Homemade Matcha Red Bean Cake

The benefits of drinking green tea have been  widely discussed in recent years and green tea is known as the "anti-aging beverage" due to its high content of antioxidants.

Green tea vs. matcha
Have you ever confused yourself between green tea and matcha? I was previously too :p. I used to think both are the same, but later found out that actually- green tea are in loose tea leave form, while matcha is the the finely ground powder form.

I am a green tea lover and in this post, I would like to share with all a simple recipe of homemade matcha red bean cake. Red beans and matcha matches each other perfectly. The sweetness from the red beans harmonizes the bitter taste of matcha and elevate the overall taste of your desserts ie. cakes, ice cream, shaved-ice to the next level.

For this recipe, I am using the canned Japanese azuki red bean paste. You may get it from the Asian grocers, alternatively you can also buy it from Amazon. Check out the link here

Ingredients
Matcha powder 8-10g
Cake flour          120g
Icing sugar           50g
Sugar                    50g
Butter                 120g (in room temperature)
Egg                     3 (egg yolks and egg white separate)

Directions
1. Mixture 1: Mix cake flour, matcha powder in a mixing bowl (sieve and set aside)
2. Mixture 2: Add butter, sugar and egg yolks into another mixing bowl and mix well.
3. Mixture 3: Use electronic mixer to beat the egg white and icing sugar till they turn into meringue. (Add the icing sugar into the mixer by batches - 3 batches.)
4. Combine mixture 1, 2 and 3 together. No over mixing.
5. Pour the combined mixture into the baking tray.
6. In preheated oven 170C, bake for 30-40 minutes.

The matcha red bean cake is prefect for afternoon tea, best to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee. Sieve some icing sugar on top of your cake for better presentation when serving to your guests. You may store the cake in the fridge for up to 5 days.