Monthly Recipe: Double Matcha & Chocolate Matcha Cupcakes

This month I thought I’d try something sweet for a change, and I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with cupcakes and piping bags! I find baking very therapeutic and stress-relieving, and although these cupcakes are highly calorific I would still recommend making them from time to time! 😉

First I made Double Matcha (抹茶 / powdered green tea) Cupcakes – that’s matcha sponge with matcha butter icing – and then I tried Chocolate Matcha Cupcakes – chocolate sponge with matcha butter icing. Both recipes came from a mish-mash of my own knowledge and various bits of recipes stuck together, so I would say these are a Haikugirl special!

Double Matcha Cupcakes

Ingredients (makes about 12-18)

• 150ml skimmed milk
• 4 green tea teabags
• 2 1/2 tsp matcha powder
• 110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 225g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125g self-raising flour
• 120g plain flour

Ingredients for the icing

• 115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 60ml skimmed milk
• 1 tsp good-quality vanilla extract
• 500g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp matcha powder

Cupcake Method

Heat the milk in a saucepan until it just begins to boil, remove from the heat and put the green tea teabags in. Cover with clingfilm and leave for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a cupcake try with cases. Remove the teabags from the milk and squeeze the milk out so nothing is wasted. Add the matcha powder and stir.

In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add the eggs and mix briefly. Sift the flours into a separate bowl and stir well. Add one third of the flour to the mix and beat well.

Pour in one third of the milk and tea mixture and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the cupcake cases so that they are about two-thirds full.

Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, until risen.

Leave the cupcakes in their tin for 10 minutes or so before putting them on a wire rack to cool. When completely cool, prepare the matcha buttercream.

Icing method

Beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing sugar until smooth.

Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and the matcha powder to produce a buttercream with a smooth consistency.

Using a piping bag, ice the cupcakes.

Chocolate Matcha Cupcakes

Ingredients (makes 12-18)

• 200g self-raising flour
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp dark chocolate chips
• 150ml sunflower oil
• 100ml creme fraiche
• 2 eggs

 *Icing same as above

Cupcake Method

Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Line a cupcake try with cases. Place the flour, sugar, cocoa and chocolate chips into a large bowl. Add the oil, creme fraiche and eggs.

Beat together until smooth and fudgy.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the cupcake cases so that they are about two-thirds full.

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until risen.

Leave the cupcakes in their tin for 10 minutes or so before putting them on a wire rack to cool. When completely cool, prepare the matcha buttercream, as above, and ice.

As I’ve said many times before, I’m no cooking expert. With both of these recipes I found the cupcakes sunk a bit after I took them out of the oven, and the macha ones in particular became very dense after they’d sat for a bit. Both still tasted really good, but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong and why they’re not becoming light and fluffy. I’d be tempted to blame my electric oven, but that’s probably not fair. If anyone has any suggestions for how to improve the recipes, please do let me know! However, despite the sinking, they were really delicious, even if I do say so myself!

As always, I’ll be back sometime next month with another recipe. If you have any suggestions, or perhaps you would like me to try one of your recipes from a book or website, please leave a comment below or get in touch!