Chocolate Matcha Cupcakes

Blame it on the heat, I find it hard to sit still in front of the laptop to write you a coherent post about the chocolate matcha cupcakes I made last week.

30 minutes has passed and I am struck after the first sentence. I think I am not going to try too hard for now. Let us just get straight to the cupcakes, shall we?

The chocolate cake base is from my favorite author Alice Medrich's book- Chocolate and The Art of Low Fat Desserts . The batter doesn't rise much, but it is moist and chocolatey. Everything you can hope for in a chocolate cake. Most importantly no one can tell that it's low fat.

The matcha cream cheese frosting, is adopted from chockylit. I use the Philly 1/3 Less Fat Neufchtel to cut down on the fat content, although I believe one could substitute the fat free cream cheese here with no problem. My tasters love the chocolate cake, but find the frosting slightly too sweet for their tastes. That can be easily adjusted by reducing the amount of confectioner's sugar used. Because I am aiming for a deep matcha flavor, I used a heaping 2 tablespoons of matcha powder in the frosting. You can certainly taste and adjust the amount according to your liking.

Tip: If you are looking for matcha powder, try the Asian grocery stores. They are usually shelved with the rest of the tea products. I paid between $4.99-$6.99 for the 1.1 oz tin. Note that matcha powder is different from green tea powder, which the color and flavor is not as intense as the former.

When I couldn't find an Asian grocery store that stock matcha powder in St Louis, I bought mine at Teavana for $16.00!Extortion, I know.

Chocolate Matcha Cupcakes
adapted from Alice Medrich's "Chocolate and The Art of Low Fat Desserts" and here

cupcakes:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted all purpose flour (4.5 oz)
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder
scant 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, at room temperature
2 egg whites, at room temperature
1 tablespoon instant espresso or coffee powder dissolve in 1.5 tablespoon of hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon buttermilk,at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
Matcha Cream cheese frosting:
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces or 1/2 package of Neuftachel 1/3 less fat Philedephia cream cheese
1.5 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons matcha powder

Position the rack in the lower third of the oven and prehear ro 350F. Line the muffin pan with paper liners.

Combine and sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Whisk the whole egg and eggwhites in a small bowl and set aside. Combine the vanilla, espresso mixture and buttermilk in another small bowl, set aside.

Cut the butter into chunks and place in the electric mixer bowl. Beat to softenend, about 1 minutes. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly for about 3 minutes, until the color of the butter turns pale. Dribble the egg mixture gradually, beating at high speed for 2-3 minutes. On low speed, add in a third of the flour mixture. On medium speed, dribble in half of the buttermilk mixture, scrapping the bowl when necessary. On low speed, add in a third of the flour, followed by the rest of the buttermilk mixture. Beat in the remaining flour until well combined. The batter may look slightly cuddled.

Scoop the batter into muffin cups and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out barely clean. Cool cake on a rack.

To make matcha cream cheese frosting:
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.

Sift 1.5 cups of confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon of matcha powder into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine.

Taste and add more matcha if desired. I like the matcha flavor, so I used 2 tablespoons in total.

Other matcha recipes on Fresh From The Oven:
Chocolate Matcha Loaf Cake
Matcha Cookies
Chocolate Matcha Brownies
Mini Matcha Cheese Tarts