Green Tea Dacquoise

Hello again! I've started this post in December but i've only been able to write up today :p I'm looonnggg overdue on this one. Lately I've been on the baking mood - making cakes, cookies, and verrines - and it has been making me more cheerful and energetic.

These little green tea delights are quite adorable and taste real yummy to those green tea fans. The taste of the green tea is really strong and this little cookies are not too sweet as well. The recipe that I used for these are taken from Okashi, a baking book that I bought in Singapore last year. This book has a lot of asian inspired western desserts and I just love reading the book. This will be the first time I bake anything out of this book though. :p If you talk to my husband, you'll soon discover that I loooovvee reading baking books but I don't really use the recipes in the books to bake my cakes. I usually use my own version of mix and match.

Here's the recipe:

180g ground almonds
80g icing sugar
10g green tea powder
40g superfine sugar
2g eggwhite powder (i didn't use this)
200g egg whites

Preheat oven to 180C and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the almonds, icing sugar, and green tea powder and set aside. Make a meringue using the superfine sugar and egg whites until it's glossy and reaches stiff peaks. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients into the batter. Use round piping tip to pipe out small discs. Dust with icing sugar and then bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the dacquoise rises up and the surface becomes dry.

For the green tea cream,

100g unsalted butter
35g egg whites
35g icing sugar
5g green tea powder

Make meringue out of the icing sugar and egg whites until glossy and reaches stiff peaks. Beat butter in another bowl until softened and smooth. Add the meringue to the butter and mix until well incorporated. Add the green tea powder to the buttercream and mix well.

I also loooveee the green tea buttercream. It's really smooth and the green tea flavor is really strong as well. I chill these little cookies in the fridge for a day before serving for better flavors.

Oh! One more thing... do you remember two bites? Well, I've just recently started two bites here in Jakarta. I'm slowly starting to take in cake orders as well as mini desserts for dessert tables and small parties. It's still a home based business among friends but I'm glad that now I can start channelling all these baked goods that I'll be producing in my kitchen. :) It's always a joy to have others share the taste of the cakes and cookies and desserts that I make. I get that warm fuzzy feelings and I love it!


Okay... back to work now ^_^

White Butter Cupcake with Lemon Mascarpone Cream

I've been missing for a long time from this blog and I'm sorry for it. I wish I had more time to write and upload pictures and recipes to this site. It's true that the internet connection in Jakarta is a LOT slower than in the States, but that is not enough reason for abandonment. :p

Anyways, I just got this pretty cucpcake tower as a souvenier from a 50th birthday party and I love it? It's really quite a romantic and elegant design. Because of this cupcake tower, I had to make cupcakes just to take pictures of it. And since my sur la table's baking book has been waiting for me to give it a try, I made these white butter cupcakes with lemon mascarpone frosting. I made this cake into a little "diet" version with lite sour cream instead.

White Butter Cupcakes:
6oz unsalted butter, softened
5 1/4oz sugar
4 egg whites (approx. 140g)
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
7oz sifted cake flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3oz sour cream (or light sour cream)

Preheat the oven to 350F and line the cupcake pans with liners.

Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat the egg whites and vanilla extract lightly to blend and then add to the butter mixture a little at a time. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients and the sour cream to the butter mixture alternately in addition.

Fill each cupcake hollow with the batter about 3/4 full and then bake for 15-20 minutes until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean.

Lemon Mascarpone Frosting:

10oz heavy cream
1 1/2oz sugar

16oz mascarpone, at room temperature
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whip until light and fluffy :) As easy as that!

I used my tulip cupcake liners this time :) I think the cupcakes turned out to be rather pretty. I send these away to my friends and I heard that they enjoyed it quite well :)