midwestmatchalabs

[midwestmatchalabs]

Matcha/Chocolate Rice Flour Cookies

One last matcha recipe before I hie off to the west coast!

This recipe was inspired by these absolutely delightful rosewater and cardamom rice flour cookies [link]. They are marvelous cookies, shortbready and fragrant. After making them per the recipe a few times, I decided to branch out. The result was delicious!

Process Notes:

So what you're going to do is melt yourself some butter, mix in your egg, sugar, and vanilla, and set it aside. In another bowl, mix your rice flour, baking powder, and salt. To make two-flavored cookies, take out like a heaping tablespoon of your dry mix and sift it into a small bowl with the matcha, and then do the same into another with the cocoa powder.

Mix the plain flour into the butter/egg mixture, and combine well. Since your flour has no gluten, you don't have to worry about overmixing. Divide the dough in two roughly equal portions, and mix one of your flavored mixes into each half.

The dough will be sticky and soft. Form each half into a rough log, then mash the logs together and roll into a single thick log. Wrap tightly in waxed paper, and chill overnight or at least a few hours until very firm.

Preheat the oven to 250*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and slice into roughly 1/4 inch discs. The number of cookies will vary depending on how thick the original log was rolled. Lay the cookies slightly apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until dry. The cookies should not take on any color.

Remove to a rack to cool, and then share with friends!

Ingredients:

4 oz butter, melted 4 oz granulated sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 8 oz rice flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1 heaping tbsp matcha powder 1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder

Notes:

The original recipe calls for plain rice flour, but I have also had great success using a gluten free flour blend with rice as the main ingredient.

[midwestmatchalabs]

looks like I’m no longer going to be confined to the midwest, which means this blog’s title is now a Lie

it would be a bigger deal if I’d ever managed to post regularly

[midwestmatchalabs]

Shortcake with Matcha Whipped Cream and Honeyed Berries

Ok folks, here’s one of my favorite breakfasts. The Cake By Which All Cakes Must Be Judged [link] freezes well, and a few slices gently reheated in the toaster oven, topped with fresh berries and flavorful cream is a treat not to be underestimated!

Process Notes:

The first step is to prep the cake base. Angelfood cake is a popular shortcake base, as is pound cake but, as noted above, my favorite is a cooked dough butter cake. If you’ve got cake slices in your freezer (and you should) get those thawing up. If you’ve got fresh cake, even better. Thwack it on a plate and you’re good to go.

The next step is to prep the honeyed berries. I used a mix of strawberries and raspberries, here, but pretty much any type of berry that suits your fancy can work. You want a handful or two of berries. If the berries are big, like strawberries, slice them. Drizzle a little honey over them, and a few grains of salt, and my secret method to really take it over the top is to add a drop or two of orange blossom water. If you do it right, you won’t be able to taste it, but the berries will just seem a bit more fragrant and luscious. Highly recommended if you’ve got some on hand! Give the berries a gentle stir to get the honey and orange blossom water mixed in, and set aside to macerate.

Finally, the cream! Mix the matcha powder with a tiny bit of cream until smooth, then add the rest of the cream and the honey and beat to soft peaks. (If you want it a bit streaky and cool looking like mine, whip the matcha into some of the cream, and whip some plain, and fold the two together. but honestly that’s just for the pictures and does nothing for the flavor)

To assemble, pile the berries on top of the cake, making sure to get that good good honey berry juice all over it. Then pile the cream on top.

Let yourself be nourished by the deliciousness.

Ingredients:

Cake

a few handfuls of fresh berries of your choice a drizzle of honey a few drops of orange blossom water (optional) a few grains of salt (also optional)

about 1/2 tsp matcha powder roughly 1/4 cup whipping cream honey to taste (like 1/2 Tbsp maybe??)

Options:

The sommelier recommends enjoying this shortcake alongside a cup of mild-flavored white or green tea.

[midwestmatchalabs]

Matcha Lime Cream Scones

If you’re a fan of the humble scone, that flaky delight of butter and flour, then have I got a treat for you. Scones are very simple to make, and the recipe is easy to customize. This version is lightly flavored with matcha and lime zest, very tender, and delicious on its own or with a bit of jam.

Process Notes:

What you’re going to want to do is sift together all your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, matcha) into a bowl. Zest your lime into the bowl. Cut the butter in, using a pastry cutter or a fork or your fingertips or whatever your favored method is, until there are no pieces larger than a pea. Then, make a well in the center, and put the eggs and cream into it.

The most critical part of this recipe is not overmixing! The more you work the dough, the stronger the gluten gets, the tougher the resulting scones will be. The high quantity of fat (both butter and cream) makes this recipe particularly forgiving, though, so don’t stress too hard. Stir quickly but confidently with a wooden spoon (or the fork you were using to cut the butter in, whatevs) to make a rough shaggy dough, then knead no more than three or four turns to work all the loose flour bits in.

Dump your dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and pat it out to a rough rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter into rounds (the one I used for this recipe was just under 2″ diameter for cute lil scones, but you could also use a sharp knife to make squares instead).

Bake at 400* for 15 minutes. Remove to racks to cool slightly, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (I used 50/50 all purpose and white whole wheat) 2 tsp baking powder 1 Tbsp granulated sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp matcha powder zest of one lime 1/4 cup (or 4 tbsp) butter 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 cup heavy cream

Options:

I’m not about to tell you how to live your life, but you should seriously consider freezing the shaped raw scones. Make them in a bunch of flavors. Put them on a piece of waxed paper and freeze, and then when frozen you can put them in ziplock baggies and store for a few weeks, and bake a few off whenever you’re in the mood. Just make sure not to make the scones too big/thick or they can have trouble baking through all the way.

Freeze a bunch of scones. Join me in the beautiful reality where you are never more than 15 minutes away from being able to put piping-hot fresh baked scones in your mouth.

[midwestmatchalabs]

Matcha Chocolate Zebra Cheesecake

This is a fabulous cheesecake, not too sweet, with a very rich and complex flavor and a gloriously smooth texture. I wish I could say I came up with it myself, but I basically just followed along with this video [link].

I overbeat the cream a little, so it was thicker than a pouring consistency and hence the layers didn’t turn out as good as they could have, but it wasn’t the end of the world. It’s kind of a fiddly recipe, and it uses a lot of bowls, but I really encourage everyone to try it. It’s delicious!

Enjoy!

[midwestmatchalabs]

Matcha Mille Crepe Cake with Strawberries

So this was my bday cake a few weeks back. It’s super tasty. The light matcha flavor really complemented the richness of the vanilla pastry cream and the strawberries lent it some brightness. If you’ve ever wanted to make a mille crepe cake, you’d not go far wrong to try this one.

Process Notes:

The pastry cream is a rich eggy custard that uses up a lot of egg yolks. Crepes also use a lot of eggs, but it matters less which part of the egg you use. Using the whites instead of whole eggs makes a very acceptable crepe, and that way no part of the eggs are wasted. It might even make a greener crepe when mixed with the matcha, but I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison.

First step first, you’re going to separate your eggs out. Whites go in the crepe-mixing bowl, and yolks go in a medium saucepan. Add the rest of the crepe ingredients, whisk well (or use an immersion blender) and set that good shit aside to let it rest.

Next move on to the custard. You’re going to want to whisk those yolks good and hard with the sugar until they’re thick and pale, just to make sure there will be no egg bits left over. Add in your cornstarch and the vanilla bean if you’re using one. Heat the milk up in the microwave to just under boiling, and slowly add it to the egg mixture while whisking vigorously. Then, put the pan over low heat, stirring slowly but thoroughly, until it boils and thickens. If you heat it too fast the eggs will curdle, so take your time and enjoy the ride. Strain the custard (removing the vanilla bean and any egg chunks you might have missed) and add the vanilla extract if that’s the vanilla flavor you’ve chosen. Cover and pop that shit in the fridge to chill.

Make your crepes, with a scant 1/4 cup per crepe in an 8″ pan over medium to medium-high heat. It’s a very liquid batter, so it should spread well when you swirl the pan. The recipe makes more than enough crepes, so don’t fret if you scramble some. Set the crepes aside to cool completely as well.

Hull and slice your strawberries, with nice thin slices so they make nice layers in the cake.

When the custard is cold, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and fold them into it to loosen it a bit, and you’re ready to assemble.

Assembly goes thuswise - One crepe on a plate, a scant 1/4 cup of custard spread in an even layer, another crepe, custard and then strawberries, and alternate until the cake is as high as you want or you’re out of custard. You should try to finish with a no-strawberries layer, just so it’s pretty on top. Invert a bowl over the cake to protect it, and chill that sucker for at least three hours or overnight.

Slice carefully, with a very sharp knife, and try to avoid squishing all the custard out. It’s a soft cake. Savor slowly, and luxuriate in the custardy goodness.

Ingredients:

Crepe batter: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tbsp matcha powder 2 cups milk ¼ tsp salt 1 T honey 2 T neutral-flavored oil 6 egg whites

Custard: 6 egg yolks 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup cornstarch a pinch salt 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or just use 1tsp vanilla extract) 2 cups milk

Folded in to custard just before assembly: 1/2 cup heavy cream whipped to soft peaks

Ripe strawberries

[midwestmatchalabs]

Matcha White Chocolate Chunk Cookies - Test 1

These things [recipe link] are delicious.

The variable I wanted to test with this recipe was if the matcha I have is a type that would go brown in baking. The answer, happily, is no. The cookies remained a lovely light green, and were much enjoyed by the games night crew. The matcha flavor came through well, and made a heavenly combination with the soft white chocolate chunks.

As for the recipe - I think it could stand some tweaking. I reduced the sugar some, but it could stand to be reduced even further. The cookies also didn’t spread and rise as much as I would have liked. This could be partially my fault - I halved the recipe and used only an egg yolk. Maybe it would have been better with the whole egg. I also think half a tsp of baking powder could have helped them rise.

All in all - a successfully delicious test!

[midwestmatchalabs]

Matcha Lemon Posset

Welp folks, the midwest matcha lab has finally done it. I have created a thing that is too rich to actually consume. Science has gone too far.

It is actually super delicious, though, for the two bites or so that it it is possible and pleasurable to eat, so I will share my halfassed recipe as usual.

Process Notes:

I actually referenced recipes for this, since it’s my very first time making a posset. This matcha posset recipe on Food52 [link] and this very comprehensive writeup on lemon posset by Cooks Illustrated [link].

Both recipes are very similar. The basic idea is to boil some cream and sugar, then take it off the heat and add lemon, then pour into molds to let it set up and chill in the fridge. I made a 3/4 sized batch, and reduced the proportion of sugar.

I was expecting something similar to a panna cotta or a baked custard in texture, but it really isn’t. The posset is astonishingly smooth and soft: though set up quite solid it is not a single unified curd. It melts on the tongue, kind of like whipped butter, but far more delicious.

So. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 1/2cups heavy cream to a light boil with a scant 1/2cup granulated sugar, stirring often to prevent burning. Meanwhile, sift 1tbsp matcha and a tsp of sugar into a small bowl, and set aside. Juice a Meyer lemon, to have a scant 1/4 cup of lemon juice.

When the cream comes to a boil, turn the heat down if necessary to prevent burning or boiling over, and stir often. Set a timer for five minutes, while you cook out some of the liquid and make the cream even richer. When the timer goes off, take the pan off the heat and whisk a few tbsp cream into the matcha mix and whisk until it makes a smooth paste. Slowly whisk the lemon into the cream, and then add the matcha and keep whisking until smooth.

Pour into your chosen molds, cover, and pop into the fridge to chill overnight or at least a couple hours. I would not recommend making as large of portions as I did, as pictured in the jelly jar above. I could not eat half of one. I would suggest pouring the posset into ramekins or jelly jars no larger than 4oz (1/2cup), and not filling them all the way. You should get four servings that way.

Savor the posset slowly, with a small spoon. Fear not the calories, for they shall sustain you.

Ingredients:

1 1/2cups cream 1/2cup (or a little less) sugar 1 tbsp matcha powder 3 3/4 tbsp lemon juice

Optional Add-ins:

I would recommend you serve the posset alongside something else to cut the butterfat. In the picture, I’ve got some cream scones and tea, which did a pretty good job. I imagine some lightly sweetened shortbread cookies might do, if you were serving it up as a dessert.

[midwestmatchalabs]

Super Rich Matcha Milkshake

Today’s halfassed recipe is a super delicious, and super simple, green milkshake that deserves to be enjoyed by many more people.

Process Notes:

The basic idea is to make a banana milkshake with matcha in it. I also like to add an avocado, because that just makes it so much richer and more luscious. This can be left out, of course, but I would caution you not to knock the idea of avocado in a sweet preparation before you try it.

For one serving, I like to use a cup of milk, half a banana, and half an avocado. A little over half a teaspoon of matcha will give a pale green color and a light flavor that doesn’t overpower the other flavors. Depending on the sweetness of your banana, you might want a tablespoon of sweetener per serving. I’m partial to agave, but granulated sugar should work. Honey tends to clump and not mix in well, so I do not recommend it for this recipe.

So. You pop your banana and avocado in a blender with the matcha, sweetener, an an optional 1/2tbsp chia seeds per serving. Pour the milk over it, and blend that up until it’s totally smooth. Taste and adjust the flavorings as needed (thinning it with milk if it’s thicker than you like, adding more matcha or a dash of vanilla, etc)

Pour this into the fancy-pants glass goblets you picked up at a thrift store, and you’ve got a magnificent and delicious breakfast or snack.

Slurp it down, and be nourished!

Ingredients:

1 banana 1 avocado 1/2tbsp matcha (or more to taste) 2 cups milk 1 to 2 tbsp sweetener (optional)

Optional add-ins:

Chia seeds - Make the milkshake more filling, and also add fiber. 1 tbsp per above double-serving recipe makes a smoothie with a little texture, but not distractingly-so.

Vanilla - I’ve long been a fan of a dash of vanilla in a banana milkshake, and this version benefits from it as well.

Ice cream? - idk if that’s your thing, and you want the milkshake to be at once thicker and colder and more refreshing, go for it. Replace the sweetener with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you’re good to go.

[midwestmatchalabs]

Matcha Latte

Alrighty, first recipe!

This is using up the last little bits of my old matcha--which you can see has gone a bit yellowed with age, despite trying to keep it well-sealed. Matcha just doesn’t have great shelf life. This stuff still tastes ok, at least to me.

Without further ado, it’s halfassed recipe time with TS!

Process Notes:

For your basica Matcha Latte in a teacup (because a larger cup goes cold before you can finish it, and what good is that?) you’re going to want between 1/2tsp and 1tsp of matcha powder, depending on your tastes. I usually go for 1/2tsp because I like the flavor light and not overpowering, but I used closer to 1 this time because--as mentioned--I was using up the last of what was in the container.

You’re going to want to put that in a fine strainer over the vessel of your choice and tap it through, or else you’ll get lumps of matcha and that’s no fun. Now mix well with your sweetener. I’m partial to a spoonful of agave, but honey or granulated sugar are both fine. Whatever you choose, mix it well with your matcha to make a homogenous mix.

Meanwhile, get your water kettle going--and if you’re feeling particularly proactive, get some milk heating too. Or if you’re lazy like me, just get the water going.

When the water boils, pour a little in the cup. No more than 1/4 of your cup, though! Otherwise you’ll have a watery and disappointing latte. Mix this well. Now, pour milk in until the cup is mostly-full. Top this with a glug of heavy cream (because butterfat is key), mix again, and if you used cold milk pop it in the microwave for a minute to heat up. If you preheated your milk, you’re good to go and can immediately introduce this delectable ambrosia to your mouth.

Sip, smile, enjoy.

Ingredients:

1/2tsp matcha powder 1 spoonful sweetener of choice ~1/4cup boiling water ~1/2cup milk a hearty glug of heavy cream

Optional, but highly recommended add-ins:

Vanilla: 1/2tsp (or lets be real here, a scant capful. Does any real human being measure vanilla with anything but the cap?)

Black Sesame Powder: 1/2tbsp (mix this in along with the milk for a nutty and delicious twist on the basic matcha latte. I made one of these today too, but I snorffled it down way too fast to take pictures)

[midwestmatchalabs]

potential avenues of inquiry:

Matcha Latte - they’re delicious, my go-to form of matcha consumption, and there can always be more of them.  - possible test - Matcha Latte mix. I’ve made homemade hot chocolate mix, and even hot chocolate mixes with matcha, why not cut out the chocolate entirely and go for a matcha mix? - if preliminary tests are negative, maybe a white hot chocolate mix with matcha will be acceptable.

Matcha White-Chocolate Chunk Cookies - let’s face it, glorious soft and squishy green cookies with melting white chocolate chunks within sounds like heaven. - testing - does the type of matcha I was so generously gifted go brown in baking? Some types do, and others don’t, and the bag I have does not say either way. - if this test turns out as a ‘yes’, that opens lines of research to see if there is any way it can be baked without going brown. Matcha shortbread would have less moisture, for example.

Matcha Mille Crepe Cake with Meyer Lemon Curd - I already know that matcha crepes taste of glorious springtime, and so do Meyer lemons. This is an excuse to make something that is simple but looks impressive, and then shove vast quantities of it into my mouth. - testing - if the matcha goes brown in baking, does it stay green in the more brief cooking of the crepes?

Matcha Banana Milkshake - another of my old standbys. It’s great with half an avocado in it too, and super satisfying. Definitely worth experimenting to maximize it’s deliciousness.

Mochi - I mean, you can’t go wrong with green tea mochi.

White Chocolate Matcha Truffles - I’ve been wanting to do this one for ages. Meltingly soft white chocolate truffles, with the green of matcha to compliment the sweetness. (this is to go with rose-water dark chocolate truffles and hazelnut milk chocolate truffles, but that’s beyond the scope of the Matcha Lab)

Green Tea Rice - got to break out of the sweets eventually! I’ve seen some pretty cool recipes around, and it looks good.

... And more, as the muse strikes!

[midwestmatchalabs]

Today, as I am in the midst of one of my rare sojourns into civilization, I was having a wonderful milky drink flavored with matcha and black sesame, which was just the thing for a cold day. I mentioned to my gf that I had nearly used up the 2oz tin of matcha I bought last time I was visiting, and that my partner’s mother had gifted me an entire half pound of matcha, which I haven’t opened yet (to preserve freshness) and had no idea what I was going to do with.

She suggested a line of scientific and culinary inquiry, since I have lab-experiment quantities of the stuff now. And so, this blog was born.

So stick around. Culinary shenanigans await!

<3

TS