the middle of the oven). When cooked, turn the cake out of the tin and allow it to cool on a wire rack.

* the unused flesh from the lemon and half orange can be sliced and stored in the freezer. The frozen slices make a welcome addition to many cold drinks.
** In place of the egg I used a small lady finger banana which was far too ripe to eat. I am planning a post on egg substitutes soon!

Whiskey Butter

Lightly adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Brandy Butter recipe from How To Eat. This quantity is more than enough for one Irish Tea Cake.

75g icing sugar
50g ground almonds
50g unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp (or so!) whiskey

Mix the icing sugar and almond meal together. Add the butter and blend until smooth. Add the whiskey and thoroughly stir.

Darth Vader Chocolates

May2

Nothing says Happy Star Wars Day more than a gift of Darth Vader chocolates … in dark chocolate, of course!

Star Wars Day is celebrated by geeks globally on May 4. This date was chosen as it is a tacky pun on the often quoted line from the move “May the force be with you” (as in, “May the fourth be with you”). I’m not above tacky and purchased a nifty Darth Vader silicone mold on eBay to make a treat in celebration of the occasion.

I’ve never made chocolates before and it was no where near as tedious as I thought it would be. Handmade chocolates make such an impressive gift, and the fillings offer an opportunity to really make a personal statement, so I will definitely be making more again. They won’t all be Darth Vader shaped though!

Do you have a favourite handmade gift?

Chocolates

makes about 12 chocolates (depending on the size of your mold)

200g dark chocolate, chopped
for fillings I used
crystallised ginger
mix of almond butter, dark sugar and chopped almonds
freeze-dried raspberries
macadamia nuts

I failed at tempering the chocolate so I don’t feel that I have anything useful to offer you on the subject. Having the skill to temper chocolate is a great way to show off but isn’t really necessary (the untempered chocolates will have to be stored in the fridge though).

Apart from tempering the chocolate, it’s a very straight forward process. Melt the chocolate using your preferred method (I placed the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of just simmered water). Fill the bottom of the molds with a small spoonful of melted chocolate and ease it up the sides to evenly coat the inside. Allow the chocolate to set a little … I impatiently put mine in the freezer briefly … before adding the fillings. Then add some more chocolate to fill the rest of the space. Place in the fridge until firm. Remove from the fridge about 5 minutes prior to serving.

Chocolate Sorbet

Apr25

Rich and intensely flavoured this sorbet is a refreshing and satisfying chocolate fix. It’s also dairy free.

The recipe is from David Lebovitz’s Perfect Scoop. I read quite a few food blogs and I keep coming across references to this book. The words usually used to describe it are almost reverential, as if it is the ultimate ice cream bible. After making this sorbet I now understand that this is probably justified. While I have too many cookbooks already I will be eagerly making room for a copy of this book!

I served the sorbet with some chocolate crumbs and freeze-dried raspberries just to pretend that I am a little fancy but it’s perfect divine by itself. The recipe below makes about 1 litre of sorbet and enough crumble to accompany it. I won’t reveal how many portions I actually served from this; that would just be an embarrassing example of my greed!

What is your favourite chocolate fix?

Sorbet recipe from David Lebovitz’s book The Perfect Scoop (via Smitten Kitchen)

555ml (2 1/4) cups water
200g (1 cup) sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
75g (3/4 cup) cocoa
pinch of salt
170g (6 oz) chocolate (I used dark chocolate)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place 375ml (1 1/2 cups) of the water, sugar, cocoa and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk occasionally as it comes to the boil. As it boils whisk continuously for 45 seconds. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the chocolate and stir until melted. Then add the vanilla and remaining 180ml (3/4 cup) water; stir. At this stage you are supposed to blend the mix for 15 seconds. I couldn’t bear the thought of the extra washing up so I skipped this step. Chill the mix thoroughly before churning in your ice cream maker. I found it was necessary to freeze it to firm up before serving.

Chocolate Crumbs

1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp almond butter

Mix the almond meal, sugar and cocoa in a bowl. Add the almond butter and rub it in using your fingertips until the almond butter is evenly distributed and looks crumbly. Spread the crumbs on an oven tray and bake at 200C for about 8 minutes or so. Do keep a close eye on it. If you get distracted and leave it for just a little too long it may start to burn around the edges. I know this from personal experience!

Almond, Apple & Cinnamon Cake

Apr19

This cake is deliciously dense and spiced and topped with thick apple slices and almonds. It was very good but not amazing so I will be tweeking with the recipe a little more before sharing it with you. I hope you have a great weekend!

Citrus Salad

Apr10

Citrus salad is a fresh, zesty and healthy dessert. The ideal sweet treat to have when you’ve been overdoing it.

I have certainly been doing plenty of that. I ate a shameful quantity of chocolate at Easter and way too many leftovers since!

Fruit for dessert may not seem exciting at all – perhaps even a little bleak – but when it has been delicately cut and well presented I don’t feel quite so deprived. And while it is a healthy dessert it can easily be upgraded to deluxe with the addition of whipped cream/coconut cream, ice cream, yoghurt or sorbet.

Do you have a favourite healthy dessert?

Serves 2

1 lime
1 orange
1 pink grapefruit
1/2 mandarin (it would have been a whole mandarin but I had a small person “helping” me)
1/4 pomegranate
2-3 tablespoons simple sugar syrup
fresh mint, about 6 leaves finely sliced and a few whole leaves for garnish

Remove about half of the zest from both the lime and orange. Place in a bowl. Remove the skin from the lime and cut the flesh into rounds and add to the zests. Remove the skin from the orange and grapefruit and cut the flesh into segments; adding to the bowl as you go. Peel the mandarin, separate into segments and remove as much of the white as possible. Place the mandarin with the pomegranates into the bowl. Add the sugar syrup and gently toss. It may be stored in the fridge at this stage, if needed. Add the mint just prior to serving.

Citrus salad with a small scoop of berry sorbet.

Game of Thrones Lemon Cakes

Apr5

Lemon isn’t sufficient to describe these cakes. They’re sticky, sweet and dense with an intense lemon kick – a delightful lemon smackdown!

I made these cakes to celebrate Game of Thrones (season 3) which started this week. This recipe isn’t the lemon cake from the official Game of Thrones cookbook A Feast of Fire and Ice As fun as it would be to own I have far too many cookbooks as it is. I also suspect this cookbook may not have many vegetarian options for me.

Instead I have made my own based on Nigella’s Clementine Cake There is a faint bitter edge to the cakes, which I quite like, but if you are sensitive to bitter flavours you may want to add more sugar. If you would prefer a cake with a more subtle lemon flavour you could skip the second lemon and spoon over some simple sugar syrup over the cooked cakes.

Do you have a favourite fiction inspired dish?

Makes 4 small cakes
2 large lemons (about 200g each)
110g + 1/4 cup sugar
125g almond meal
1tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp vegetable oil

The day before …
Finely, finely slice one of the lemons. I highly recommend using a mandolin. Place in a glass or ceramic bowl with 110g of sugar; stir; cover with cling film and let it stand for about 24 hours.

The day …
Preheat the oven to 170C. Line the base of four 1 cup capacity moulds (I used moulds with a loose bottom). Give the sugar soaked lemons a quick blitz with an immersion blender (or similar) if you want a smooth texture. Add the zest of the second lemon, almond meal, baking powder, cornflour and oil; stir. Divide the mix into the four moulds and bake for about 20 minutes.

While the cakes are cooking …
Place 1/4 cup sugar with the juice of the second lemon in a saucepan and cook until the sugar has dissolved and it is thick and syrupy.

When the cakes are cooked …
Remove them from the oven and pierce all over with a skewer. Spoon over the syrup. Allow to cool a little in the moulds. Serve with either cream or ice cream.

The Dessert Spoon

comfort eating and beyond