Matcha Mochi Cake

Over the holiday break, I received the most interesting e-mail from a friend.

Dear Jen:

I have a serious proposition for you.

[Our friend] gave me a taste of your green tea mochi that you made for his birthday. It was SOOOOO good!

If you would be willing to make me a batch, I'll pay you for it.

Please consider!

What a proposition! I don't think I've ever had anyone offer to pay me for my baked goods! Usually I'm happy enough if people enjoy my cooking.

In any event, this green tea mocha is easy to make and definitely a crowd pleaser. The friend for whom I made it? He ate an entire loaf in one morning.

Yeah, it's that good.

Matcha powder is the key ingredient in this recipe. Matcha is finely milled shade-grown dried tea leaves.  During the last few weeks before harvest, tea plants are covered and protected from the sun. This act causes the tea leaves to grow more slowly, become darker, and produce much more amino acids, which results in a sweeter tasting tea. The best buds are picked, dried, and crumbled up.
These crumbled leaves can then be milled into a fine powder. Drinking matcha involves adding hot water to this fine, bright green powder and drinking it whole.

Matcha boasts even more health benefits than normal green tea because you are drinking the entire tea leave whole instead of just steeping the leaf and extracting certain flavors from it.  Matcha is packed full of anti-oxidants, having a more concentrated boost than pomegranates, blueberries, and spinach.

Because of the involved process required to make matcha, matcha costs a lot more than other green teas. A tiny little can of the stuff from Japan can cost you close to $20.

I think it's worth spending the money on good matcha, because the quality of the flavor influences the flavor of your dessert so directly.

Enjoy!

Matcha Mochi Cake
1 lb glutinous rice flour
2 T matcha powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten

 Combine all ingredients and mix until well combined. Add to 2 well greased loaf pans (or 1 bundt pan) and bake at 350 ° F for at least one hour depending on the pan.  Cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out cleanly.

Let cool completely before trying to removing from the pan! Otherwise it will get stuck and you will be very, very sorry.

Note: this dish was made for the Gojee (Virtual) Potluck.
Starting on Thursday, January 26, check out other potluck dishes fellow gojee contributors shared. Go to gojee.com and enter “gojeepotluck” into I Crave. You can also follow #gojeepotluck on Twitter.

Giveaway is still going on! The odds are pretty good right now. I am giving away three personally autographed copies of Nina Simonds' new book Simple Asian Meals. Enter the giveaway here.