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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Green Tea and Dark Chocolate Scones

I have a weakness for all things British, especially proper tea time. I think there is something lovely about breaking the day just before evening falls with a light snack and some caffeine. The caffeine part is probably not the best habit for a good night's rest, but I do love strong black tea! 
Scones are a traditional offering for tea, the soft crumbly texture goes down very well with a strong cuppa. These scones use the same ingredient in a Starbucks Green Tea Latte, Green Matcha. Matcha is a finely ground high grade green tea, and you can find it at tea stores, or online. I got mine here and you can use it to make green tea lattes at home, as well as scones! A little goes a long way and the flavor is more intense than with the whole leaves. 
In this recipe, the bitterness of the chocolate perfectly offsets the sweet, fragrant green tea and helps keep the scone a little more moist. I also think that chocolate makes everything better! 

Green Tea and Dark Chocolate Scones
Ingredients:

2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup of Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
6 Tablespoons of Cold Butter, Chopped into Small 1/2 inch Cubes
1 Ounce of 70% Dark Chocolate, Chopped into Small Bits
1 Large Egg
1/2 Cup of Heavy Cream, plus 2 Tablespoons
2 Teaspoons of Green Matcha

Cooking:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and whisk together. Put in the cold butter cubes and with a pastry blender or a fork, mash the butter into the dried mixture until the mixture is crumbly with pieces no larger than a pea. Put the chocolate into the dry mix. Meanwhile in a saucepan, pour 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and the matcha powder. Whisk the two together on medium heat. Remove the cream from the heat as soon as it starts to bubble. Whisk occasionally until the cream comes to room temperature. Whisk the egg into the cream. The cream must be room temperature or it will cook the egg. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir with a spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened. Take your hands and gather the dough into a ball against the bowl. When it is coming together in one piece, roll or flatten the mound out on a lightly floured surface. You can use your hands to flatten the dough. It needs to be about an inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into wedges. Place on a greased cookie sheet or a silicone sheet. Brush the tops with the remaining heavy cream. Bake for 10-12 minutes. They cook very quickly. You want the edges to be just lightly browned, but no more than that as they will get very dry. Remove and allow the scones to cool before serving.

3 comments:

  1. In this recipe, the bitterness of the chocolate perfectly offsets the sweet, fragrant green tea and helps keep the scone a little more moist. I also think that chocolate makes everything better! where can i buy matcha green tea perth

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got mine here and you can use it to make green tea lattes at home, as well as scones! A little goes a long way and the flavor is more intense than with the whole leaves. best matcha powder perth

    ReplyDelete