[Matcha May] Matcha Tiramisu Cake

Matcha Tiramisu Cake

When I heard that teapigs  were holding ‘Matcha May’ I just knew I had to get involved. I am a HUGE matcha fan - obsessed with the stuff - so I dropped them a line and before I knew it a sample was on its way. A sample I could experiment with...

The idea behind Matcha May is to get people talking about all things matcha, and to tell everyone and anyone who will listen just how great it is.

I’ve been drinking Matcha for quite a whole now and it definitely gives you more energy. I’d also agree that it is more slow releasing than your regular tea, coffee or bottle of coke. This means that you don’t get that mid morning, pre-lunch caffeine crash!

As much as I love Matcha I won’t lie to you, it can be a bit of an expensive habit. If you have the money then I highly suggest you take it up and keep to it – especially if those stats are correct.

Because it’s a little bit pricey I’ve always been a bit wary to experiment with it, instead I simply drink it in the traditional way (or as close as you can get to doing so in an English town.) But I’ve finally decided to see what else Matcha offers in terms of cooking.

Although it was originally only used in Japan for tea ceremonies it is now used in a whole variety of dishes such as green tea ice cream, I’ve even seen it used to flavour and colour soba noodles, and it is also used in Wagashi which is a Japanese confectionary.

Thinking about Wagashi led me to think of other sweet dishes I could cook using this special tea. After careful consideration I decided to do a twist on a classic. What if instead of making tiramisu with coffee...I made it with Matcha tea!

And so the Matcha Tea-ramisu was born.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

What’s this? More Cake!

Now my blog is not purely about baking, you’ll find plenty of recipes here for savoury lovers but this last week or so I feel like I’ve been cooking cake, cake and more cake! First it was the Simnel cake, then cupcakes for my Mum’s friends birthday (check out the pictures on Facebook?), and now, Chocolate Fudge Cake!

This cake was specifically for my sister’s birthday. She is a big chocolate fan so wanted the ultimate chocolate fudge cake. So here it is; a super moist chocolate sponge with an indulgent chocolate buttercream. We also made a batch of vanilla cupcakes to decorate with the chocolate buttercream to go alongside the main chocolate fudge cake, just in case it was possible to have TOO much chocolate in one cake!

When you read the recipe you will notice that the cake itself uses oil instead of butter – unfortunately I don’t know the ins and outs of butter v oil in a cake recipe but what I do know is that it makes the sponge a lot more moist and spring-y! The buttercream also has an added ingredient. Instead of being made with cocoa powder, the recipe calls for melted chocolate! This makes it taste ten times more chocolate-y! Just make sure you are careful not to add it when it is boiling hot!

To give your cake a darker colour, you can always replace the milk chocolate with dark chocolate – or do a mix of both if you’re not too keen on the bitter flavour of darker chocolate. I promise though, despite the buttercream being quite pale, it certainly doesn’t lack taste!

This cake is perfect for birthdays and other celebrations. It's also the perfect treat for anyone who has given chocolate up for lent - maybe I'll make another one for my Mum...

Enjoy!