Matcha Marmalade Cakes and a Sushi Feast
It’s been a while since I did any baking with matcha. Last week provided the perfect opportunity. We’d been invited to eat sushi with a Japanese colleague of CT’s which I was hugely looking forward to. A few little matcha cakes, I thought, would make a suitable post prandial snack. As I mulled over what flavour I should pair the matcha with (mostly in the early hours of the morning) I kept coming back to citrus which I thought would give a fresh and zingy high to the bitter notes of green tea. But, unusually for me, I had no fresh citrus in the house, not even lemons.
With time fast running out I made a last minute decision to add some of my mother’s marmalade to the mix. Two bitters together can work really well – think coffee and chocolate. I was hoping this would also provide some of the zing I was looking for.
Well I couldn’t have been better pleased with how these mini matcha marmalade cakes turned out – well maybe they could have been a bit greener in colour. They were light in texture, greenish, had a mild matcha flavour and a delicious marmalade hit. CT and I were hard pressed not to snaffle one on the train on our way to our hosts. Just as well we didn’t as they all disappeared with remarkable rapidity.
How anyone managed to fit them in is a miracle. We had the grandest sushi spread I’ve ever come across. It was a self-assembly job; nori seaweed was provided along with what seemed like hundreds of fillings. As the only vegetarian there, I was still well catered for – omelettes, mushrooms, cucumbers, natto, asparagus, okra, radishes, beans, cress and all the usual accompaniments and condiments. Four hours of eating and sake drinking and we were still able to knock back a few cakes and lashings of a flowering green tea. Mine were not the only cakes: there was a lush chocolate cake as well as a banana tarte tatin. How we managed to stagger back to the train station and home I’ll never know.
I’ve named this year Super Sushi. I reckon I’ve eaten more of it this year than all the other years combined. It all started with our bloggers session at Yo Sushi and snowballed from there. Only two days after this sushi feast I got a surprise phone call from a friend who was dashing through Plymouth on his way back to Italy. “Can you make it to Koishii for a Japanese blow out in two hours time?” I dropped everything, so did CT.
I’m sending these off to Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary for Shop Local as the wholemeal flour is Cotehele Mill’s own, the eggs are local as is my mother’s homemade marmalade.
As these were sort of made as a thank you for inviting us over for sushi, I am sending this off to Treat Petite with CakeyBoi and The Baking Explorer.
It’s been a while since I submitted anything to #recipeoftheweek over at A Mummy Too, so off these go.
- 125g unsalted butter
- 50g white chocolate (G&B)
- 100g cardamom sugar (golden caster)
- 150g flour (half wholemeal, half white)
- 25g ground almonds
- 3 tsp matcha powder
- 1 heaped tsp baking powder
- 2 duck eggs or large hens eggs
- 2 heaped tbsp marmalade
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 12
Lynsey Ward
12th November 2014 at 9:52 amThese sound really tasty and one I will be adding to my bookmarks to give a try. Thanks for sharing.
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:02 pmThanks Lynsey. Would love to know what you think if you do try them out.
bunnypudding
12th November 2014 at 10:04 amWow these look fab and much better than my last attempt at “baking”…..ie. cake in a mug! Xx
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:03 pmWell you’re ahead of me there – I’ve never tried cake in a mug.
Lou, Eat Your Veg
12th November 2014 at 11:00 amHow unusual these sound, but so yummy! You’re so clever at pairing flavourings Choclette. I think I need to have a Super Sushi year, I do love it but have rarely eaten it…and never made it.
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:10 pmThanks Lou. I think everyone should have at least one Super Sushi year in their life – how exciting you still have one to look forward to 😉
Johanna GGG
12th November 2014 at 12:34 pmWe’ve made lots of sushi at home this year but I am afraid it is rather plain as suits Sylvia’s tastes. I spoke to a friend who told me how time consuming she finds it but it is not for us any more. I had hoped to see a chocolate sushi recipe – tried a sweet strawberry sushi recipe earlier this year – maybe it could be made with cacao nibs through it. Your muffins sound like an excellent contribution to an amazing feast. I haven’t experimented much with matcha but love marmalade in baking
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:13 pmThe sushi feast we had Johanna was putting, pretty much whatever we fancied into the seaweed and then rolling it (very clumsily in my case) into a cone. Makes this super easy and everyone can have just what they like. As for chocolate sushi, I keep meaning to have a go at this and one year I will. Not sure I like the idea of cocoa nibs though – the wrong texture for sushi. Do have a go at baking with matcha – it works splendidly in cakes.
Jacqueline Meldrum
12th November 2014 at 12:50 pmI love the marmalade oozing out of the top. Great decision!
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:14 pmThanks Jac 🙂
Bethan Vincent
12th November 2014 at 1:15 pmLove the idea of Matcha cakes, I wonder if you could wholey use almond flour to make them really moist!
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:15 pmI expect they’s be lovely just made with almond flour Bethan, but they would have a different texture and probably wouldn’t rise as much.
GG
12th November 2014 at 1:34 pmGreat pairing of flavours. I’d love to have a Super Sushi year, I love the stuff. GG
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:16 pmIt’s rather addictive stuff GG – I’m just hoping there might be more to come before the year is out!
belleau kitchen
12th November 2014 at 1:49 pmwell i’m a huge sushi fan so any kind of sushi feast is OK by me!… love this matcha cakes, they’re so adorable and I love the addition of marmalade. They remind me of my grandma’s marmalade cake although hers were never green!
Choclette Blogger
12th November 2014 at 3:18 pmNo a green marmalade cake would be a little unusual, unless it was lime marmalade I guess!!! Combining matcha with marmalade did make for super delicious cakes.
Anna's kitchen table
12th November 2014 at 4:24 pmI love sushi so much!!
I have some matcha at home, but never tried it in any cakes yet….
Choclette Blogger
13th November 2014 at 6:34 pmSushi is addictive stuff Anna. Do try your matcha out in cake form – it works really well and you can have it as strong or as mild as you like.
Angie Schneider
13th November 2014 at 5:10 amI love baking with matcha too. These mini cakes look awesome!
Choclette Blogger
13th November 2014 at 6:34 pmThank you Angie – matcha bakes rock 😉
Galina Varese
13th November 2014 at 11:18 amI have a couple of sachets of matcha, should really try it in baking. Your marmalade cakes sound delightful.
Choclette Blogger
13th November 2014 at 6:35 pmThanks Galina – do try a bake with it. You are the tea queen after all!
CakeSpy
13th November 2014 at 2:31 pmThese sound wonderful!! I have never baked with matcha but have from time to time enjoyed cookies or muffins made with them. This post inspires me…maybe it’s time! And I must say, I love alliteration too, so mini matcha marmalade sounds very sweet indeed!
Choclette Blogger
13th November 2014 at 6:36 pmThank you – definitely time to up the matcha ante. And I’m so glad you spotted the alliteration, you’re the only one that’s commented on it 🙂
Baking Addict
13th November 2014 at 10:59 pmLove the addition of marmalade – what a clever idea. I also like the sound of a sushi feast as I love sushi. Perhaps you’ll make us a sushi cake next? 🙂
Choclette Blogger
14th November 2014 at 7:38 amHaha, thank Ros – now there’s an idea!
Marcela
15th November 2014 at 11:26 amoh! There cakes look absolutely fantastic! I’m dying to give this recipe a try!
Choclette Blogger
17th November 2014 at 6:16 pmThank you Marcela, they are scrumptious little cakes and easy to make too.
Kate Glutenfreealchemist
15th November 2014 at 9:21 pmWhat a perfect little treat to take! I love the combination of flavours…… they sound deliciously exotic. The sushi sounds amazing too…… I love sushi, but we have to be really careful because of the use of soy sauce which mostly contains wheat….. self-assembly would solve it!
Choclette Blogger
17th November 2014 at 6:18 pmThanks Kate, it’s a great combination. I’m wondering if this is a flavour first! We tend to use tamari at home, which is GF, but it’s one more thing I expect most people won’t have thought of. What a trial it must be for you when you just want to go out and eat a good meal.
The Caked Crusader
16th November 2014 at 4:48 pmLove your combination of matcha with marmalade – they look so beautiful
Choclette Blogger
17th November 2014 at 6:19 pmThanks CC, it was the Ms that did it 😉
Stuart Vettese
25th November 2014 at 10:37 pmThanks Choclette – never used matcha before. May give it a go now.
Choclette Blogger
29th November 2014 at 7:09 pmThanks Stuart – matcha just works so well in baking I think.
Elizabeth
3rd December 2014 at 9:27 amWhat an intriguing flavour combination! I need to get more matcha. I have an idea for a drink 🙂 Thank you for sharing with Shop Local!
Choclette Blogger
4th December 2014 at 6:09 pmMe too Elizabeth, I am now out of matcha 🙁