Sasha's Kitchen: Green Tea Cupcakes with Violets

I have a great book of vegan cupcake recipes that are sans-butter, and hence much healthier.  I had been meaning to try the green tea cupcakes for a long time because I like anything with matcha powder.  My husband Brad and I got married at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, so my first thought was to make little cherry blossoms out of marzipan to put on top of the green tea glaze.  However, I have two pink gels and with the one I used, the marzipan came out more purple instead of pink, so I made violets instead.  These cupcakes are cute little Japanese style cakes, flavored just like green tea.  The glaze is just perfect - much lighter than frosting, but still quite satisfying.  These dainty little cupcakes, remind me of a delicate little violet, or spring at the Cherry Blossom Festival at the BBG just the same.  This is a great book even for a non-vegan like me and I can't wait to make more recipes from it soon.

Green Tea Cupcakes (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)
1/2 cup soy yogurt
2/3 cup soy milk (recipe called for rice milk but I used soy instead)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tsp matcha powder (there is no substitute)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Green Tea Glaze
2 T margarine
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 to 1/4 tsp matcha powder
1 T soy milk (I used soy instead of rice milk)
1/4 tsp almond extract
drop of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a cupcake tray with liners.  In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, soy milk, vanilla, oil and almond extract.  Combine the sugar, matcha powder, flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Combine the two bowls together and beat until smooth, to break up any lumps and combine.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 to 3/4 full and bake for about 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely.

To make the glaze, I used a mixer.  I beat the margarine in the mixer until fluffy.  Then beat in the confectioners' sugar to form a crumbly mixture and add a tablespoon or two of soy milk along with the almond extract.  I used a spatula to spread the glaze on each cupcake.

To make cherry blossoms or violets, dye a little marzipan purple or pink and form little flower petals.  I used a little yellow dyed marzipan for the center of each violet. Pretty!

Sasha's Kitchen: Green Tea Cupcakes with Violets

Sasha's Kitchen: Green Tea Tiramisu

Tiramisu has long been one of my husband's favorite desserts.  I enjoy it as well.  However, all too often, I am turned off to restaurant tiramisu desserts that are simply drenched and cloaked in the taste of alcohol.  I like a little bit of a Kahlua, Grand Marnier or  similar liqueur flavor to my tiramisu as well, but I don't want the final tiramisu simply to taste like it was drowned in alcohol.  In my mind, a bit of subtleness is key here to achieve the consistency and flavor.  I decided to do a bit of a twist on a traditional tiramisu tonight and use my leftover matcha powder from the green tea ice cream I made last weekend, in creating an Japanese-inspired green tea tiramisu.  I had a similar tiramisu dessert in the past at the Manhattan sushi restaurant, Geisha, and it was fabulous.  Today, however, I created my own green tea teamisu!

To create the tiramisu, I did a bit of research.  I looked at a lot of traditional tiramisu recipes, as well as at a green tea tiramisu recipe from Nobu, and another recipe I encountered in my research here.  In the end, I adapted all of these recipes and wrote my own inspired recipe for green tea tiramisu, using a relatively small and mild flavored alcohol so that the end result was that the mascarpone dessert would be lovely and pillowy, and would have green tea as the primary flavor (rather than coffee or alcohol).  This dessert was lovely - it has a beautiful natural green color (I elected not to  use food coloring to make it bright green) from the matcha, and is light, airy and fluffy.  Don't let it float away though - the recipe is actually not too hard to make, and is a wonderful, light treat.

Sasha's Green Tea Tiramisu
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
16 oz mascarpone cheese
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 package ladyfinger cookies
2 cups green tea
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 T tiramisu liqueur or Kahlua
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
4 tsp matcha green tea powder, plus extra for sprinkling on top (I bought mine locally at Park Slope Tea N Coffee N Spice)

To prepare the green tea tiramisu (or should I be calling it "Teamisu):

Beat the egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, or in a small bowl placed in a pot of simmering water.  Continue beating for about five minutes until pale yellow in color.  Next, beat the mascarpone until smooth and beat in the matcha powder.  Use a handheld mixer, or my favorite kitchen tool - you guessed it - a KitchenAid artisan stand mixer.  Mix the egg mixture into the mascarpone mixture.  Transfer to a bowl.

In the basin of your mixer (or using a handheld mixer) beat the heavy whipping cream with the cream of tartar, using the whisk attachment.  Beat on high until the cream is pillowy and has formed stiff peaks.  Add the vanilla and liqueur.

Using a spatula, fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream mixture. Layer the tiramisu and the ladyfinger cookies in a cake dish, like you would with a typical tiramisu.  I suggest using a three inch deep cake pan.  Make sure to quickly dip each cookie in freshly brewed green tea (rather than the typical coffee) so that the cookies don't fall apart and layer the cookies with the tiramisu.  Sprinkle some excess matcha powder on top, and allow to chill for at least four hours before eating.  I was extremely happy with the end result of this experimental kitchen project.

Tiramisu

Sasha's Kitchen: Green Tea Tiramisu

Sasha's Kitchen: Green Tea Ice Cream

Over the weekend, my husband and I prepared green tea ice cream.  It was quite simple to make actually, since the only real flavoring required was Matcha tea powder, a green tea powder in a lovely olive green hue.  I am planning on making a green tea tiramisu next weekend, and I had bought a couple of ounces of Matcha powder.  I had a little bit of extra powder, and decided that I could either make green tea macarons or green tea ice cream.  I decided to leave the macarons for another day and prepared the green tea ice cream instead.  The end result was a rich, creamy and delicious ice cream with the green tea flavoring of the Matcha powder.  This is always a wonderful end to a sushi meal for me at any Japanese restaurant, yet it was so easy to make ourselves in our old, but trusty ice cream machine.  We are making sushi rolls this week, so the timing was perfect.

I bought the green tea powder at a wonderful local tea and spice store that I just discovered last week a couple blocks from my home called PS Coffee Tea N Spices.  This store is a fantastic place to buy just about any tea or spice you could possibly imagine at reasonable places, by the ounce.  So instead of overpaying for a lifetime supply of Matcha Powder at Whole Foods, I simply bought an ounce for a mere three dollars.  Perfect for both of my planned recipes.  I also bought an ounce of two other lovely teas - a dark tea infused with lychee and a fragrant apricot tea.

Green Tea Ice Cream  (recipe from Epicurious)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 T Matcha Powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar

Bring the cream, milk and salt to a boil in a large pot and take off heat.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, Matcha tea powder and sugar.  Add a cup of the cream mixture to the egg mixture.  Add this mixture back to the pot and put on medium heat and stir until the mixture thickens  to coat the back of a spoon and an instant read thermometer registers at 170 F.    Avoid turning up the heat too high, as the mixture should not boil.  Next, strain using a strainer and refrigerate the custard for about an hour. Freeze using an ice cream maker (I used an old Doniver that still works just fine) following the manufacturer's instructions.

Sasha's Kitchen: Green Tea Ice Cream