It amazes me when I see somebody eat a cupcake and they don't get any frosting on their nose. Or all over their face. Like excuse you, kind soul, but how much magic did it cost so you could enjoy cupcakes out in public and not unconsciously smear frosting all over your face?
But of course if there's a fork to aid you, then this whole cupcake eating business will probably be less messy. Probably.
They are beautiful. Have you ever used the word 'beautiful' to describe food? You have? Then you understand. If you haven't yet... oh, dear. Go, expand your palate until you finally find the one dish that will make you do.
I feel like I should tell you this though; if you offered me this cupcake before the boom of matcha-flavored desserts, I'd ignore you and the cupcake. Because hello?! 'What's that green frosting?' I'd most likely say. 'Green tea with chocolate?!' Appalling.
But ever since I have joined the matcha fan club*, the thought of green tea paired with chocolate doesn't seem silly any longer. Green tea pairs well with anything. Right?
*are you a member, too? :P
After the very first time I used green tea powder on this delicious matcha pound cake with pistachios, oh man, I couldn't wait until the next time I make anything with it! You could say I was hooked. I hope to encourage you to give green tea desserts a try if you haven't yet.
But after that pound cake, 'what now?'. Cut to the very long story of bookmarking a ton of recipes and deciding which one to prioritize; these cupcakes won (what). The other contenders were cookies where you'll make your own matcha-flavored chips, matcha blondies, tres leches but with matcha (!!!) and so. Much. More.
I sincerely hope you've looked past my stellar rose piping skills (you can stop laughing now). If not...eh, I'll busy you with the details on how I made these because I know you'll be making them, too.
The cupcake recipe I used is Laura's of Tutti Dolci 'Easiest Chocolate Cupcakes'.
The buttercream recipe is Molly's of My Name Is Yeh 'Matcha Green Tea Frosting'.
You can absolutely use your holy grail chocolate cupcake recipe for this; it's fine. But if you're a food blogger and know in your little blogger heart that it's your duty to try a new recipe (again) for chocolate cupcakes (again), these from Tutti Dolci won't let you down. Putting together the cupcake batter requires no mixer, which is always a plus, and pouring the batter into the cupcake liners quite messily is to be expected. At least with me. Anyhoo.
Laura said her recipe will make 16 standard-sized cupcakes but I got 20 out of it. I also let them bake for 16 minutes because I know the 13-14 minute instruction will give me undone cupcakes. But no two oven is alike so just do the toothpick test! No wet batter and/or a few crumbs would mean the cupcakes are done!
Let the cupcakes cool completely.
While you wait, make the frosting. It's buttercream and if you live someplace humid, let me tell you, it's an absolute must that you chill the frosting for a few minutes. Or you'll end up with one big mess.
I halved Molly's recipe so I used 2 sticks of butter and 1 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar which I sifted but I could still taste its graininess. Ugh. Then a teaspoon of vanilla extract. But this time I decided to be a little generous with the green tea and used 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of it.
For this part, sadly, you need to get your mixer out. Beat the room temperature butter until pale then in small batches starting with the lowest speed, add the powdered sugar followed by the matcha powder and vanilla. At this point you can adjust to your preferences. Once you're happy with the taste of the frosting, put it in the fridge and wait for the cupcakes to cool.
Once the cupcakes have cooled and the buttercream has chilled (mix thoroughly first before putting everything into a piping bag!) and you've given yourself some pep talk, proceed to pipe some matcha roses onto the cupcakes.
Uncertain as to how to do it? Here's a video. It looks easy. It really is though! More practice is all I need that's all. You can do what was done on the tutorial and practice the motion and swirl pattern on a piece of parchment paper. I admit my roses are light years away from looking anywhere near on fleek compared to the seasoned baker's. My newbie tip: just wing it.
Don't want the hassle of doing the rose swirl? No problemo! You can even spread the buttercream with an offset spatula or use an ice cream scoop and let the sprinkles rain.
Or you can simply let your matcha roses, however crooked and definitely not looking like a rose, shine on their own.
Please, fellow matcha fan and hello there newly convert, say that you'll try this chocolate cupcake and matcha frosting combo?
Yes? Just make sure you give the frosted cupcakes sometime to chill in the fridge before serving if it's hot wherever you are! And tell me how it goes, okay?
Til the next post!
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