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[TCF Feb] M-C Cupcakes with Matcha Buttercream Frosting

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Nekohime
13 years ago
You guys, I am sooooo excited. This is the first time I baked something that didn't turn out to be an utter failure! PRAISE CTHULHU!!!! Baking is definitely my weak point in my kitchen arsenal, but man, these cupcakes... I wish you all could have some because they are just THAT good. I'm so happy that after baking these and eating half of one, I went around dancing and singing Pinkie Pie's Cupcakes song from MLP.

Feb 23 is my 5th anniversary with teh bf, so I wanted to make something special. After much frustration, tears, blood, and sweat throughout days of trying, I managed to modify a green tea cupcake recipe to make it more delicious and 20% cooler.

Matcha-Chocolate cupcakes with Matcha Buttercream Frosting

I used a LOT of matcha in this recipe, because I just love the bitterness. You can always use less--especially in the frosting--if you think it is too much. This recipe makes 6 cupcakes--the perfect number for two fatties people to share, but you can always scale up for more deliciousness.

Ingredients
Spoiler:
Cupcake:
6 cupcake papers
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 generous pinch of salt
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tbsp matcha
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp half and half
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp matcha
3/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar/icing sugar...whatever you call it)


Directions:
Spoiler:
1) Preheat oven to 350F. Line your baking pan with the cupcake papers.
2) Mix the melted butter and sugar together and mix it until it is light and fluffy. If you have an electric mixer, definitely use that. Alas, I am poor, and had to use a hand mixer, which takes for-freaking-ever, and hurts my hand, besides. Ah, the things I do for love. When the batter is fluffy, add in the egg and vanilla, and mix some more until it is fully incorporated.
3) Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add it to the wet ingredients about 1/4 cup at a time, alternating with the milk. Mix together until the batter is smooth.
4) Divide the cupcake batter into two bowls, with one bowl having a bit more than the other. Add matcha powder to the bowl with more batter, and the cocoa powder to the other. Mix until everything is incorporated.
5) Pour the matcha batter first, going up to about 2/3 of the pan. Then, add the chocolate batter into the center of the batter. Add a bit more of the matcha batter on top, then swirl with a toothpick to make a marble effect.

IMG_0061.JPGFrom TCF Feb 2012

6) Throw it in the oven and bake for 12-15mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.

While that's baking, make the frosting.

1) Mix matcha in with the half and half to make a paste.
2) Beat the butter lightly, then add the matcha-cream mixture in.
3) Slowly add in the powdered sugar, then blend everything. I dug out my Magic Bullet for this since my hands were dead tired from using a hand mixer.
IMG_0064.JPGFrom TCF Feb 2012
4) This is probably the most important step in making the frosting: try not to eat too much of the frosting before you actually put it on the cupcakes.

Are you poor? No money for a fancy-shmancy pastry bag with which to pipe your frosting? No problem. Throw it in a ziplock bag and cut the end. This will make for fail!frosting, but whatever. I am not a frosting expert, meh.


Here are the unfrosted cupcakes! Don't they look scrumptious?
IMG_0066.JPGFrom TCF Feb 2012

I almost didn't want to frost, but the matcha-buttercream frosting is SO good that I couldn't not add it, even if I knew it would make the cupcakes look uglier. I also added sprinkles, because hey, who doesn't like sprinkles?
IMG_0096.JPGFrom TCF Feb 2012
(Behold the fail!frosting. So uneven, bleh. At least it tasted fucking awesome.)

This is what the cupcake looks like inside, after half of it has been nommed with much gusto:
IMG_0082.JPGFrom TCF Feb 2012

And that's it! Teh bf and I will enjoy these cupcakes together as a sign of our lurrrve and all that.

IMG_0099.JPGFrom TCF Feb 2012





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Chef Sanji
13 years ago
First Impression: Genius. To couple the bitter tea with the chocolate, that shows an amazing knowledge of flavor balances. Expect more critiques from me when judging comes around ^_^
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lastmousestanding
13 years ago
I hate you now, Neko

I cannot seem to find matcha anywhere. and its way too expensive anyhow.

All my jelly.

Looks very om nom-able.
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crazymissotaku
13 years ago
That sounds so good! ^_^ I'm going to have to try making this! :3 Thank you for sharing!
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Nekohime
13 years ago
lastmousestanding wrote...
I hate you now, Neko

I cannot seem to find matcha anywhere. and its way too expensive anyhow.

All my jelly.

Looks very om nom-able.


I only have matcha because I stole appropriated it from my mum, who got it from the parents of my sister's Japanese bf, lol. She's not supposed to drink caffeinated beverages because of her acid reflux, anyway!

If you have access to a coffee grinder, you can buy loose leaf green tea and grind it up to make a cheaper version of matcha. In a pinch, you can open up a green tea bag to get at the leaves. Japanese green tea would be best, but I'm pretty sure Chinese green tea would work too. There will be subtle differences in the taste if you use other varieties of Japanese green tea, and probably more dramatic differences if you use the Chinese kind, but you'll still get the green tea goodness.

Matcha buttercream is my new favorite thing, btw. It looks like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and kicks ass just as hard as they do. I am not tempted to make another batch of frosting just to nom on. Nope. o[size=1]OH GOD, YES I AM. SOMEONE STOP ME.[/h]O
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