Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Matcha Love Hearts

"..Give, give in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace."

-Author unknown





One of my favorite bookshops in Perth is the 'Inspiration Factory' in Subiaco. I hardly ever leave the place without a purchase. Just last Saturday, Ming, the girls and I were spending the afternoon in Subi - Ming had decided to give Badminton a miss and just hang out with us. We've all been so busy with our own stuff ever since we came back from our holiday, so I guess it seemed appropriate for us all to put everything aside and just spend some time together, just the four of us. We grabbed some lunch at Nippon, got lured into a couple of stores displaying their "Up to 70% off everything" sales banners before we settled down for some drinks at Dome. We talked about so many things - how Ming can spend more time with me before I looked for his replacement in the form of a Gorgeous, Romantic Korean man (wink, wink), we teased Chloe relentlessly about her new boyfriend 'A', we laughed, we cried (from laughing so much) and we ironed out a few 'issues' that have been bothering us.





Then, we made our way to the 'Inspiration Factory'. Being there was like taking a breath of fresh air. I came across a book I hadn't seen before, 'Blossom - Affirmations for Personal Growth' by Janine Brown. After flipping a couple of pages of the book, I knew I couldn't let it go. I just loved it so much - there were so many quotes that were my own believes, and some that I wanted to believe in and embrace. The virtue of Generosity, the act of giving and sharing is a reward in itself because it brings so much joy to it's recipients. I came across a post on 'Green Tea Sweets' - Cookies that looked like jeweled-encrusted pieces of Jade in Foodbeam last week and couldn't help reading on. The recipe for these beautiful cookies won Kelli Bernard of Amai Tea and Bake House the Finalist Award for Best Bakery Recipe in Pastryscoop.com's 2007 Golden Scoop Awards, and Kelli was generous enough to share her recipe with the whole world via her blog Lovescool.




These Matcha cookies have been the delight of so many Food Bloggers all over the globe since the release of it's recipe last year that I couldn't resist giving it a go myself, especially too, after my success with the Matcha Macarons last year. Besides reducing my oven temperature to 160 degrees celsius (fan-forced) and using salted butter, I followed Kelli's recipe closely. Oh, and I decided to use a Love Heart cookie cutter instead of a leaf-shaped one. After all, giving , sharing and love are inter-connected! The result was a distinctively Aromatic and buttery cookie with a delicate crumb.The slight bitterness of the matcha was complimented by the pretty sugar coating.




Matcha Love Hearts (Green Tea Sweets)

Ingredients
Yield : Approx 25 2' Love Heart Cookies

3/4 cup/ 2.25 oz/ 64 g Icing sugar
5 oz/142 g Salted butter, cut into cubes
1 3/4 cup/ 8.5 oz/ 241 g All-purpose flour
3 Large egg yolks
1.5 TBS Matcha (powdered green tea)
1 cup Granulated sugar (for coating)





* Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F( 160C fan-forced). Line a cookie sheet with baking paper.
* Whisk the icing sugar and green tea together in a bowl.
* Add the butter and green tea/sugar mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until combined and smooth.
* Add the flour and mix until well combined.
* Add the egg yolks and mix just until the eggs are fully incorporated and a mass forms.
* Form the dough into a disk and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes
* Roll the dough out to ½” thickness.
* Cut the dough with a Love Heart cookie cutter.
* Toss each cut cookie in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat.
* Place the sugar-coated cookie on the lined cookie sheet and bake at 180C/ 350F( 160C fan-forced) for 12-15 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges.

Kelli Bernard and the team at Amai Tea and Bake House recommend that these cookies be served with light and sweet white teas or an aromatic Oolong.

25 comments:

Mandy said...

isn't the cookies really something? I love it but haven't make it for sometime now. Wish I could just snatch one from your tray.

eatme_delicious said...

I love matcha baked goods! These hearts are so cute and I they look great covered in sugar.

Patricia Scarpin said...

These make me want to run home and bake, Carol - so beautiful! I'm curious about green tea.

Anonymous said...

so glad you posted...I came across your blog some weeks ago and love your recipes and photography...even after only a couple weeks, I am addicted!:)

Chibog in Chief said...

oh carol i miss your sweet goodies!! i just love to munch these with a cup of hot coffee :-)

WokandSpoon said...

These look good!! I have some matcha sitting in my cupboard - I'll have to try your recipe sometime!

M.H. said...

Never tasted these before, but for sure they look so lovely from your pictures!

Anonymous said...

I've tried making those same cookies last month, and the smell all across the house was so divine! Yum! See u in Perth next time around ;-)

Big Boys Oven said...

you never amaze me of your recipe choice, so well planned and so well excuted. I love those gorgeous captured pictures! well done to you and your family!

Anonymous said...

Delicious looking cookies you've made, Carol! Matcha has been intriguing me since the first time I've seen it being used in baking, hope to buy some and try it soon enough. Wonderful photos as always!

Anonymous said...

Those cookies look delish! Thanks for commenting on my blog about Just Espresso's espresso in regards to the Belgian choc and stuff.

Have you ever been to Lincoln 182 (i think the number is...)? It's on Lincoln Street in Mt Lawley. I went there for breakfast earlier this year and noticed on the front door of the cafe they have a few articles from some magazine about their belgian chocolate drinks and dessert.

Anonymous said...

wow these cookies are so beautiful. Thanks for sharing it with us. Now I got to go out and get some cookie cutter to make this. :)

Ming the Merciless said...

Glad you got some quality time with the family.

Your photography, as always, is superb and sublime.

Dee said...

oh carol (can't believe I just wrote that), the cookies sound delicious, and look even better! your photographs are always so stunning - the lighting, the styling :)

Breadpitt said...

ya, i miss this kind of post from u awww........the cookies are lovely..........the setup were well presented.......

Rafe Totengco said...

have you ever tried matcha macarons? to die for! these cookies look delish!!!

Sylvia said...

Love matcha, and those cookies looks delicious. The teapot ,is an Iwachu? I had one that I love

felicakes said...

Hi Carol,

I happen to stumble upon your blog while searching for Matcha Green Tea in WA.

I was wondering if you could tell me where did you get the Matcha Green Tea powder from?

I have been desperately looking for some for the past few months.

Thanks for your help. :*)

Ti said...

Hi Carol, where do you buy the green tea powder? can you please tell me, thanks

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Y said...

I'm quite the fan of these cookies too. I've made them several times already.

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Anonymous said...

This is my first visit here, but I will be back soon, because I really like the way you are writing, it is so simple and honest

Go Go Elite Scooter said...

Love your matcha love heart cookies..

BTW.. do you take picture of the food yourself? Or do you download them from the net?

They're really great!

Success Is said...

I haven't tasted these before, but for sure they look so tempting from your pictures!