Kurogoma (Black Sesame) Shortbread Cookies

Guess what, y'all? Last Saturday, NYC raised $4644 for Peace Winds America/Japan in our Bake Sale for Japan! And the Bake Sales across the nation have raised over $120,000! I wasn't as involved as I wish I could have been, but I hope my shortbread cookies helped raise a tiny sum towards this awesome amount. Another BIG thank you goes out to Lillian from Sweets by Sillianah and Celia from Cookbook Archaeology for coordinating a wonderfully run bake sale.

Check out their posts for pictures and details of the sale at Brooklyn Flea.

For the bake sale, I chose to make matcha, azuki, and kurogoma shortbread cookies because they are all prominent Japanese flavors that I love working with. Matcha, azuki, and kurogoma are simply the Japanese terms for green tea, red bean, and black sesame. I've made all varieties of the cookies before, but the kurogoma shortbread cookie happens to be one of those recipes I never got around to posting. Until now, that is.























The ingredients I used to flavor the shortbread cookies: black sesame paste, sweetened red bean paste, and green tea powder (tried out a new green tea product - not bad!).























And here are the wrapped shortbread cookies!

Kurogoma (Black Sesame) Shortbread Cookies
adapted from previous recipe

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup butter
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup black sesame paste

Directions:
1. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth.
2. Add flour, cornstarch, and salt to butter mixture, until flour mixture is incorporated into the dough. Be sure not to overwork the dough.
3. Fold in black sesame paste.
4. Transfer the dough to a gallon-size plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and using a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Roll carefully, making sure not to leave creases in the dough. Seal the bag after rolling into proper size and press out as much air as possible. Place in freezer for about 30 minutes, up to 2 days.
5. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpat.
6. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 2 inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one four times with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.
7. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Yields 20 cookies.

Happy Pi Day! (Azuki Matcha Meringue Pie)

The day isn't over yet, so I can still wish you all a Happy Pi Day!

























I took a chance and made a complete experiment of a pie. Remember the dessert I had in Paris I kept raving about? The azuki matcha duomo from Pâtisserie Sadaharu Aoki? This pie is inspired by that dessert. The fillings I made went well together, but I have to work on the pie construction and topping. I also hope to find a way to make it look appetizing. It's certainly not an appealing pie, but the flavors worked.

My recipe for Pi Day is a work in progress, but if you're looking for a simple azuki paste recipe or a matcha curd recipe, I've got them below.


Azuki Matcha Meringue Pie

Ingredients:
1 baked pie shell
3/4 cup azuki bean paste
1 recipe warm matcha curd, recipe below
1 recipe meringue

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Spread a thin layer of the azuki paste in the baked pie shell.
3. Pour the still warm matcha curd over the azuki paste, completely covering the paste.
4. Top the pie with the meringue, also completely covering matcha curd and making sure it reaches the edge of the crust. Add peaks to the meringue with a rubber spatula as desired.
5. Bake pie for 10-12 minutes or until meringue topping turns golden.
6. Remove from oven and let completely cool before serving.


Azuki (Red Bean) Paste
Ingredients:
1 cup dried azuki beans
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups water

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, cover beans with water and soak overnight.
2. Drain beans. Simmer beans and 3 cups water for an hour or until soft. Continue to simmer until the beans absorbs most of the water. Add sugar and mix beans until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
3. Put beans in food processor and blend until it becomes a smooth paste.
4. Add sugar and continue blending until desired sweetness and consistency.


Matcha Curd
Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
1/3 cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup matcha powder, sifted

Directions:
1. Whisk egg yolks first in a separate bowl.
2. Whisk together cornstarch, water, sugar, matcha powder, and salt in a saucepan.
3. On medium heat, stir together until brought to a boil.
4. Remove from heat, and gently add hot mixture to egg yolks spoonful at a time, whisking together until at least half of the hot mixture is added.
5. Return egg and cornstarch mixture to saucepan and on low heat, stir mixture together for 1 minute.
6. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter.


Meringue Topping
Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 t sugar

Directions:
1. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment.
2. Beat egg whites on medium until soft peaks form and add sugar little at a time.
3. Continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.

Matcha Macarons

Happy Friday! It's really cold, and a big snowstorm might interfere with our office holiday party tonight, but all is well because it's Friday! And in 5 days, Tim and I will be on a plane embarking our big trip to Taiwan and Thailand. It feels a little weird calling it our honeymoon since it's already been 9 months since the date(!), so I've been calling it our "big trip."

Speaking of honeymoons and weddings, I made these matcha macarons to send off to Vane at Brooklyn Bride for her 2nd annual holiday card swap. Matcha because I know she loves green, so I wanted to share my main wedding inspiration with someone who also inspired the wedding. Hope they reached Brooklyn in good shape!


Matcha Macarons
adapted from previous recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons matcha
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line two baking sheets with Silpat liners and have a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip ready.
3. Using a blender of a food processor, grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and matcha so there are no lumps.
4. Using a standing electric mixer and at slow-medium speeds, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, gradually beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm.
5. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag.
6. Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1/2-inch circles, evenly spaced 1/2-inch apart.
7. Tap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

Matcha Ganache

Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces white chocolate
1 tablespoon matcha

Directions:
1. Bring heavy cream to a simmer.
2. Mix a bit of heavy cream with matcha to make a paste.
2. Remove from heat and stir in matcha paste and white chocolate. Stir until reaching consistent texture.
3. Let cool to room temperature.

Assembly Directions:
1. Find matching similar-sized counterpart for each macaron.
2. Depending on size of macarons, spread 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of ganache on one cookie's inside, and then gently press the matching cookie on top, forming a sandwich.
3. Store in an airtight container or in the fridge for at least one day before serving, to meld the flavors. Macarons can keep up to 5 days, after that they may be stored in the freezer.

Matcha Brownie Bites

I had the pleasure of attending not just one, but two wedding celebrations for our friends Natasha and Ka-Loon the past two weekends. The official ceremony and reception was held last weekend in Bluemont, Virginia, and last night they had their Chinese (Fukienese) reception in NY. This brownie was inspired by their DC wedding since their wedding colors were green and brown, and the was complete with both matcha cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes made by Judy J. I was happy to hear from Nat's dad that he's read my blog (now I know who my Aussie readers are), so I wanted to make something for the family since I knew I'd see them again at the reception in Chinatown. I used the previous brownie bites recipe and added matcha for flavoring. The matcha taste is subtle, but I think it adds a little edge to the otherwise plain chocolate brownie.

Quick note and apology to the Holts: the batch I made were a tad undercooked, and I hadn't realized it until later! Please if you haven't eaten them, microwave them for 15-20 seconds before eating. I've updated the recipe to correct the mistake (decreased amount of eggs and increased bake time).

Matcha Brownie Bites
based on a previous recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
7 ounces dark chocolate (70% cacao)
1 cups sugar
3 eggs (4 for a cakier brownie)
a rounded Tb of flour
1 Tablespoon matcha
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons matcha, for dusting

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease and flour a mini muffin pan.
2. Melt together the butter with the chocolate. (If melting in the microwave, be sure to do it slowly, blending with a spoon between each pass.) Transfer into a medium mixing-bowl.
3. Add in the sugar, stir, and let cool a little.
4. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.
5. Sift together the flour, matcha, and salt. Add in the mixture, mix well.
6. Pour batter into muffin pan and bake for 13-15 minutes.
7. Cool completely and dust tops with matcha.
8. Store in a plastic container, refrigerate, and take it out about an hour before serving.

Matcha Pancakes

The matcha pancakes were a last minute idea. I'd heard of matcha waffles, matcha donuts, so I thought, why not pancakes? Of course, it wasn't until after I made them did I google and find several examples online. I used an old pancake recipe I had and added in a little bit of matcha. I intended to eat these like regular pancakes with butter and maple syrup so I wasn't too experimental with the recipe. It made for a decent slight change in pancakes, but there's definitely room for more creativity.

This month passed by so fast. I had great plans for Matcha Month, but there were a few more recipes I didn't get around to completing. I'm sure you all have experienced something similar, when life just gets so busy. So busy we forget to breathe, to enjoy life. I was reminded today that being more mindful and intentional with how I spend my time actually settles those feelings of being too busy. These pancakes were made and enjoyed with all that in mind, and it made for a great Saturday morning to kick off the day. I hope this will be a good reminder to myself to keep that in practice.

Matcha Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoons matcha
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
additional butter, for griddle and serving

Directions:
1. Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl. Pour milks into separate bowl, whisk in egg and melted butter.
2. Dump wet ingredients into dry ingredients all at once; whisk until just mixed.
3. Heat griddle or pan over strong medium-high heat. Coat with butter, and when a drop of water dances on the pan, pour batter onto griddle, about 1/4 cup at a time.
4. When pancake bottoms are brown and top surface starts to bubble (2-3 minutes) flip cakes and cook until remaining side has browned (1-2 minutes). Re-butter the pan and repeat for next batch of pancakes.

Matcha Profiteroles

"You've gotta try these cream puffs, they're so light."
"Actually, they just taste light"

A snippet of a conversation at the bridal shower held last weekend. Profiteroles, or cream puffs, do taste light largely because of the hollow pastry and the usual whipped cream filling. But it's just like that light and airy cheesecake I made the other day - tasting light and being light are not the same thing. I suppose I can call this week Deceitfully Light Week. If I can squeeze in my last recipe tomorrow, it definitely will fall right in line with that theme.

It's been a long time since the last time I participated in a Hay Hay it's Donna Day! and there have been some good changes. Suzana's the host for Hay Hay it's Donna Day#20 and chose choux for the event. And as much as I wanted to stick with Donna Hay's recipe, I found one at Cook's Illustrated that had all the detail I felt I needed for my first time making the choux. There must have been too much detail as I overlooked an important one - the size of the pastries. I made such tiny puffs, barely any cream fit inside them. That aside, I was pleased with how they turned out, and now have found a new love for choux.

Matcha Profiteroles
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons whole milk
6 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour, sifted

1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon matcha, sifted

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Beat eggs and egg white in measuring cup or small bowl. Set aside.
3. Bring butter, milk, water, sugar, and salt to boil in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring once or twice. When mixture reaches full boil, immediately remove saucepan from heat and stir in flour with heatproof spatula or wooden spoon until combined and mixture clears sides of pan.
4. Immediately transfer mixture to food processor and process with feed tube open for 10 seconds to cool slightly. With machine running, gradually add eggs in steady stream. When all eggs have been added, scrape down sides of bowl, then process for 30 seconds until smooth, thick, sticky paste forms.
4. Fill mechanical pastry bag with paste and pipe into 1 inch mounds on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about an inch apart (you should be able to fit about 24 mounds on baking sheet).
5. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375F degrees and continue to bake until golden brown and fairly firm, 5 minutes longer. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool.
6. With an electric mixer, beat heavy cream on medium until it holds soft peaks. Add in sugar and sifted matcha, beat again until soft peaks form.
6. Clean mechanical pastry bag and fill with matcha whipped cream. Using the filling tip, gently pipe cream into choux.
7. Store puffs in freezer, thaw right before serving.

Matcha Cheesecake

For me not really being a cheesecake fan, I suppose it's a little odd that I made a matcha cheesecake when I've never made a regular cheesecake before. I don't have a scarring cheesecake story like Jenn (imagine eating a sincere attempt at cheesecake using cheddar cheese), I've just never had an awesome cheesecake. If you know of one, please mention it.

Check out the name of this recipe from Cook's Illustrated - Light and Airy Cheesecake. "Light and Airy" sounds so innocent right? It makes it seem as if it were good for you, as if it really were just great tasting clouds of nothing. But (I'm not trying to scare you), take a look at the ingredients. A part of me ignores the fat content I use every time I bake because I know it's not light. However thanks to a couple of butter/cream-loathing friends I have, this other part of me is growing slightly more disgusted with the amount of fat content in my recipes. Throughout this recipe, that side was more prominent.

Regarding flavor, I usually gauge how much matcha to add based on color. With all the creams in this recipe, 1 1/2 tablespoons of matcha was clearly not enough. The color was a pale green and the matcha couldn't really be tasted. I compensated by covering the top with a matcha and powdered sugar coating.

Last note about this cheesecake is about its texture. The texture indeed is light and airy, and was almost mousse-like. Because of that, I'd recommend freezing the cheesecake instead of refrigerating like the directions say. It'll make for easier slicing and serving, trust me.

Matcha Cheesecake
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted
3 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
2 pounds cream cheese
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs , separated
1 teaspoon lemon zest from 1 small lemon, minced
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoon matcha, sifted
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons matcha
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325F degrees. Line bottom of 9-inch springform pan with foil, tuck foil underneath pan bottom, assemble pan, then pull foil around side of pan.
2. Brush bottom and sides with butter. Sprinkle crumbs over bottom. Tilt pan in all directions to coat evenly with crumbs.
3. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar and matcha, beat on medium speed until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
4. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down after each addition, ensuring ingredients stuck at bottom of bowl are fully incorporated so as to avoid lumps. Add zest and vanilla and beat until just incorporated.
5. Remove bowl from mixer; stir in cream and sour cream.
6. Beat egg whites to soft peaks and fold into batter.
7. Bake until perimeter of cake is set, but center jiggles like Jell-O when pan is tapped, 45 to 50 minutes. Turn off heat and leave oven door ajar, using a long-handled kitchen fork or spoon to hold it open for 1 hour longer.
8. Remove springform pan; cool to room temperature.
9. Sift together 2 Tb matcha and 2Tb powdered sugar on top of cheesecake. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours. (Can be refrigerated up to 4 days.)

Filled Matcha Cupcakes

I thought calling May Matcha Month would instantly make it easy for me to bake at least twice a week. I was hoping to pump out recipes one after another until you all were sick of matcha. Alas, that was not the case, and last week was a flop. Sorry for the quiet week, but I'm getting back into the matcha groove now.

I originally wanted to make a mini wedding cake to demonstrate what I wanted for my own (in reality it didn't turn out quite how I'd imagined). But it was probably 10PM when I started baking last night, and I just didn't have it in me to do all that baking and decorating. My decorating skills need lots of practice and knowing how I function late at night (not well), it would not have been a pretty sight.

So here we revisit the matcha cupcakes I made last year with a tiny twist. I recently tried two signature cupcakes from Purple Dots Cupcakes, and I absolutely love them! I've had both red velvet and chocolate with peanut butter frosting, and the thing I love most about them is the frosting in the middle. Jenny of Purple Dots says that's her thing: Frosting in Every Bite! Well, I was inspired and I wanted to put some frosting inside my own cupcakes. I tried two methods: the cone method and via mechanical pastry bag. For reasons unknown, I could not get the mechanical pastry bag to function as supposed to, so the cone method won simply because it worked. I realize I don't have pictures of the cupcakes' insides, but I'll try to work on that.

Filled Matcha Cupcakes
modified from original post

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon matcha

Directions:
1. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs/egg yolk, beat for 30 seconds.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, matcha, and salt in a bowl. Add to batter and mix to combine.
5. Add milk to the batter and mix until combine.
6. Scoop into cupcake cups and bake for 25 minutes at 350F degrees until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Fill mechanical pastry bag with matcha frosting (recipe below) and using the filling tip, gently pipe frosting into cupcake from top. Frost cupcake using frosting spatula or your method of choice.
-OR-
7. Using a small pairing knife, cut off the top of the cupcake in the shape of a cone. Flip the top over and cut off the cone.
8. Fill the cavity with a teaspoon of frosting.
9. Replace the top of the cone. Frost cupcake using frosting spatula or your method of choice.

Matcha Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon matcha powder
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Sift together the confectioner's sugar and matcha powder.
1. Beat butter briefly, scrape bowl.
2. Add the sifted sugar and matcha mixture. Beat until smooth.
4. Add milk and continue to add for desired consistency.

Matcha Icebox Cookies

I've made the matcha spritz cookies dozens of times, but for some reason, I never thought to work from a different butter cookie base recipe until now. I started with a basic icebox recipe from Martha Stewart's archives, and added my standard tablespoon of matcha, and voilà: it's a completely different cookie.

Coincidentally, Tim and I recently had a conversation about the important role refrigerators play in our life. I remember going to a student's apartment in China where the kitchen didn't have a fridge. They didn't cook much because it's extremely hard to with that kind of limitation, but also because cheap (and great!) food was plentiful on every corner of every street. Well, I am grateful for my fridge and that it's advanced far from the old icebox. Technically, these cookies should be called Refrigerator Cookies, but I guess it's just one of those things that are still named after obsolete technology. Like a stock ticker. Wow, that's the best I could come up with, but I know there are other things we still call by their obsolete origins. Help?

Matcha Icebox Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 Tablespoon matcha
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Sift together flour, confectioners' sugar, matcha and salt in a large bowl.
2. Use food processor or hands to mix butter into flour mixture until mixture is the texture of coarse meal.
3. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks and vanilla; add to . Process just until a dough forms
4. Divide dough in half; form into two 2-inch square logs, each approximately 5 1/2 inches long. Wrap logs in waxed paper; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. You may also freeze dough up to 2 months.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice dough crosswise, 3/16 inch thick; carefully transfer slices to baking sheets.
6. Bake until edges are firm (not brown), 10 to 15 minutes. Cool 1 to 2 minutes on baking sheets; cool completely on a rack.

Matcha (White) Chocolate Chip Cookies

My parents were in town this past weekend, and the second they stepped into our apartment, my mom said quickly, "more green cookies??" Because of our matcha cookie overload in March, she thought I would be sick of matcha cookies, but really, how could I be? Plus, this was a completely different recipe. To start out Matcha Month, I chose to put a matcha spin on Martha Stewart's soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie. And though I personally prefer the combination of matcha with regular (or even dark) chocolate, I know some prefer matching it with white chocolate, so I took care of both preferences.

Matcha (White) Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon matcha
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet or white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, matcha, and baking soda; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute.
3. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.