Tea-scented tea cake

I had a lovely invitation to visit a friend for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres yesterday. Rosemary is a longtime friend of my aunt’s and is now a friend of ours. She lives in a wonderful apartment on the Upper East Side and wanted to show us her great kitchen and the specialty cookbook store up the block (very dangerous: I bought two!).

I didn’t want to go empty handed, and brought along some truffle salt, which I am now in love with, and particularly like in the baked risotto dish I shared recently (coincidentally, Rosemary is making it for company this week so the timing was perfect!). I also decided to concoct a matcha tea cake, which was inspired by the different versions I’ve seen around the blogosphere lately, namely on Tartelette and 80 breakfasts. The versions I’ve seen include white chocolate, which I’m not terribly fond of, and it occurred to me that I could easily adapt the moist and marbled coffee cake that I love to create a matcha-marbled version. I love that cake for its moistness and perfect balance of sweetness: it’s a phenomenal base for any flavoring. I last used matcha to make green tea ice cream. Next, I'd like to try cookies.

The little cake, which I made in a loaf pan, was a hit. It’s not only delicious but the green marbling is quite beautiful: how perfect to perfume a tea cake with tea?

Matcha tea marbled tea cake

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1.5 teaspoons matcha powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Butter a loaf pan. Line with a piece of parchment paper that covers bottom and long sides (leave some poking up from the pan to facilitate lifting the loaf out later). Butter the parchment paper.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Put the butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with sour cream. Add vanilla, and mix 1 minute.

4. Portion out 1/3 of the batter into a small bowl. Mix in matcha powder, stirring well to combine.

5. Spread one-third of the plain batter into prepared pan. Use a small offset spatchula to ensure an even, flat layer. Dollop with 1/3 of matcha batter and use a spatchula to gently spread the matcha layer on the top of the other. Spread another third of the plain batter on top, followed by another third of the matcha batter. Repeat one more time so that the final layer is the rest of the matcha batter. Run a thin knife through batter to marbleize. Run spatchula over top to ensure the batter is flat in the end.

6. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire cooking rack for a few minutes. Lift cake out by the parchment handles and allow to cool completely on rack.

Ah! Almost forgot: I'm submitting this to this month's "click" event, the theme of which is "au naturel." I know this image is a tad random here, but it needs to be posted to my blog!

"No ice cream maker" green tea ice cream

I think I broke some kind of cooking record this week. I made the same recipe four times. Green tea ice cream. The first time I made it, it was so good I wished I had made more. I also couldn't believe how easy it was, and that it did not require an ice cream maker. I found the recipe in one of my new Harumi cookbooks, and I had all the ingredients on hand (eggs, sugar, milk, cream) except for the matcha powder, which was easy enough to find. I've never cooked with matcha powder before. It's a very fine powder similar in consistency to talc and is made from dried, de-stemmed, de-veined, stone-ground green tea leaves. It's so delicate that you worry that one wrong breath will send it flying across the room in a green cloud.

I just had to see if I could improve upon the recipe by using high-quality, high fat, heavy cream and milk, and whether it would make a difference if I processed the ice cream in an ice cream maker. When I switched from conventional store-bought milk and cream to Ronnybrook heavy cream and creamline milk (not ultra-pasteurized and not homogenized, high in fat). I got a very creamy ice cream, but it was very soft even after freezing for a day. I did some research and found this article on David Lebovitz' blog that explains the higher the fat content, the softer the ice cream. Surprisingly, I would rather have harder ice cream at the expense of less creaminess (and it was wonderfully creamy the first time around anyway) and would stick to the conventional milk and cream.

Processing it in an ice cream maker, which is supposed to make lighter and creamer ice cream, did not seem to change the texture, but it did make things marginally easier. When making ice cream in the freezer, you have to vigorously stir the ice cream every couple of hours to break up any ice particles that form to ensure maximum creaminess. This is simple, but requires some monitoring. Apparently, custard-based ice creams can easily be made without an ice cream maker. I might not do it this way every time, but it was kinda fun and low tech in a refreshing sort of way.

I loved the recipe and might only make a couple of modifications: 1) heat the milk/cream/sugar/egg mixture over low heat (being careful to not let it come to a boil) until it coats the back of a spoon - most of the other recipes I looked at incorporate this step which gives a little peace of mind about ensuring the eggs are cooked (if, like me, you are concerned about this sort of thing), and thickens it, and 2) strain that mixture through a fine sieve before adding in the lightly whipped cream to make sure it's perfectly smooth.

Another tip I learned is to chill the final mixture in the refrigerator for an hour or two before freezing it. A cooler mixture will freeze much more quickly.


Green tea ice cream (adapted from Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking)
(recipe says it serves four but I would double the quantity for four)

2 tablespoons green tea powder (matcha)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream

1. In a small bow, mix the green tea powder with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks and remaining sugar.

3. Pour the milk into a small pan and gently heat taking care not to let it boil (ideally the temperature of the milk should be 176 degrees F). Remove the from the heat and mix a few spoonfuls of the warm milk with the green tea powder and sugar in a small bowl. When you have a smooth paste, add it to the remaining milk in the pan, then gradually combine with the egg yolk mixture.

4. Return mixture to the stove and heat slowly over low heat (taking care to not let the mixture boil), until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine sieve, and allow to cool completely.

5. Lightly whip the cream and then add it to the cold green tea-milk mixture.

6. Transfer the mixture to a large container and [chill for an hour or two in the refrigerator] and then put it in the freezer. As ice crystals start to form, remove, and mix well with a spoon (use a wooden spoon and stir very vigorously) to break them up and return the mixture to the freezer. Repeat this a few times as it freezes to ensure that the ice cream is smooth.