Matcha Green Tea and Chocolate Pound Cake

Oh, you know how I feel about matcha.  Truthfully, I think matcha and white chocolate make a better pairing but I really was excited about the idea of this color combination.  

This recipe makes a pound cake that avoids being the dense clumsy brick that we might be familiar with.  The crumb is a bit finer and I think has a much more appealing texture.  And the color!

Matcha Chocolate Pound Cake

2 sticks (8oz) of butter, unsalted and at room temperature

8 oz of good quality semi-sweet chocolate (3 oz for the ganache, 5 oz to blend into the batter)

1 tsp of matcha green tea (powdered green tea is not the same thing)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs (separated) 

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1. grease and flour  a 8 1/2 inch loaf pan (or I used 3 disposable mini-loaf pans) and preheat an oven to 350

2. sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. set aside

3. melt 5 oz of chocolate in a double broiler

4. cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy

5. add the egg yolks one at a time and beat for one minute with each addition

6. fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with additions of the whole milk

7. beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks

8. fold the egg whites in very gently.  it's okay if they are not completely blended in

9. divide the batter in half

10. to one half of the batter add the melted 5 oz of chocolate and mix until just combined

11. to the other half add the matcha and vanilla extract until just combined

12. fill the load pan(s) with heaping spoonfuls of batter, alternating between the matcha batter and chocolate batter.  

13. settle the batter by tapping it against a hard surface

14. with a butter knife marble the batter by making a swirling motion, make sure not to over  mix.

15. bake in the oven for approximately an hour if in a large loaf pan and about 4o minutes if in the mini-loaf pans 

16. let cool completely

17. heat up the heavy cream and then pour over the remaining chocolate 

18. let stand for about 1 minute and then whisk until smooth

19. spread over the top of the loaf and let harden for about an hour

A Very Pleasant Evening (recipe for pear and bittersweet chocolate cake included)

homemade kettle corn

cantaloupe, watermelon, mint, and white wine salad

pear and bittersweet chocolate cake

i really love the idea of a movie night.  i think they're nice. and relaxing. and usually there is food involved.  i had a few people over the other night to watch "in the mood for love" and "talk to her".  Are movies at movie nights supposed to be light and easy?  Because, these movies were decidedly not.  But I think that's a good thing.  We actually had conversations about the movies...like little discussion sessions after the viewing.  it felt----productive (??).  In any case I had a lovely time and i think my friends are peachy.  

When I have people over, I get really host-y.  It's probably obnoxious but I all of a sudden feel responsible for everyone's comfort.  The best way to deal with this is to stuff people up to the gills with food.  Speaking of gills, Gil brought the most amazing pita bread--unusually doughy and adorably misshapen.  I think he said it was from a bakery on Fairfax.  I will have to get the address from him.  Also, Sam brought an excellent fruit plate.  fruit and summer.  thomas brought hummus and babaganoush (which he mistook for tabouli/tabbouleh).  lan brought her buoyant and joyous self.  I made a pear and bittersweet chocolate cake, a melon mint white wine salad, and homemade kettle corn.

Pear and Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

3 pears diced in cubes

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick of 4 ounce butter

1. preheat the oven to 350

2. either use a decorative disposable cake mold or butter a 9 inch springform pan

3. sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside

4. with a mixer, whip the eggs on high speed for at least 5 minutes until the eggs have greatly increased in volume and the mixture looks pale and thick

5. brown the butter at medium heat in a sauce pan.  the butter is done with brown solids begina to form and the butter turns just slightly brown.  careful not to burn.  as soon as the brown solids appear, remove from heat

6. add the sugar to the whipped eggs and mix for a few minutes more

7. add the brown butter and flour in alternating additions, being careful not to over beat

8. pour the batter into the cake pan

9. top with the pear cubes and chopped chocolate

10. bake for about 50 minutes

adapted from smittenkitchen.com

Homemade Kettle Corn With White and Dark Chocolate

drizzled

Much better

Failing ridiculously

The other day someone dropped off a bag of white chocolate covered chex mix/cherrios/pretzels/peanut m&ms.  They were addictive, really terribly, feel-guilty-the-rest-of-the-day addictive.  It got me thinking about salty sweet snacks and how much I love the combination of salty and sweet.  I've been really wanting to make homemade kettle corn and thanks to the addictive white chocolate chex mix things, I had to idea to drizzle my homemade kettle corn with white and dark chocolate.  

You might be wondering what the point of the making homemade kettle corn is.  Well, it really isn't that much harder than making bagged microwave popcorn but tastes 10 times better.  The sugar caramelizes much better.  And with white chocolate and dark chocolate---

Well, I'm lying a little.  It is harder.  I failed my first batch of my kettle corn because I put the heat on too high, but learn from my mistake--keep the heat at medium.  I was impatient and thought it would pop faster at high heat, which is true, it did pop faster, but it also burned.  Also I peeled back my foil to early and the kernels began popping at my face and I felt like I was being attacked.  I was genuinely scared and maybe I was yelping a little.  

But as long as you keep the heat at medium and toss the kernels well, this is a very worth while recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unpopped, unbuttered popcorn

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil (grapeseed oil, if you have it)

2 teaspoons salt

1. heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat

2. add the popcorn and sugar

3. cover with a tight lid or tin foil

4. when it begins popping, shake the pot vigorously in a tossing motion so that the kernels are moving

5. remove from heat when you don't hear the unpopped kernels rattling in the pot anymore

6. do not remove foil until the kernels have completed popping or you may find yourself under attack by flying kettle corn

7. immediately salt with kosher salt

8. let cool on a baking sheet, spread out evenly 

9. meanwhile in a double broiler, melt the dark and white chocolate separately

10. when melted drizzle the chocolates over the popcorn

11. do not move the popcorn so that the chocolate will harden in drizzle form rather than becoming smeared