What is Matcha? + Recipe for matcha cake

Matcha is an increasingly popular tea. Matcha is healthy and you can also make delicious dessert with it. While matcha used to be consumed exclusively at tea ceremonies in Japan, matcha related drinks and desserts are becoming more and more popular in cafes and restaurants around the world.

It takes a lot of time and effort to produce matcha - from growing the tea leaves to powdering it. Temperature plays a big role in processing, with a lot of attention being paid to maintain the best flavor.

How is matcha produced?

Matcha tea is a fine green powder made from whole ground tea leaves and is distinguished by its rich taste and dark green color. Only the youngest shoots of the tea plant are used to make matcha. The young shoots are shaded for 3-4 weeks before harvesting. By depriving the tea plants of sunlight, the leaves become thinner, more tender and take on a fresher, deep green color. After harvesting and drying, the stems and veins of the leaf are removed to make Tencha tea. This is then ground to powder with a stone mill or bread mill into matcha tea powder.

The timing of the harvest is critical to getting the best results. It therefore takes a real matcha tea master with years of experience to choose the optimal harvest time.

Matcha from Earl Orange

Our Matcha tea comes from the Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka. The Maruyama Tea Products Corporation tea plantation (since 1933) grows our matcha tea organically. We have three different qualities of matcha in our range:

Japan Matcha Hotaru Beginner's Favoritete” is perfectly suited as a beginner quality and is suitable in use for drinks and dishes. Hotaru is aromatic, slightly bitter and has a typical Matcha flavor.

Japan Matcha Kasumi Daily Pleasurere” is perfect for the daily portion of matcha. This prepared Matcha is very aromatic, intensely green and convinces with soft and slightly sweet notes.

Japan Matcha Megumi Ceremonial Premiumum” is a ceremonial quality matcha tea. The Tencha is gentle and finely ground on stone mills. It tastes full, sweet and delicate, with a distinct umami note. An absolute top quality.

Matcha cake recipe

Do you want to bake a matcha cake at home? We have found an interesting recipe for making a delicious matcha 'sponge' cake::

Ingredients

2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
4 heaped teaspoons of matcha tea
¾ cup of white sugar
¾ cup of vegetable oil
3 medium eggs
1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 cup of yogurt

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC. Grease the baking pan with the vegetable oil and sprinkle with a layer of flour.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and matcha tea and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil and eggs until smooth. Stir in 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla. Add the mixture from step 2 while stirring / beating, alternating with the yoghurt and stir the mixture well until it is completely absorbed. Pour the batter into the baking tin.
4. Bake the cake in the preheated oven at 175ºC for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before removing the cake from the baking pan.
5. Enjoy!