Saturday, October 30, 2010

Matcha Rare Cheesecake: A slice of Japanese taste from your kitchen!

For me Japanese green tea powder (or Matcha 抹茶 ) is the love affair ^^, it began a long time ago. From the moment that I read about it in the manga, I really want to know how it taste like. I always search for it everywhere I go, but at that time it's really hard to find.
Now it's easier to find and many of good quality can be purchased (with a lot of money >*<) and my love for the green tea still grow. 
You can see sweets from green tea almost everywhere, it is very common, but for making it by yourself the first thing is find the one that you like. As other kinds of the ingredient, I suggest you choose the one that you love the taste of it, you can dip your finger into the powder and taste it, if you love it in its powder form, your sweet will taste great for you too.


For me after I got green tea powder from my friend I always want to use it (if you can get the one that you like you will be the same ^^, the fragrance is great, the bitterness is balance and it's delicious). So when I see the book:  ..................... I just had to buy it.
There are a lot to choose from, cakes, ice cream, macaron etc. anyway I had to choose only one to make (actually I really want to make all of them but I can't eat them all at the same time).
I choose the Matcha Rare cheesecake for 2 reasons, 1.I love cheesecake  and 2. I think green tea will make cheesecake taste less rich which mean I can eat it more, haha. You can make it in 1 15cm square pan or use a mini cheesecake pan like me. 
For the sweeten kidney bean, if you can buy it it will be easier but you can do it by yourself too just follow this recipe. Even you skip it ^^, the cake still delicious. So, if you have some of the green tea powder at home (or you may want to go out and get one box of it, haha), follow me into the kitchen and we can have a slice of delicious cheesecake together. 





Matcha Rare Cheesecake
(Japanese Green tea powder cheesecake)
Makes 15x15cm cake or 9 mini cheesecake 




50g .................................. Butter (soft)
80g .................................. Graham crackers
.......................................... A pinch of salt
70g .................................. Sugar
5g .................................... Gelatin
2tsp ................................ Matcha (Japanese Green tea powder)
150ml ............................ Whipping cream
200g .............................. Cream cheese
100g ............................... Sour cream
20-27 ............................. Sweeten boiled kidney bean (plus more for decorating)
......................................... Dark chocolate for decorating



Crush the cracker with the rolling pin.
 In a medium bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, salt and butter until blended. 
Divide the mixture among the mini cheesecake tin and, using your fingers, pat it into an even layer in the bottom of each cup. (If using 15x15cm pan with removable bottom just pat the entire cracker into the bottom of the pan).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm.



Bloom the gelatin in cold water for 3-5 minutes.
Put the gelatin in the microwavable small bowl with 1tbsp of water, heat in the microwave for 20seconds, stir to melt the gelatin, set aside.



Beat the cream cheese with sugar until smooth (you can warm the cream cheese by place the bowl over the hot water to warm it, so the cheese will be smooth). Add the sour cream and whipping cream, stir to combine.



Spoon about ½ cup of the batter into a small bowl, sift the green tea over it, and stir until fully combined.



Pour the green tea mixture back into the cheese mixture, stir then add the gelatin, and stir until fully combined. Pour the batter  into a jug (or you can pour the batter directly into the prepared pan).



Pour the batter half way, then place the sweeten kidney bean over the batter, then cover with the rest of the batter, smooth the surface.
Chill for 2 hours, until firm.


Matcha Rare Cheesecake: 
A slice of Japanese taste from your kitchen! 

24 comments:

  1. Sounds yumm!

    Pook, does your 5g of gelatin equal to a gelatin leaf? And if substituting with gelatin powder, how much should I use?

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  2. Pook, u used the mini tins to do this? How did you unmould the cake, it is so neatly done?


    Thanks

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  3. Beautiful matcha cheesecake. I would want to try this out. I love matcha. Thanks Pook for sharing this winner :)

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  4. Hi, Roselyn
    It's about 2 and a half leaf of the gelatin or 1 1/2 tsp of gelatin powder.

    Hi, Anonymous ^^
    My mini cheesecake tin is a removable bottom tin, so it's easy to get the cake out of the tin. And before take the cake out of the tin I use a warm towel to warm it.

    Hi, Elin
    ^^, I'm glad that you like it, well I have a lot of recipes with matcha which I really want to try more, and hope you will love them too.

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  5. Thanks for that Pook! :3

    I am going to make it this week. I know it's going to be absolutely super because I love anything green tea. Can't wait to see more green tea recipes from you.

    I wish I could read Japanese...all these books that inspire you looks so good. Love the presentations as well! >.<

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  6. I attempted this recipe on Monday, but failed in the texture department :(

    The cream cheese wasn't smooth (I beat it by hand) and the gelatin didn't incorporate evenly (I used gelatin powder), there were lumps of gelatin in the cake. Nevertheless still a yummy recipe! Will attempt it again in the near future.

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  7. Hi, Roselyn
    You can solve the problem by put the cream cheese in a bowl over warm water, and whisk until the cream cheese melt, it will be smooth.
    For the gelatin, if it not melt completely, there will be a lump, you can melt it by place a bowl (that you melt the gelatin) in a pan of very hot water (don't let the water get into the gelatin bowl), and stir until it completely melt.

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  8. Dear Pook

    i going to try this recipe next weekend for my baby fullmoon party. however, i don't understand the step of "Bloom the gelatin in cold water for 3-5 mins - how? after this step in microwave the gelatin with 1 tbsp of water right? but how to bloom the gelatin? can you explain to me. thanks in advance

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  9. Hi, Vivian
    If using the gelatin sheet, cover them with enough water and let them sit until soft (they will absorb the water). Then take them out of the water and put then in a bowl with 1 tbsp and warm in the microwave.
    But if using the gelatin powder you can bloom the gelatin in 1tbsp of water and warm them in the microwave when all of them absorb the water.

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  10. Dear Pook,

    Noted your kind explanation. I'm going to use gelatin powder. will let you know once i give it a try. hope everything turn out to be alright!

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  11. Hi Pook!

    I forgot to ask, when adding in the bloomed/microwaved gelatin powder, do I mix it with the cheese mixture while it's still hot? And do I have to stir it in a quick motion?

    Thanks for answering all my question :3

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  12. Hi, Roselyn
    You can mix the gelatin into the cheese mixture while it still warm and just whisk it in, that's all ^^.

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  13. Hi, just wondering what pan did u use everytime u make individual cakes? Are they muffin pans? Metal or silicon? Cos y seem to be able to unmould it so well. :)
    By the way, love your desserts! How I wish I can make such nice desserts like u! :)

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  14. Hi, Aimei
    I use metal one, I will post a photo for you ^^. It's called individual cheese cake pan.

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  15. Thanks! I saw the pictures. It looks like the usual muffin tray. How den do you remove your mousse cakes? Is the base removable?

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  16. Yes, the base of the pan is removable.

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  17. That's really a good pan! Hmmm wonder I can it here in Singapore? :) where did u get it?

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  18. I got it from True Value (in Thailand). ^^

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  19. Thanks! Does Bangkok have true value? How much does it cost? If convenient probably can ask my friend to get for me. Not sure if Singapore has such pan.. :)

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  20. Yes, it's in Bkk, the price for this pan is about 1000 bath (I can't remember the exact price anyway -*-).

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  21. Hi Pook, this cake looks amazing. I have never made and eaten a rare cheese cake but I think i will start with this one :)
    Can I skip the whipping cream and use sour cream instead?

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  22. Actually you can use sourcream, but you may need to adjust the gelatin, start with the same amount of galatin, the see the result ^^.

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