These buttery shortbread cookies have a delicate green tea flavour and would be just wonderful for an afternoon break. Not a fan of green tea? Well, these cookies might change your mind and lighten up your day!

• 140 g All purpose flour
• 100 g Ground almond
• 15 g Matcha tea powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 200 g Butter, at room temperature
• 100 g Icing sugar, sifted

1. Whisk together the flour, ground almond, matcha powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat the butter until soften, then add in sifted icing sugar and beat until light and pale. Add in flour mixture and stir with a spatula until combined.
2. Divide the dough into two portions. Place a large sheet of cling film on the work surface and place one portion of dough onto cling film. Fold the cling film so that the dough is completely covered. Lightly roll it until you get a log, about 5 cm in diameter. Wrap the other portion of dough with a cling flim too. Chill them at least 2 hours or overnight until thoroughly firm.
3. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F. Line two baking trays with paper. Remove from the fridge, and slice the log into cookies, about 5 mm thick. Roll the other dough out to 5mm thickness and cut with cookie cutter. Place the cookies on the prepared trays and bake 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on wire racks.

In the 16th century, the Portuguese reached Japan, and soon started trade and missionary work. Nagasaki was then the only Japanese port open for foreign commerce. The Portuguese introduced many then-unusual things, such as guns, tobacco, and pumpkins—and castella. It was able to be preserved for a long period of time, and so was useful for the sailors who were out on the sea for months. In the Edo Period, in part due to the cost of sugar, it was an expensive dessert. When the Emperor of Japan's envoy was invited, the Tokugawa Shogunate presented the Castella. Over the years, the taste changed to suit Japanese palates.from Wikipedia

Kasutera is a traditional Japanese sponge cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and honey. There are now many varieties made with ingredients such as matcha green tea, cocoa or brown sugar.

• 125 g German #550 flour©angiesrecipes
  
• 10 g Matcha tea powder
  ©angiesrecipes
  
• 50 g Honey
  
• 50 g Green tea drink
  
• 5 Eggs
  
• 140 g Caster sugar

1. Line a 44x12x6-cm wood box or an 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Fill half of a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Stir together the honey and green tea drink in a small bowl. Combine the flour, matcha tea powder and sift twice and set aside. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F.
   
2. Place the eggs and the sugar into the bowl of your mixer. Set the bowl over the pot of hot water and whisk the mixture until lukewarm and the sugar is dissolved. Remove and beat over medium speed until the mixture starts to thicken. Lower the speed and continue whisking until it is thick and smooth. When you lift the whisk, the peaks drops slightly. Beat in honey water mixture in a few additions until incorporated.
   
3. Sift in the flour in a few additions and whisk on low speed until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared wood box or the pan. Place in the hot oven and bake until the cake is golden brown and it feels spongy not tacky to the touch, about 50 minutes. Cool on the rack for 10 minutes, and remove from the pan.

Matcha Kasutera Honey Sponge Cake

There are four primary polyphenols in green tea and they are often collectively referred to as catechins. Powerful antioxidants, catechins have been shown in recent studies to fight viruses, slow aging, and have a beneficial effect on health. Clinical tests have shown that catechins destroy free radicals and have far-reaching positive effects on the entire body. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules and fragments of molecules that can damage the body at the cellular level leaving the body susceptible to cancer, heart disease and other degenerative diseases.

1. To prepare the bread dough. Sift together the flour, tea powder, sugar, salt and instant dry yeast in a mixing bowl. Add in egg, honey, milk and the starter. Mix with dough hook at slow speed for 1 minute. Increase the speed to the medium and continue to knead until a dough forms. Adjust the speed to slow and cut in butter. Stir until all incorporated. Increase the speed to medium again and knead until the gluten has developed, i. e. elastic, smooth, non-sticky and leave from sides of mixing bowl. Prove the dough in a lightly greased plastic bag for 1 hour, leave in a warm place until dough doubles in volume.
2. Punch the dough down to release gases produced in the fermenting process. Divide them into 4 portions and round up. Rest, covered, for 15 minutes at the room temperature.
3. To prepare the chiffon cake. Beat the egg yolk with sugar until the sugar completely dissolved. In another bowl, stir together the milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Warm the mixture to 35C/95F. Add into the egg yolk mixture. Sift the cake flour and baking powder into the liquid mixture.
4. Whip the egg whites on high speed until foamy. Add the white vinegar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour the batter into 2 Swiss roll pan each lined with a baking sheet, spreading the cake batter with an offset spatula. Bake in a preheated oven 165C/340F for 10-12 minutes until gold brown. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean and the cake, when lightly pressed, will spring back.
5. Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven carefully remove the parchment paper. If the baking paper sticks to the cake, lightly brush the back of the paper with a little warm water, allow to stand for a few moments, then peel the paper from the cake. Each cut into half and set aside. Roll the each bread dough out with a rolling pin to about 15 x 12 cm.
6. Set the cake atop the dough and roll up from a short side. Place them on the baking pan lined with a baking sheet. Cover with a wet towel and leave to rise for about 1 hour until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 175C/350F and bake the bread for 20-25 minutes.

Matcha Bread Chiffon Roll

In Chinese tea culture, semi-oxidised oolong teas are collectively grouped as qīngchá (Chinese: 清茶; literally "clear tea"). Oolong has a taste more akin to green tea than to black tea: it has neither the rosy, sweet aroma of black tea nor the stridently grassy vegetal notes that typify green tea. It is commonly brewed to be strong, with the bitterness leaving a sweet aftertaste. Several subvarieties of oolong, including those produced in the Wuyi Mountains of northern Fujian and in the central mountains of Taiwan, are among the most famous Chinese teas.

1. Brew a cup of Oolong tea with 5 grams of tea leaves. Reserve 40 ml tea drink and 2/3 tablespoon of brewed tea leaves. Set aside for later use.
2. Chop the tea leaves very fine and mix with the ingredients for the filling. Cover and store in the fridge.
3. Sift the flour in a mixing bowl, pour in the boiled Oolong tea (use a microwave to warm up if it is cold), use the chopsticks to stir, then add 25 ml cold water in 2-3 times until a smooth and soft (like your earlobe) dough forms.
4. Cover with a plastic wrapper and let stand for 30 minutes. Portion the dough into 10-11, each about 16 grams.Place the portioned dough on a lightly floured board, press flat and roll out thinly with a rolling pin, place a tablespoon of filling on it, roll up and form into a roll like a pencil. Again roll it into a circle about 3-4 cm in diameter. Let stand for 30 minutes.
5. Heat a frying-pan wok over a medium flame. Put the pancake into the pan and cook it until golden brown at the both sides.

Oolong Tea Rolls

This strawberry tea chiffon cake has the flavor of refreshing fruit tea and is moist, tender, and light with a fluffy texture. I also used matcha tea powder for this chiffon cake as I wanted to clear up the cupboard. You can use the cake flour instead for the recipe if you have no green tea on hand.

The high oil and egg content creates a very moist cake, and as oil is liquid even at cooler temperatures, chiffon cakes do not tend to harden or dry out as traditional butter cakes might. This makes them better-suited than many cakes to filling or frosting with ingredients that need to be refrigerated or frozen, such as pastry cream or ice cream. Chiffon cakes tend to be lower in saturated fat than butter cakes, potentially making them healthier than their butter-heavy counterparts. The lack of butter, however, means that chiffon cakes lack much of the rich flavor of butter cakes, and hence they are typically served accompanied with flavorful sauces or other accompaniments, such as chocolate or fruit fillings. Wikipedia

1. Sift flour, matcha tea powder and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Beat together 20 grams of sugar and strawberry-scented tea until blended and sugar has completely dissolved. Whisk in the salad oil until emulsified. Add in sifted flour mixture and mix until just blended. Add in one whole egg and egg yolks. Combine all the ingredients until you obtain a smooth batter.
2. Beat egg whites with salt and lemon juice over low speed until frothy and foamy. Gradually add in sugar in 3 portions, increase speed and beat until stiff but not dry. Carefully fold 1/3 of egg white mixture into flour mixture to lighten it and then another one third, finally fold the mixture with the remaining whites. Make sure no white streaks remain.
3. Pour into a 26-cm ungreased tube pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 75 minutes until done in the center of 155C/310F oven. Remove pan from oven and immediately turn upside down on the neck of a glass bottle to cool for at least 1 hour. Unmold after it's thoroughly cool.

Dating back to the 18th century, the macaron is a traditional French pastry, made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. This sweet pastry came out of the French courts' baker's oven as round meringue-like domes with a flat base.
Macarons, also anglicized "macaroons", are not to be confused with a similar pastry also called macaroons. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. Macaroons are dense cookies made either with coconut or with a coarse almond paste.
Macarons come in a wide variety of flavors varying by store and season; ranging from traditional to exotic. Wikipedia

1. In a mixing bowl whisk together the ground hazelnut and powdered sugar until completely blended. Line 3 baking sheet with parchment paper.
   
2. In your stand mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites and pinch of salt until foamy, gradually add the sugar and continue beating until soft peaks appear.
3. Fold in the ground hazelnut mixture in two additions until your get a slow moving batter. Fill a pastry bag with the batter and pipe small amounts of batter 3 cm in diameter, 2 cm apart. Leave to rest for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 170C/340F and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and cool completelyt on rack. Spoon the filling on one shell and sandwich with another one.

I am sending this to "Creative Coffee Recipes", Chow and Chatter First Giveaway event hosted by Rebecca.

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Line muffin tins with papers or grease liberally. Dissolve the coffee powder in hot water. Set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside.
   
2. Beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Gradually add in sugar and beat until fluffy and light in colour. Add in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in rum extract. Alternately add in flour mixture and prepared coffee. Stir only until combined. Do not over-mix.
3. Fill muffin cups 4/5 full and top with 3 hazelnuts. Bake 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins on a wire rack. Combine together the powdered sugar and instant coffee. Add in hot water and stir until smooth. Drizzle the glaze across the top of each muffin and leave to set before serving.

A wonderful chocolate treat---rich, moist and dense brownie is named after its brown color. There are many different brownie recipes, but they are all prepared similarly.

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Grease a 20x30cm baking pan with some butter. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
   
2. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler, stir until smooth and remove from heat. Blend in sugar, eggs and extract. Gradually sift in the flour mixture and combine until incorporated. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle rack of oven for about 28 minutes. Remove and cool completely.
   
3. Meanwhile prepare the glaze. Over a double boiler melt the milk chocolate and butter. As soon as the chocolate starts melting, add in espresso and whisk until smooth. Pour the glaze over the brownies. Sprinkle the roasted almond slices over. When the glaze is set, cut into 12 squares.

Green teas contain a high amount of antioxidants, which are found in many foods, including vegetables, fruits, and chocolate, known to forestall aging.
Green tea is also known as a mood enhancer as it contains L-theanine, an amino acid known to relax the mind.

1. Dissolve the gelatin in the water and set aside for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the matcha green tea powder into the yogurt. Microwave the gelatin together with water for about 20 seconds. Pour the yogurt mixture into the melted gelatin. Whip the cream with sugar in a separate bowl until very soft peaks form, carefully fold this into the matcha yogurt mixture.
   
   
2. Place an 7-inch mousse ring in a plate and arrange one single layer of lady fingers on the bottom, leaving one centimeter from the sides, so that the mousse will drip down and fill up all around the cake layer. Gently press second layer of lady fingers cookies and the rest of the mousse filling. Cover and chill for at least 5 hours until firm.
3. To unmold cake, using a damp very hot towel, carefully heat outside of spring-form pan until edge of mousse melts slightly. Pipe some whipped cream around the edge of the cake, dust the top with matcha tea powder. Garnish with fresh strawberries and sugared pearls.

The tea has a natural rosy taste and aroma, as I infuse the Earl-Grey with real dried rose buds, which makes the tea very refreshing and enjoyable. According to the TCM, rosebuds help aiding circulation and reducing tension.

1. Place tea bag and rose petals in a tea pot. Pour in some boiled water and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Sweeten the tea with some honey.

Those melt-in-your-mouth, sweet, buttery cookies, with a hint of pleasant bitterness from green tea are simply amazing. Crumbly, light, with each bite, there's mild aroma of green tea. Enjoy (with a cup of hot tea) for yourself or give them as a gift, esp. to those tea lovers.

1. Preheat oven to 175C/350F, and line two baking trays with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Use a spatula to stir the shortening, butter, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth, then beat with an electric mixer until blended. Add egg white in two additions and whip until fluffy.
   
   
2. Sift the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix with a plastic spatula until just moistened. Combine 70 grams of the batter with the matcha tea powder in another bowl. Fill a pastry bag with a large star tip with two kinds cookie batters. Pipe cookies into curves onto prepared baking trays, spacing about 1 inch apart.
   
3. Bake for about 15 minutes in the center of the hot oven. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store the cookies in the airtight container for up to one week.

Not really satisfied with the result as the surface cracked although the bain-marie was applied, and the chocolate batter was not enough. Nevertheless, it tastes super!

1. Combine together all the ingredients for the crust. Chill for 30 minutes. Take out the dough from the fridge and press into the bottom and sides of a 26-cm springform pan lined with baking paper. Return it to the fridge and let rest for another 30 minutes.
2. Combine together matcha tea powder and hot water in a bowl. Melt chocolate over a hot-water bath. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Place cream cheese, yogurt, and two thirds of sugar in a bowl set over a hot water bath. Stir until sugar dissolved and all the ingredients are well-blended. Add in egg yolks, vanilla extract and heavy cream. Mix well. Whip the egg whites and the rest of sugar until soft peak forms. Fold into the cheese mixture. Combine one fourth of the plain cheese mixture with melted chocolate, and another one fourth with matcha. So now you have 2 portions of plain cheese mixture, one chocolate-flavoured cheese, and one matcha-flavoured cheese mixture.
3. Pour plain, chocolate and matcha cheese batters alternatively over the center of the biscuit crust in the pan. With a tip of toothpick you slide across the surface to create stripes or swirl the whole mixture with a table knife until it resembles a marbled effect.
4. Pour the cake pan on a large baking tray and pour some hot tap water to half way up the outside of the tin to form a bain-marie. Bake for 40 minutes. Turn the oven down to 150C and bake for a further 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely. Chill the cake overnight.