MATCHA CUPCAKE SURPRISES FOR MOTHER'S DAY & CUP-A-CAKE HOLDERS

organic matcha cupcakes for mother's day: these have hunks of cream cheese filling and are topped with matcha buttercream and buttercream or icing flowers

It's high time I made some cupcakes. I've been experimenting with recipes and today I decided to make some floral cupcakes (using my tried and true Wilton techniques). Instead of relying on fakey food colouring for dying my cupcake batter, I used high grade organic matcha. Oops, that's only because it was the only kind I had at home; I don't bother drinking the icky cheap stuff because it's too bitter--kind of pricey and a bit of a waste for baking...but hey, it's mother's day.

daisy: not my favourite looking flower. i think the petals suck. next time, i'll use a 140 tip

a wilton flower (okay, a reasonable facsimile of one because I fudged the number of petals)

a pink wild rose. not as pretty as the wilton rose

The colour of my organic matcha is way more vibrant and bright green than the cheap matcha. The surprise I hid in each cupcake is a chunk of cream cheese. I was trying to figure out how to maximize the filling in my cupcakes with the piping bag--a real pain in the you-know-what--but decided to throw in a cold cube of cream cheese instead. It was way easier than trying to pipe stuff in after baking. Besides, having tried the matcha cream cheese combination before in a brownie recipe, I was smitten.

gerbera: use a Wilton#104 piping tip with the wide side of the tip facing away from you, pipe the petals drawing the tip towards the centre.
a royal icing lily: no, the stamens are not edible
buttercream violet drop flowersHere's my original recipe for these matcha cupcakes. Decorate with a matcha buttercream base for a grassy look and top with piped buttercream flowers.

The cupcakes stay moist because of the veggie oil. You can freeze these cupcakes (frosted) up to a month.

MATCHA CUPCAKE SURPRISES (makes 12 cupcakes)

1 cup & 2 T sifted cake flour

1/2 plus 2T sugar

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 t almond extract

1 T organic matcha
4 T cold cream cheese, cubed

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 muffin pans with paper cups
• In your mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and matcha until thoroughly combined
• Whisk together the oil and milk and add to the dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed
• Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and beat again for 2 minutes on medium speed
• Divide the cold cubed cream cheese evenly between the 12 lined muffin pans. Pour the batter over the cubed cream cheese, filling at least halfway.
• Bake for approx. 20 minutes, until the cakes test done
• Remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool on a rack.
• Decorate with Matcha Buttercream

the matcha crumb is tender and the cube of cream cheese a pleasant surprise

MATCHA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 T milk

a few drops almond extract

1/2 t organic matcha, or to taste.

nb: You can divide your buttercream, setting aside some for the matcha flavouring and colour the rest of the buttercream for flowers.

• Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl
• gradually add the confectioners' sugar a little at a time to the butter, beating continuously. continue until all the sugar is blended in
• Beat with the mixer until the icing is pale and fluffy
• Beat in the milk until well combined
• At this point, you can divide your buttercream for your green matcha base and buttercream flowers. Leave what you need for the green coloured buttercream in the mixing bowl. Add the matcha and beat until well combined.
• Use gel food colouring to colour the rest of the buttercream for the flowers.
• Decorate with drop flowers, polka dots, vines, daisies, etc.

ANY LEFTOVERS?

a cupcake in my favourite cupcake holder

there's no danger of smushed cupcakes while you're travelling

Bring cupcakes to work in these nifty Cup-A-Cake holders. Make sure you fit the cupcake against the plastic prongs instead of simply plopping the cupcake on the base of the holder. I made that mistake initially and squished the top of the cupcake. The cupcake is supposed to "float" in mid-air, held by the prongs. I used large cupcake liners and there was plenty of room between the cupcake and the base.
I purchased these at Williams Sonoma in Vancouver.

Williams-Sonoma

2903 Granville Street

Vancouver, BC(778) 330-2581