a refreshing summer drink transformed

For those that know me well know that I love tea. A good hot cup of earl grey can soothe a like no other on a cold rainy night. As such, a crisp iced green tea can be the quencher a dry throat seeks on a scorching afternoon. One of my best friends can attest that we've made more than our (and most people's) fair share of tea runs every summer. Our drink of choice? Iced green tea with aloe.

This cake was inspired by the many drinks at our favorite tea place. I had some white peaches and of course matcha powder left over from before. Each layer has it's own individual accent flavor to combine into a honey white peach matcha green tea cake.

I finally bought a candy thermometer after years without one, forcing me to avoid recipes that called for a pâte à bombe. After a very very long night a couple of Christmases ago with three failed attempts before I finally got the right consistency for the Daring Bakers Bûche de Noël challenge, I never ventured into another pâte à bombe again. The thermometer totally made all the difference in the world. I was even able to make the bubble sugar art for decoration.

I made the same matcha green tea sponge cake, then layered a white peach mousse on top. The mousse was simply white peaches, which I pureed with a bit of lemon simple syrup, folded into the pâte à bombe base along with some whipped cream. I froze the two layers before I piped a honey chantilly and atopped it with a piece of bubble sugar.

The cake was best served at room temperature, when all of the flavors were at their peak. I liked this one more than the matcha green tea with lemon cream and chocolate chantilly; the flavors just felt more appropriate for the warm weather we've been having.

I've enjoyed these layered cakes, which are less complicated than it really looks. My next idea will be based on another tea drink, no surprise there.

something a bit different

I actually started baking before I ever ventured into cooking and savory applications. This is actually based on a few different recipes, but mostly on Cannelle et Vanille's Bittersweet, Milk Chocolate and Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake. I love her style and presentation, not to mention her recipes and choices of flavor combinations.

I made a matcha green tea cake instead of the chocolate biscuit originally instructed, since I saw her Matcha, Lemon and Chocolate Opera Cake. I love green tea and had some left over matcha powder, so decided to mix the recipe. My matcha cake is actually from an old recipe I kept years ago for a roll cake. It always comes out fluffy and spongy.

My concoction started off with a layer of matcha cake with a lemon simple syrup brushed on top, followed with a layer of lemon cream (I didn't have meyer lemons, so used a regular lemon instead with less zest). My layers looked a bit thin, so I made another layer of cake to add volume. I used a dark chocolate glaze on top of this second layer of cake to act as a foundation for the dark chocolate chantilly. 

I tempered bittersweet chocolate the night before and used them as a decorative topping. These went over pretty well at a recent dinner party. I thought the lemon was a bit strong, but my friend enjoyed the tartness it imparted. Perhaps I will use a bit less lemon juice and make a milk chocolate chantilly next time to adjust for sugar levels.

This was my first multi-layered and more intricate cake endeavor. I really enjoyed it, especially the layers of flavor and textures. My head has been working on ideas of other combinations and styles. I'm excited!