Green Tea and Red Bean Layer Cake

A while back I made some green tea ice cream using a stash of matcha I got from a recent trip to Hong Kong (which I'm yet to blog about!). I was looking for some other matcha dessert recipes and found this one here and here. Don't be fooled by it's appearance... green tea and red bean is a great combination in desserts!

Anyway, I'm not great at baking (I think I'm too careless in terms of measuring things), so the cake turned out a little messy, but overall the recipe worked great!

Here's the recipe, although it basically comes straight from Sugar & Everything Nice:

Ingredients:
2 eggs 60 g icing sugar 60 g almond meal 1 1/2 tsp matcha 30 g all purpose flour 30 g melted unsalted butter	2 egg whites 1/8 tsp cream of tartar 30 g caster sugar 1 cup whipping cream 1/4 cup sweetened canned red bean

Procedure:
1) Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. Line a half sheet pan (about 30 x 40 cm) with a sheet of baking paper.

2) Combine the 2 whole eggs with the icing sugar and almond meal and whip until light and about double in volume.

3) Add in the matcha powder and combine.

4) Sift the flour over the egg mixture.

5) Whip the egg whites in a different bowl until they start to froth. Then add the cream of tartar and whip until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and whip to incorporate.

6) Scoop about 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg mixture and fold in gently with a spatula. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in until uniformly mixed. Pour the melted butter over the batter and fold in to incorporate.

7) Pour the batter into the pan and distribute it evenly, making the layer as level and smooth as possible. Tap the bottom of the pan to get rid of some of the air bubbles.

8) Bake in the oven for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the cake is just firm and lightly brown but not completely brown. (I found it seemed to need longer to dry out properly - maybe my cake slices were too thick?)

9) Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the parchment. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

10) Flip the cake over, then carefully peel the parchment paper from the back of the cake. Then flip the cake back on it's right side over a clean piece of parchment.

To Assemble:
1) Trim off the edges and slice the cake in along the short side into 4 equal-sized pieces

2) Whip the cream to soft peaks. Leave aside 1/4 of the cream for the topping. For the remaining cream, fold in the red beans gently until evenly distributed.

3) Taking one layer of the cake, cover the top with 1/4 of the red bean cream. Then lay the 2nd layer on top and continue with the rest until the last layer is in place. Try to keep the layer even.

4) Top the last layer with the 1/4 plain cream.

5) Cover the cake and refrigerate overnight.

6) When you are ready to serve, trim off the sides of the cake to make them nice and even. Dust the top with some matcha powder.

In sickness and in health

No I'm not getting married, but I have come down with a bit of a cold... in the middle of "summer". What's going on with that? And, first-year report + cold is a bad combination.

One does needs to eat however, regardless of how unwilling they are to cook. Hello congee.

Normally I do like congee, with pork and century duck egg, or 'sampan' congee (艇仔粥) or even pig's blood congee =). And I especially like congee with those deep-fried bread sticks (油炸鬼).

However in my current mood I am extremely reluctant to leave the building. So this is all I could muster (it's health food right?):

Perhaps not the most appetising looking thing.

Poor Man's Congee
1. Wash 500 g of short grain rice several times in water, then add lots of water and bring to a boil.
2. Boil more.
3. And more. If it starts getting dry, add more water. Stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom.
4. Throw in whatever ingredients you want (all I had was some sliced shiitake mushrooms, dried tofu skin things and ginger. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper. Dash of sesame oil.
5. Regret that you used 500 g of rice, as the thing threatens to overflow from the pot.

Serves far too many. (I'm probably going to eat this 6-7 times this week. Oh dear.)

-----

There are so many things I still have to write about but haven't had the will power/time/sanity of mind. After this busy period is over, look forward to a bunch of restaurant reviews, some yummy dessert recipes, my attempts at Japanese fusion and perhaps less insanity.

Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream (no machine)

When I found this recipe on Sabra's amazing food blog Spoonful, it sounded way too good not to try. I'm a real sucker for good green tea ice cream, and surely the idea of being able to generate your own ice cream at will is the sweet-tooth equivalent of being able to grow money on trees, or turning water into wine...

Somehow here the lighting balance dulled the green a little - it looks more vibrant green in real life!

Poor similes aside, I've had this recipe stuck on the brain for a while now, and so I bought some Matcha during my recent trip to Hong Kong. Matcha is amazing stuff. Delicious with sweet red bean paste in cake, strangely concentrated and foamy when served in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, and killer as an ice cream flavour.

Best matcha ice cream experience? Soft serve matcha ice cream from a shop on the walk up to Kiyomizudera in Kyoto. Tangents aside, here's the recipe, and it works so well that I've almost directly copied it straight from Sabra's blog (hope it's ok, thanks!):

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons green tea powder (matcha)
2/3 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream (aka whipping cream)

1. In a small bowl, mix the green tea powder with 2 tablespoons sugar.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks and remaining sugar.

3. Pour the milk into a small pan and gently heat taking care not to let it boil. Remove the from the heat and mix a few spoonfuls of the warm milk with the matcha/sugar combination. When you have a smooth paste, add it to the remaining milk in the pan, then gradually stir in the egg yolk/sugar mixture.

4. Return mixture to the stove and heat slowly over low heat (taking care to not let the mixture boil), until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine sieve, and allow to cool completely.

5. Lightly whip the cream and then add it to the cold green tea-milk mixture.

6. Chill mixture for an hour or two in the refrigerator and then put it in the freezer. As ice crystals start to form, remove, and mix vigorously and thoroughly with a fork to break them up and return the mixture to the freezer. Repeat this a few times as it freezes to ensure that the ice cream is smooth.

Tips:
- As a few people have commented on Sabra's blog, I'd recommend adding a little more matcha and less sugar to bring out the green tea taste more.

QED: Chicken and Vegetable Clear Soup

OK so this is not particularly glamorous, but for me it's comfort food because its warm, fully of chunky goodness and it's home cooking in a sense (except that Mum is much better than me). Plus it's really healthy.

If there are any organic chemists out there, this soup is awesome because:
- It's a one pot reaction
- Done in aqueous solvent
- On kilogram scale
- No workup or purification needed.

Ingredients:
5 chicken thighs or drumsticks 10 potatoes 10 carrots light soy sauce	6 tomatoes 3 onions generous handful of dried wolfberries

Procedure:
1. Trim the fat off the chicken. Immerse in half a pot of cold water. Add wolfberries (you can find these at most Asian stores)

2. Bring to a very low simmer and skim off the oil and foamy stuff that floats to the surface.

3. Whilst the chicken is simmering, chop vegetables into relatively large chunks. Add first the potatoes and carrots. Keep skimming if oil/foam accumulates. Simmer on low for a while (~30 min) then add halved or whole tomatoes and onions. Add a dash of soy sauce.

4. Put a lid on it and go do something else for an hour or two. I went to the graduate BA rooms to watch the latter 2/3 of Hot Fuzz. Good movie.

5. Add salt/pepper/soy sauce to taste.

That's pretty much it. Dinner for the next 4 days...

---

On other things, you should all check out this fantastic food blog also from Trinity! Plus this food blog just mentioned a cafe in Cambridge that does lamingtons - now added to my wishlist =P