Saturday 22 August 2009

Matcha Delight

I had made plans earlier to make a tiramisu torte for a potluck party. However, it was later decided that the gathering would be at a restaurant instead, so I was left with a tub of mascarpone cheese and a pack of sponge fingers.


Just when the expiry date of the cream cheese was up, I managed to use it to make a green tea version of the Tiramisu Charlotte Cake with a new can of matcha powder.


I tweak the recipe a little to incorporate the matcha powder in the filling and the syrup for dipping the sponge fingers. When mixing the mascarpone cheese, I first experimented with one teaspoon of matcha powder. The green tea flavour was not as prominent as I like it to be. So I added in another teaspoon and the taste was just right...at least I know my kids would be able to accept it without any complaints. However, with that extra teaspoon of matcha powder, the mixture turned grainy and I started to get worried.

I guess my 'make-believe' baking fairy has returned from holidays, after mixing the whipped cream to the mascarpone cheese mixture, the resulting filling became very smooth and the colour has changed into a nice pastel green.

Instead of using dairy cream, I made this green tiramisu with non-dairy whipping cream which is lighter and less rich.


I didn't have any idea how to go about decorating the cake. In the end, I took a small piece of baking paper and cut out some simple flowers to use as stencil. I wish I could do better with the decoration...but, with my limited skills and lack of artistic talent, I guess I would not be able to create anything better than this ;')


Although I have not tasted any green tea tiramisu before, I must say this concoction turned out to be a great dessert. So simple to prepare and yet tasted deliciously light and refreshing. All of us like the distinct matcha flavour, including my younger kid who is never a matcha fan ^-^





Matcha Tiramisu

Ingredients:
(makes a 7" cake)

Filling:
250g mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons matcha powder
200 ml non-dairy whipping cream

Matcha Syrup:
1 tablespoon matcha powder
1/2 cup (125ml) boiling water

about 24 sponge fingers (savoiardi)
extra matcha powder for dusting



Method:
To make the Matcha Syrup:
Dissolve matcha powder in boiling water. Leave to cool.

To make the Filling:
In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk mascarpone cheese with icing sugar and vanilla extract. Add in two teaspoons matcha powder and mix until blended.

With an electric mixer whisk the non-dairy whipping cream until stiff peak. With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture.

To assemble the cake:
Cut off one end of the sponge fingers so that each one is about 3" in length. Line the sides of a 7" round baking pan* (with a removable base or use a springform pan) with the sponge fingers. You will need about 17 sponge fingers (depending on the type/brand). If the last sponge finger cannot fit in nicely, trim away part of it to fit it in. Save the leftover small pieces.

One at a time, gently dip (do not soak) sponge fingers in the matcha syrup and use them to line the base of the pan. Or you can use a brush to brush the sponge fingers with the matcha syrup. Cut the sponge fingers into shorter lengths if necessary. Use the leftover pieces to fill the gaps.

Spoon over half of the filling. Spread evenly. Repeat with another layer of sponge fingers and spoon over the remaining filling. Spread and smooth the top. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best left overnight.

Just before serving, unmold the cake and dust the top with matcha powder.

Note:
*If you do not have a springform pan or a pan with a removable base, you can improvise by lining a normal round pan with a large sheet of aluminium foil. Give allowance of about 1~2 inches for the foil to hang over the rim of the pan. Place a cake board inside the lined pan. Follow the steps above. To unmold, simply lift up the cake from the pan by gripping the foil. Transfer the cake onto a serving plate and carefully remove the foil.

56 comments:

faithy said...

Looks so yummy! Gotta try it one of these days! I'm a great macha fan..anything green tea i like..LOL!

Anh said...

This looks really good! :)

Kitchen Corner said...

After my crave of chocolate I think now I would like to have this refreshing matcha desserts. You're talented enough for me! This dessert looks very nice, I like it!

Baking gal said...

Hi HHB

This looks delicious! =) I'm thinking of making it for some friends especially since one of them is still nursing and cannot eat the traditional tiramisu with coffee and alcohol. May I know where can I buy the matcha powder? Which brand is it and how much?

Thanks a lot!

Happy Flour said...

Hi Happy Home Baker,

This look great. :) I had never try mascarpone cheese before. Does it taste like cream cheese?

Papilles et Pupilles said...

So wunderful & so yummy !

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Lovely cake HHB! Too bad my family is not a matcha fan...so till now I have yet tried any matcha recipe. :-P Anyway, might try strawberry or chocolate flavor instead, thanks for recipe. :)

MH said...

The other photo looks like a sunflower and more like a little garden to me surrounded with green green grass plus three flowers at the sides! And the sponge fingers look so much like all the fence! Great job! :) Can send one "蛋糕小仙子" to me? I need one to do magic to my plain plain cake/desserts! ;)

Karine said...

This is such an original tiramisu! Great use of the matcha and the mascapone :)

AK said...

yummy... nice one.. really hope to make this kind of layer cake.. but afraid of messy..

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

HHB,you are very humble. You don't need any baking fairy. You are talented enough to hold out on your own!

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi HHB,
You've never failed to "wow" me all the time! WOW!!
Just thinking aloud, do you think i can ever ever get to try your bakes? :p *test water*

Aimei said...

Green tea is a refreshing idea! I like the flower cut-out, looks like those Japanese dessert where they always have flowers and sakura pattern. :)

K said...

this is so cute~~ i want to try it.. but knowing me ill do sth wrong~__~

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Baking gal, you can refer to the link under paragraph 2 of this post for a photo of the matcha powder I am using. You can get it from the supermart at Isetan Scotts or the NTUC outlet at Bishan Junction 8.

Hi Happy Flour, it is very much lighter than cream cheese and taste so much better! You should give it a try, I am sure you will like it.

Honey Bee Sweets, I am sure you can come up something better with strawberry or chocolate :D

Hi MH, I didn't realise that it looks like a garden! I will love to send the 蛋糕小仙子 over to you ;)

Hi AK, this is quite a simple cake, and cleaning up was a breeze :)

Thanks køkken69 for your kind encouragement, it certainly helps to boost my confidence ^_^

Hi Aimei, I hardly have chance to try any Japanese dessert, thanks for telling me :):)

agapejen said...

This is a real beauty.... like a green pasture field.... and definitely look yummy too. I am not a fan of green tea...but I am so so tempted to make this one.....

thecoffeesnob said...

This looks so good! I especially love the little flowers :)

Katherine said...

HHB that looked really awesome! i've seen some cafes selling green tea tiramisu and last year tried making one. just substituded the coffee with green tea and didn't use alcohol. however the result i got was not very green tea -ed. but i'll definitely try out your recipe!

btw, just wanna ask where do you get your green tea powder from? the one at phoon huat doesn't really work. too greenish but flavorless =(

Cuisine Paradise said...

Wow.. this is so beautiful!!!! It realli looks like a lovely garden with that green patch..... :)

I am sure it taste just as good as it look.... You are always full of wonderful baking ideas... :) Thanks for sharing....

Katie said...

Wow it looks stunning. I have always wanted to taste something with macha in but I've never been able to find it near me. Its so pretty.

Angel @ Cook.Bake.Love said...

I like matcha and I like tiramisu!! This is such a great combination.

And....u're always so humble, the cake is nicely decrorated. Thumb up!

Asphyxiated said...

Hi this is not related to your post but I wondered if you could help me. I tried making crispy oatmeal cookies, according to this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/crispy-oatmeal-cookies-recipe/index.html
but sadly my cookies were soft (not really chewy, just soft) even after the next day. I saw on another site which uses 2 eggs instead of one. Is that the reason why?

jean said...

Oh I love this! the green is so beautiful!... i always come back to yours when I want to bake... .so many good stuff in here.. thank you so much for sharing!!

beetylittleleebug said...

Dear happyhomebaking,
I've tried out your chocolate sponge cake with banana too...the chocolate filling with instant coffee is a great idea....I was just wondering, how did you make the flower design on ur matcha cake?

Susan from Food Blogga said...

For someone who didn't have any idea how to decorate it, you did a beautiful job! It's positively lovely!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Katherine, you can refer to the link under paragraph 2 of this post for a photo of the matcha powder I am using. You can get it from the supermart at Isetan Scotts or the NTUC outlet at Bishan Junction 8.

Hi Asphxiated, I am sorry I am not able to answer your question as I am no expert in baking. You may want to refer to this site
(http://www.baking911.com/cookies/problems.htm) to see whether you are able to find out the cause of it. Hope it helps :)

Hi beetylittleleebug, I cut out the flower stencils with baking paper and place it on the cake surface, then dust with the matcha powder to get the flower design.

Asphyxiated said...

Thanks for the link! It was most helpful =)

Kristie said...

Hi HHB,

This is such a lovely and sweet looking cake :) Well done, I'm sure u had loads of fun!

I'm going to make a cheesecake soon, and would like to arrange the spongefingers around the sides like this. Just want to check if the sponge fingers will get 'soaked' from the batter once it sets overnight?

Thanks :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Kristie, as long as you don't soak the spongefingers with syrup before using them to line the sides, they will not get soaked by the filling. Hope this helps :)

Sophie said...

I think it looks really cute with the flowers :).

Wen-Chi said...

I did a similar cake for our shop. Instead of ladyfingers, I baked match sponge layers, alternate w/ Raspberry mousse, and dust a Sakura pattern on top!

Really, you did a marvelous job! Can pass as professional! I would certainly hire you!

Sarah Jane said...

It turned out so pretty. You make so many inspiring things--this is another one to add to my list. Just beautiful.

missy said...

this is a lovely piece of art! like a mini garden

beetylittleleebug said...

Thank you! that is realli clever stencil making...anyways, I have tried your blueberry scones...they tasted really good soft and fluffy almost like a cake and I also used yogurt instead of cream...it turned out much better than my previous 2 attempts of yogurt cakes...ha+ the previous yogurt cakes I made turned out too dense...this scone tasted more like cake...=)...
cheerz, beetylittleleebug

Rosmarina said...

Hi HHB, what about adding some gelatine to the mascarpone cream?
I have to do a super-cake for a friend and I want a like-parfait consistence for the mascarpone filling...

(ros)marina

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Marina, I have not tried adding gelatine to the filling so I am not able to comment on it. I am sorry I'm of not much help.

Anonymous said...

i like your blog... very nice... good work...

------ahbeeme

Rosmarina said...

Don't worry, you're really kind.
I'll try and then I'll see what happens! ;)

(ros)marina

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB

this matcha cake is so lovely!
I tried making it last night and have yet to taste it - will do so later to share with colleagues.

Some questions though...
a) why do we need to manual whisk the cheese? Any difference if I used the electric one?

b) which brand of non-dairy whipping cream do you use and where can i find it? (i went to 3 places in 1 night but couldn't find one that says non-dairy, so I used the Bulla Thickened Cream instead)

c) For the whipping cream, I noticed you mentioned stiff peak. When I refer back to your Tiramisu Charlotte cake, it was to soft peak. May I know why it is different this time?

d) For your Tiramisu Charlotte recipe, the filling seems to be more watery as there were 2 tbp Bailey & 3 tbp of espresso syrup blended into the cheese. The reason why I am curious is this Matcha one ended up looking very dry and grainy (like you mentioned in your blog) - but it did turn out smoother once the whipped cream is added. So i'm just curious as to whether part of the Matcha syrup could be added to the cheese mixture?

Thank you for your time & your kind help!!!

best regards
m.y.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi M.Y.,
I hope you like your matcha cake :)
a) You can use electric whisk. I use manual whisk simply because I need to use it to beat the non-dairy whipping cream, then I don't have to wash the paddle of my handheld electric whisk twice ;) It is very easy to use a manual whisk to whisk the cream cheese but not the whipping cream.

b) I got the non-dairy cream from Phoon Huat. You can use dairy cream, I just find that dairy cream is a little too rich for us.

c) Ok, the reason behind this: For Dairy whipping cream, there is this chance of over beating it, the mixture will become lumpy, and it will affect the result (the cake may not set well) and if you over beat it too much, you will need to throw the whole mixture away. That is why, I stated it as Soft Peak. Whereas for Non-dairy cream, you will not over beat the mixture. It can be beaten to stiff peak easily (within 2 -3 mins on medium speed). If it is too soft, the cake may not set well. So I've stated it as Stiff Peak.

d) I agree, the filling for the Tiramisu recipe is more watery. It was the first time I made it, and so for this matcha version, I adjusted it. I am not sure whether by adding the matcha syrup to the cheese mixture will cause any problem?

I am so sorry, so far, I have not attended a single baking class or workshop. Everything is self-taught from cookbooks. And I would say 95% of the recipes I posted here are my 1st Attempts, as such they are not perfect recipes. I really hope that I am not the blind leading the blind ^_^"

Anonymous said...

hi, love your blog so much..

a quick question though, do we need to use gelatine for the filling? i took one class long ago and the teacher used gelatine powder. I thought the gelatine that keeps the filling to not fall apart..

thank you

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, Yes, some other no-bake cheesecakes recipes do use gelatine powder. However, there is no need to add gelatine for this tiramisu recipe. The filling will firm up a little upon chilling. The texture is just right.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

I have a question, what brand did u use for this recipe's non dairy whipping cream?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I got it from Phoon Huat, their house brand, Redman.

Anonymous said...

I've just made this cake for my father in law's 70th birthday! I'm giving it to him tomorrow but before I decorate with matcha powder I just wanted to ask you about the taste of matcha powder on top - is it too bitter and overwhelming? And also does it dissolve into the cream mixture? Thank you!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, the matcha powder (brand: Ujinotsuyu Matcha Hagoromo) that I have been using is not bitter at all and not overwhelming. You just need to do a light dusting over the cake. It will not dissolve into the cream mixture, but some spots may appear 'damp' (see darker green shade in my photos above) if the dusting is not even. Happy Birthday to your FIL!

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB!

I made your matcha tiramisu recipe, it was delicious & simple... but i could'nt fine sponge fingers so i used another kind of biscuits.. :) Now i live in Japan and here they have lots of matcha powder. When i made the matcha tiramisu, the color did not turned out to be beautiful light green like yours, it was only very very very light green. I wonder what kind of matcha powder did you use? is it the one special for making cakes? or just regular matcha powder for making teas? because i bought the one that is regular for making green tea, since i did not find any for making cakes.

regards,
kiki

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Kiki, I am using this brand "Ujinotsuyu Matcha Hagoromo". You can take a look at the packaging here: (http://taneseitrading.com.sg/product-details/70/1000/ujinotsuyumatcha-hagoromo)
It is stated in the label that this matcha powder is suitable for baking. Hope this helps :)

Anonymous said...

no need put gelatine powder ?

Happy Homebaker said...

Yes, gelatine powder is not required.

melonpan said...

wow that looks so nice and tasty *yummy*

Christine said...

This is so beautiful! The appearance looks similar to Charlotte Au Chocolat I learned in the baking class. But this one of yours definitely looks more furnished!

Unknown said...

I made this with my 3 year old daughter today and she loves making it and licking off the mascarpone off the bowl ;)
Thanks for a beautiful presentation of this dessert. You are definitely creative!

Unknown said...

Hello again, I just sent you a comment on this recipe. I run an online biz in Australia and were trying to promote using matcha in creative ways such as in Matcha Tiramisu.
I have looked up and down your site to find an email to contact you but it looks like this comment box is it.
Would you be ok for me to use your recipe - I love the simplicity - even my near 3 year old daughter managed it today with me!
I have created a link with your recipe credit in this page:
http://www.teas.com.au/Recipes-Food-Matcha_Tiramisu.aspx?TblID=498&CatID=13

Your recipe is perfect, so I really want to pretty much copy it and credit you of course. Please say "yes" :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Teascomau Empiro, glad to hear that you have fun making this matcha tiramisu. Sure, you can copy the recipe, and it is my pleasure to have it linked to your site, thanks :)

Unknown said...

Thank you - will send you the link to the video once I have cleaned them up. Thanks again for a great blog and yummy recipes. Very tempted to make moon cake after reading your blog. Salina from teas.com.au :)