Green Tea Grinder and Pound Cake

I recently bought a green tea grinder after reading this. I’ve been using it nonstop all week, mostly for drinking. When you think of powdered tea you might think of matcha, which is an expensive tea made from specially grown dark tea leaves that are de-veined and grounded into a superfine powder. High-end matcha would definitely not be used for cooking; ‘house’ matcha (on the lower end) is more commonly used. I just bought some organic sencha from Whole Foods to grind up, making konacha (powdered tea). It’s more fibrous than matcha, most noticeably gritty when you try to drink the undiluted green slush that gathered at the bottom of your tea cup. But when it’s mixed into batter or dough, it’s not an issue. When I’ve used matcha for baking in the past, a little would make batters very green and impart a mellow bittersweet grassy taste. With this pound cake, the powdered sencha imparted a lighter green while adding a subtle clean green tea taste.

 Green Tea Raisin Pound Cake

• 1 cup organic shortening or butter (I used a mix of Spectrum Organic Shortening and Earth Balance Whipped Spread)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/3 cup almond flour
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp green tea powder (your own or store bought matcha)
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup raisins

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream together shortening and sugar, and then add in eggs one at a time. Mix in green tea powder and almond extract (the two together gives it more depth of flavor), and then incorporate the almond flour and a pinch of salt. Add the regular flour and baking powder, mix briefly then add in the raisins and finish mixing till smooth, but don’t over mix. Pour and spread into a greased a loaf pan. Bake for 40mins, it should have a crust on top but is still wet in the center (test with skewer). Take a sharp knife and slice it open down the length of the loaf, continue baking for another 10 to 15mins, keep checking for doneness with a skewer.

(The top is messy because I tore it open with a skewer.) 

 -L

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