Saturday, October 12, 2013

Matcha (Green Tea) pound cake



Apologies for the long hiatus from blogging again! Had been busy juggling school and social life these days, I just cleared several mid term tests few days ago. Can finally take a breather, and do things that make me happy. That is... Baking! :D Since I had some time to spare today, I decided to bake a loaf cake! Very glad that I finally bought a loaf pan! Been seeing many recipes that use loaf pan to bake, and the cakes really turned out good! After contemplating for months, I finally decided to invest in one. So, cheers to more loaf cakes in future! Can't wait!

So for my maiden attempt baking a loaf, a matcha cake was baked! Matcha, also known as green tea, is an awesome product. There are tonnes of health benefits such as increasing the metabolism and anti-depressant... Go google to find out more! Benefits aside, I love the subtle aroma of green tea. It's such a delightful flavour, a good alternative to heavy flavours like chocolate and coffee. I will definitely explore more recipes with my newly bought matcha powder. Matcha cookies, matcha chiffon cake, matcha macarons.... *imagines more matcha products* Anyway, this matcha cake that I baked was delish! Only downside is probably it is not sweet enough for my sweet tooth! I altered the recipe and reduced the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup thinking that it would suit my health conscious family more. Yes, my parents accepted it well, but for the sweet tooth of mine, nope! Another thing I like about this recipe is that it is super fast and easy! Just mix everything together, and pop it into the oven. I took about 15 minutes, one of the fastest baking sessions I have ever done.

Recipe adapted from appetiteforchina
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons green tea powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, beaten

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and green tea powder.
3. In another bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs. Add the sifted flour mixture and mix until well-combined.
4. Pour the batter into a buttered loaf pan (I used a 9"x5" pan). Bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.