Mini Green Tea Cake

It’s been forever since I posted something on the blog.  This is what happened…  The weekend before I left for my vacation to Korea, I made a wedding cake, mini wedding desserts and did desserts for a confirmation banquet.  It was jam packed with sugar, whipped cream, flour and butter.   At this point, I was so sick and tired of seeing ingredients I had to take a break.  If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw that I went on a two week vacation to South Korea and by the time I got back, I was so jet lagged I didn’t have it in me to do anything.  And so here I am, three weeks later posting a new recipe for you guys.  I think I’m sufficiently rested and I hope to continue on this culinary journey with you with no more stops in the road.
This green tea cake was inspired by my trip to O’Sulloc Tea Museum in Jeju, South Korea.   Unfortunately the weather was horrible the day we went and I wasn’t able to see the plantation but, I did enjoy some green tea desserts.I paired my cake with both red bean and sweet potato frosting.  The slight bitterness of the green tea balances well with the smooth creamy sweet potato and the red beans give it a pop of interesting texture.  While we are talking about sweet potatoes, I should let you know that I do not mean the orange fleshed American sweet potato.  This is the potato I am talking about.   The Korean/Japanese sweet potato has purple skin and yellow flesh.  When baked, it tastes slightly like a perfectly roasted chestnut and is less water logged than its American cousin. With that bit of information, I hope you give it a try! Enjoy 🙂

Mini Green Tea Cakes

Green Tea Cake

Ingredients:
¾ c. cake flour
2 tbsp. matcha powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
4 large eggs, separated
pinch of cream of tartar
¾ c. granulated sugar, divided
2 tablespoons buttermilk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, sift together cake flour, matcha powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy.  Once foamy, slowly add ¼ c. granulated sugar until incorporated and raise speed to high until stiff peaks form.
4. In a separate bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk egg yolks until pale and thickened.  Then add ½ c. granulated sugar and mix until thick and the batter forms ribbons when whisk is lifted.
5. Stir in buttermilk to the egg yolk mixture until combined.
6. Fold in flour mix into the egg yolk mix until just combined.
7. Fold in egg white mixture until fully incorporated.
8. Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or the cake is springy to the touch.
10. Let cool.

Sweet Potato Frosting

Ingredients:
1 lb. Korean/Japanese sweet potatoes, roasted and peeled
2 tbsp. heavy cream
pinch kosher salt
⅓ c. vanilla frosting

Instructions:

1. In a food processor, add all the ingredients and puree until smooth.

Red Bean Frosting

Ingredients:
8 oz. canned sweet red beans
⅓ c. vanilla frosting

Instructions:

1. In a separate bowl, mix red beans and vanilla frosting until completely blended.

Assemble the Mini Green Tea Cakes:

1. Using a 2” cookie cutter, cut out 2” cake rounds.
2. Use the same cookie cutter to assemble the cake.
3. Place a cake round into the cookie cutter and proceed to layer the red bean frosting, a cake round, sweet potato frosting and finish off with a cake round.
4. Slowly remove the cookie cutter to reveal your layered cake.
5. If desired, you can garnish the tops of the cake with powdered sugar.

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Green Tea Cake adapted from Oh Sweet Day!