The Sweet Adventures Blog hop theme this month is “What’s your cup of Tea,” and hosted by 84th and 3rd.  A perfect opportunity  to use my new muffin tin which I bought on a recent trip! Why buy another cupcake or muffin tin when I already have so many? Well, the shape caught my eye!  Baked muffins and cupcakes in this cake tin take on a different appearance, tall and narrow  with some having domed shaped tops depending on the recipe being used! What ever way they come out they all look really cute!

 With some lime green cupcake liners (also my new muffin pan), matcha tea in the cupboard and lemons in the fridge, it was decided… matcha tea with lemon cupcakes! Matcha tea is a high quality Japanese green tea which has many health benefits,  guess using this in the cupcake recipe is a good thing…  might just think these cupcakes are really good for my health… right!

My matcha tea probably could have been fresher,  it had been already opened for a few months and the powder was not as green as when first opened, guess I will have to stock up again and use the older matcha tea for this face mask!  Usually I buy matcha tea from Asian supermarket which is beside the Oriental supermarket, both opposite the Central Market for those living in Bahrain.

Matcha Tea and Lemon Cupcakes with a Matcha Tea Buttercream Topping

Ingredients:

• 110g salted butter, softened
• 110g caster sugar
• zest of one lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon of matcha tea
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten together
• 75g all-purpose flour
• 25g self-raising flour
• 1 heaped tablespoon of home-made full-fat plain yogurt or shop bought

for the matcha tea buttercream:

• 25g cream cheese, softened
• 50g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g icing sugar (a little more if needed)
• 2 teaspoons, whipping or single cream
• 1/4 teaspoon match tea
• green edible glitter dust (optional)

Useful Kitchen Jewellery:                    

• cupcake pan
• measuring spoons
• mixing bowls
• spatulas
• electric whisk
• sieve
• microplane zester
• wire cooling rack
• piping bag and nozzle
• kitchen scales

How to make:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4/Fan 160°C.

Add the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest into a mixing bowl. Sieve in the matcha tea. Using and electric mixer, beat ingredients together until light and fluffy.

Add the beaten eggs (a few tablespoons at a time) to the cake mixture, beating well after each addition.

Sift in the flours and fold into cake mixture with a spatula until the cake mixture is smooth, stir in the yogurt.

Bake cupcakes for about 18 to 20 minutes or until  middle of cupcake springs back when lightly pressed with fingers.

Let the cupcakes sit in the baking pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

For the buttercream frosting:

Add the cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl, beat  together with an electric mixer until soft and smooth.

Gradually sift in the icing sugar and beat until all the icing sugar is incorporated.

In a small bowl mix the cream and matcha tea to a paste and then beat this into the buttercream.

Spoon the matcha buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a rosette nozzle,  pipe a small swirl on top of each cupcake. Dust lightly with edible glitter dust, if desired .

This post is part of the Sweet Adventures Australian Blog Hop, “What’s your cup of Tea,” click here to see all the other entries!