Birthdays = Cupcakes.... obviously.

Before I start about food, I have found a nifty feature on this blog called Stats. It actually tracks what countries my blog is being viewed in, what browsers people are using, what operating system people are using to view it, and how many hits I get a day/week/month/year. It surprises me everyday how many people actually read this and come up to me and talk about it. Thank you for endorsing my little hobby. It also surprises me that I have readers in Turkey, India, Taiwan, China, Ecuador, Austria, and even Latvia. Yes, Latvia. Who knew? I don't even know anyone who lives in Latvia. So to my reader in Latvia, thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying the food. Now, on to the good stuff.

This past holiday weekend brought JC and I up to Phoenix for a friend's birthday. And what kind of birthday would it be without dessert--specifically cupcakes. When I hear birthday, my ears perk up and the gears in my brain automatically start turning to think about what I can bake, craft, or decorate. This friend does not like chocolate which made my choices a little more narrow than usual. Fortunately, I'm not a huge fan of chocolate myself (gasp!) so I don't normally use it. I did some browsing and was debating between a carrot cake a la Thomas Keller, pistachio cupcakes, or matcha cupcakes. In the end, the latter won. They were a vibrant green color so characteristic of matcha. And they had a wonderful strawberry buttercream frosting that I actually piped myself. Granted, it was with a ziplock bag, but they still looked gorgeous. And to top it off, they had a surprise vanilla custard filling. They ended up just divine. Not too sweet with a hint of the unmistakable flavor of matcha green tea. They were a hit at the house and a perfect snack for the boys while they played Starcraft.

The original recipe only made a dozen cupcakes, so I doubled it and it worked just fine. For the frosting, it is very helpful is you have a kitchenaid mixer. I don't so I had to do it all with a 20+ year old hand mixer. It was tough and made me realize I should probably do more P90X arms. The original recipe made a strawberry custard for filling. Somehow when I printed out the recipe, the whole section about adding strawberries to the custard got deleted, so I just made a vanilla custard which turned out to be great (probably better). Adjust this how you would like. The frosting is so versatile, you could keep it as plain vanilla or add virtually any other mix in--in this case it was strawberry preserves. Delicious no matter what.

Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
adapted from Une-Deux Senses

Makes 24 cupcakes

For the cake:

1 1/2 cup + 4 tbsn. cake flour

1 cup + 4 tbsn. all purpose flour

2 cup sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsn. matcha powder

1 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

For the custard:

1 small box of instant vanilla pudding

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the buttercream frosting:

4 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

3 sticks of butter, cut into 24 pieces

Strawberry puree or preserves

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a cupcake tin with liners and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and matcha powder. Mix on low speed until combined. Add the butter, mixing until the cubes of butter are peanut sized or a little smaller. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, add the wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down the sides of the bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Divide the batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 17 - 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make the custard, whip the first four ingredients together until it is well combined and begins to thicken, about 3 - 5 minutes. Place in refrigerator to let chill and thicken some more until ready to use. 

To make the frosting, put the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water making sure the bottom does not actually touch the water. Stir the egg whites until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and place into the mixer stand (or use a hand mixer). Beat until it becomes white and doubles in size. Add the vanilla on low speed, then add the butter, one piece at a time, making sure it is well mixed after each addition. Do not worry if it looks curdled, it will take some time for it to come together. Continue beating for 5 - 10 minutes until everything comes together. Add the strawberry puree or preserves until desired berry taste. 

Once cupcakes are cooled, use a paring knife to cut out a hole in the top of each. Fill each hole with the chilled custard. Cover each cupcake with the buttercream frosting. Enjoy!