As an over-consumer of food magazines and Pinterest images, I’ve come to miss the cookie and cake pictures this month.
Now that the holidays are over, it seems like many of us have taken a hiatus from baking. January is supposedly the time for salads and soups and juice cleanses, right? At least, that’s what all the cooking magazines are telling me.
And healthy-eating-wise, I’ve been doing okay so far. I don’t get bagels with cream cheese or pizza slices three or four times a week anymore. But the baking? No no no. It’s so impossible to ween myself off it that I’m not even going to try.
Green tea pound cake is one of those foods that just has a lovely sound to it. It’s fragrant, light, complex, yet indulgent at the same time. As for this particular cake, the texture is nice and buttery like a pound cake should be, but also airy and doesn’t make you feel weighed down, even after a eating a few slices more than you should.
So if you, like me, haven’t taken a break from baking in January, do give this green tea pound cake a try. I adapted the original recipe from Food.com slightly, the biggest changes being adding more butter to make it less dry and green tea powder. (Love the stuff. What can I say?) It works in both a large or small loaf pan; the 9″x5″ pan will yield a flatter cake, and a 8.5″x4.5″ pan will yield a taller cake.
What are you baking or want to be baking this month?
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Matcha (Green Tea) Pound Cake
Makes 1 loaf
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons green tea powder
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and green tea powder.
- In a separate large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs. Add the sifted flour mixture and mix until well-combined.
- Pour the batter into a buttered loaf pan (9″x5″ pan will yield a flatter cake, 8.5″x4.5″ will yield a taller cake). Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
Adapted from Food.com.
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More green tea desserts to try:
- Green Tea Shortbread Cookies
- Matcha Sea Salt Cookies from Cooking Tackle
- Matcha Green Tea Macarons from Bake Noir
- Green Tea Ice Cream from Ichigo Shortcake
- Matcha Sesame Cheesecakes from Hungry Rabbit
- Matcha and Cherry Chip Cookies from Sugar Swings
I haven’t stopped baking at all. I made blood orange bundt cake last weekend and this pound cake will be my upcoming Saturday project. Thanks for sharing!
Great photos! I agree, Love the taste of anything green tea. Bookmarking this and your green tea cookies.
Yum! I need to get my hands on some green tea powder. I know the people who I bake for in my office would absolutely love it. Where do you buy yours?
Sydney – I usually get mine from the Park Slope Co-op, but I’ve also seen matcha powder at the Japanese grocery stores in the East Village (like Sunrise Mart and Jas Mart) and Whole Foods , though the last one might be pricier. Though a package can last you a really long time… :)
This looks awesome, any chance of a blog offshoot centered around green tea creations?
This looks really tasty. I love matcha lattes and have used it in cookies before but never pound cake!
I just love anything which has matcha inside. Especially matcha latte. I usually prepare mine with soy milk to give it a sweeter taste without having to add sugar: http://genuss-und-versuchung.blogspot.de/2012/07/auf-der-grunen-welle-ii-macha-latte-mit.html (for the German readers).
Pls. go on posting recipies witch Matcha!! Is it possible to use any natural sweetener such as honey or maple sirup for this recipie? Does anybody have experience with it?
Best regards from snowy Germany
Miss Jenny
Kevin – I don’t know about a spin-off blog, but I’m definitely planning on posting more green tea recipes. Stay tuned!
Alyssa – I hadn’t tried matcha powder in a cake until recently but love it so far. It’s such a versatile ingredient!
Miss Jenny – I love matcha latte too. Thanks for reminding me of that. I have’t tried this pound cake with honey (or agave) but I’m very interested in hearing the results if you do. Thanks for stopping by!
Great dessert idea! Do you think any stores in Chinatown would sell green tea powder?
A bit confused. 2 sticks of butter is equal to 1 cup. Is it 2 sticks or 1? Pls clarify. Thanks.
Christ – Yes, it should actually be 1/2 *pound* of butter and 2 sticks. I’ve changed it above to correct it. The original recipe called for 1 stick but I increased the amount to give the cake a better texture. But yes, thanks for pointing that out!
Diana: I keep baking, it’s so relaxing! This pound cake is gorgeous and I am sure so fragrant. Plus it seems so easy to make with just a handful of ingredients (just the kind of baking I like!)
Hi the recipe looks great. I am concerned about the matcha green tea from Japan because of the radiation fallout after the Earthquake in 2011. Do you know of any of these teas sourced from China instead?
Jen – Frontier Natural Products Coop sells matcha powder that may be from China, but I’m not positive on this. Here’s the website for more info: http://www.frontiercoop.com/ Beyond that, pretty much all of the matcha powder I’ve come across is Japanese or unspecified on the label. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
I made this as an addition to my St. Patrick’s Day recipes and it turned out great. I try to avoid artifical coloring, so the natural green color of the matcha was perfect. My husband usually doesn’t like green tea, but he really enjoyed this cake.
where do you get green tea powder online? I love pound cake and this sounds really good
Molly – Thanks! You can buy matcha powder from Frontier at http://www.frontiercoop.com/ or on Amazon.