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.