D e l i s i o u c i t y

At some point the past two years, baker-bloggers from all over the world started becoming more or less excited & obsessed about green tea powder, or Matcha, as they were about getting that macaron ‘feet’ to rise. You can see evidence of this here at Fanny’s, Kelli’s, Mandy’s, Inne’s, Aran’s, and oh dozens more websites you can just google off! There is an almost macaron-baking-like cult-following for matcha (I say almost because I’m biased as macarons are my first love – but they could be on par; what two things other than macarons and matcha can you see personal blogs being dedicated to?!) Of course, there are those bloggers who use matcha regularly, to make beautiful things for entremet components like genoise and mousses; or simply refreshing panna cottas; cupcakes and yes, macarons.  Do I need say more as to where this post is leading to? ^_^

I have to admit at the outset, I love green tea. It’s not just something to drink as you wash sushis and sashimis down your throat; for me it’s one of the things I can always  rely on if I need a detox. Sometimes I consume them to no end from breakfast to the last thing at night, whilst on other times they’re just a patch for some binge of a series of guilty pleasures – akin to the purpose of maintaining a balance in the world of sinful sweets. One of my colleagues drinks them like water – she brings them in a flask and sips on it all day. I am sure you too have read or heard from somewhere about the healthy benefits of green tea, so I won’t divulge any more here than the stuff you can already find on google or wiki. Although, if you’re not much of a tea fan, or don’t like things flat with no sugar, you may find green teas difficult to consume on a regular basis. Matcha has, after all, a peculiar taste, so if  you’re up for it, why not start with a matcha drink? Cooling, summer staples like frappes or just matcha in milk served with ice can be quite heavenly: I think it’s just the thing to drink as you kick back and unwind after a long day. I love Starbuck’s matcha drink, and Coffebean also has a version of this; so it shouldn’t surprise you by now that I am such a fool for trying to replicate the stuff that I love most, in my little kitchen. It’s like the whole Laduree ’s macarons story and the Pret a Manger’s tomato mozzarella croissant episode. When you can’t bring good  comfort food that you crave so much to home, the next best thing is to try making them! Lesser carbon footprint, too ^_^

Matcha Melon Frappe
by Nikki A., www.delisioucity.com

1/2 tspn matcha powder (more if you like)
2 Tbspn warm water (not boiling)
150 ml melon milk
(you may also use skimmed milk, and add instant melon powder; or substitute 100 ml milk + a few chunks of fresh melons)*
Lots of ice cubes!
*You may also like to use melon ice cream as a subsitute and adjust the milk accordingly. Add some sugar, or honey, or sugar substitute according to taste. You may not need this if you’re using the melon milk. Another alternative is to use fat-free yoghurt and be rid of the melons completely. The choices are endless ^_^

How to: Mix matcha powder in warm water until completely dissolved. Use a small whisk if you need to. Place milk, matcha paste, and ice into a blender and work it for 1 minute, or until you get the desirable foamy/slushy thick blend of an icy frappe. Enjoy!

Ahhh, just thinking about it sets me back to an imaginary island with the calm blue sea and warm wind in my face. By the way, this drink would be a good base for a protein shake too, if you’re into that for breakfast. Add in a scoop (or according to your required caloric intake) of whey or soy powder and blitz away.

Now we go to our second green-tea-possessed being,

Matcha Sables Viennoise

The thing about the matcha ‘cult following’ in the blogosphere really stood out in 2007 when Kelli’s (now closed) bakery, Amai ’s recipe won the Golden Scoop Awards. Lots of bloggers have tried and tested this winning recipe,  and have sworn to it’s gorgeous taste. I knew I had to make the sables but decided that I was going to use Pierre Herme’s recipe for chocolate sable viennoise instead. The main reason for this is only because I want to ‘handle’ the batter as little as possible, to create a ’short’ texture, and also the fact that their recipes vary in their fat source choices: PH completely made do without the egg yolks, while Kelli’s used three. However, there’ much more butter in the former. There is also way much more cocoa powder (which I replaced with matcha, of course) in PH’s recipe, which resulted in an almost green tea overkill if you really dislike the stuff. I liked it though, but after about four pieces I was done for. It’s bittery undertones makes this a surefire dislike for children and tea-haters, hehe.

Finally, how could I speak of love for matcha when my true love for macarons way surpasses tea of any kind? I think I’ve made so much macarons this year last year it’s ridiculous. I only say this because you would have thought by now that my skills have been perfected and I am flawless with the macaronnage process – but I’m not! These petit fours are just so temperamental (no I will never stop saying that) and so dependent on various variables like the weather (humidity especially), the oven temperatures (too low? air pockets! too high? browned shells! undercooked!), and of course the ever elusive number of right turns & folds to create the perfect ‘flow like magma’ batter consistency. Yes, even pro pastry chefs mess it up sometimes, so apatah lagi kediaku?! Anyway, I am glad that I made this during my short trip back to Brunei last month, at least the oven is more predictable than the one I have in UK.

Matcha-Marron Macarons
by Nikki A., www.delisioucity.com

95g almond powder
200g confectioner’s sugar
15g matcha
100g egg whites (aged for 24 to 48 hrs)
25g caster sugar
pinch of salt

Sift the almond powder, confectioner’s sugar and matcha together, making sure you push the larger particles through the sifter using a rubber spatula. Set aside. In a mixer, beat the egg whites with salt until foamy. Add the caster sugar little by little and continue to beat the egg whites until it form a soft peak when lifted with your finger. Then combine the dry ingredients together with the whipped egg white, and fold the two together in a scooping motion. Scrape the sides of your bowl as you scoop and fold, making sure that you don’t over-macaronnage. Once your batter starts to form a ‘ribbon’ or have the consistency of flowing magma (you may want to check national geographic for how that actually looks like!), prepare a piping bag with a round tip. Insert the batter in the piping bag, and start piping the batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets. You may want to pipe big-sized macarons (like the ones you see here), or slightly smaller ones that are easier to bite (hehe). Let the piped batter rest for about 20 minutes (or longer, depending on the humidity of the day), and once they form a ’skin’ or are dry when you touch them with your finger tip, you can pop them in a preheated oven. Bake at 175C for 15 minutes. Once done, leave them to cool before taking them off the parchment. Fill with your favourite buttercream or ganache and enjoy at room temperature. I used some leftover marron (chestnut) filling from my last macaron project, using a white-chocolate base.

Happy gastroventuring in the new year! See you in my next post ^_^