Green tea muffins recipe

I'm not sure if I'm addicted to baking or the smell of baking. Well, I'm excited to see cake rise in the oven. I'm even more delighted to fill my home with the smell of baking just like a bakery shop. Haha. I believe I'm not alone!

On a busy day, I'd simply bake something quick such as muffins so that my little one's tea break and my breakfast on the following days are catered for.

Following the vanilla cupcakes, I found this lovely Chocolate chips green tea muffins recipe from Eugenie Kitchen. It's a very simple recipe. After some modifications to enhance the green tea flavor as well as making the texture lighter by replacing a portion of flour with cake flour, it's simply the best muffins I've baked. 

Recipe:

(12 muffins)

100g all purpose flour

150g cake flour

1 1/2 tablespoons green tea powder

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

100g caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

95ml vegetable oil

190ml milk

45g dark chocolate chips

30g white chocolate chips

1. Sift all the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, cake flour, green tea powder and baking powder) into a mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside. 

2. In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg, sugar and salt until pale in color. 

3. Add in vanilla extract and vegetable oil. Whisk until combine. 

4. Add in milk and mix well. 

5. Now, back to the dry ingredients mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet mixture and gently fold until almost combined.

6. Add in dark and white chocolate chips and fold until just combined. Do not over fold/mix. 

7. Line patty pans or cupcake cases on a cupcake pan. 

8. Scoop the batter onto the patty pans evenly, about 1/2 full each. 

9. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170c for about 15mins or until the inserted skewer comes out clean. 

10. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack. 

Vanilla cupcakes recipe

I'm a cupcake lover. I used to buy cupcakes from the local bakery and still do once in a while until I started baking my own cupcakes. If you ask me where to find the best cupcakes in Melbourne, I'd certainly recommend Joy Cupcakes without hesitation. At Joy Cupcakes, every cupcake is beautifully made and comes with various interesting flavors. Often, there'll be a special cupcake flavor available for a limited time to celebrate an occasion/event. The cupcakes produced by Joy Cupcakes are light and moist. And most importantly, with the perfect sweetness. Unlike the sweet icing on a typical cupcake, the meringue buttercream frosting from Joy Cupcakes is something one can't resist. Hence, it's worth to check it out if you're near any of their outlets.

Because of this, I was intrigued to find out the secret to a great tasting cupcake. Well, at least for the base white/vanilla cupcake that could go with any frosting. So, I've been trying new vanilla cupcake recipes every now and then. 

Recently, I found this basic cupcake recipe from Eugenie Kitchen and I quite like the light and fluffy texture. Although it doesn't taste exactly like those from Joy Cupcakes, I'll settle for this recipe for now :) Note that I've reduced the sugar and salt from the original recipe to adapt to my taste buds. If you like a bit of chocolate flavor, fold in some dark chocolate chips before scooping the batter onto the patty pans or cupcake cases. They taste good too.

Recipe: 

(make 16 cupcakes)

128g all-purpose flour

150g cake flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

200g unsalted butter

130g Caster sugar

3 Eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

120ml milk

1. Sift all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Whisk and mix well. 

2. Beat butter and sugar in another mixing bowl until pale and fluffy.

3. Add in eggs, one at a time. Beat thoroughly after each addition. Beat on a higher speed after the last addition until everything is well combined.

4. Fold 1/3 flour mixture onto the batter until combined. Add in 1/2 milk and fold until even. Repeat the same by folding in another 1/3 flour mixture and 1/2 milk, follow by vanilla extract and lastly the 1/3 flour mixture. 

5. Line patty pans or cupcake cases on a cupcake pan. 

6. Scoop the batter onto the patty pans evenly, about 2/3 full each. 

7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160-170c for about 15-20mins or until golden brown and that the inserted skewer comes out clean. 

8. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack. 

Banana muffin recipe

I've never baked a banana flavoured cake before this. In fact, I haven't made muffins ever since I fell in love with the light and fluffy sponge cakes. However, things changed when I found out that my little one actually loves banana muffin from her carer! So, I decided to bake some banana muffins for her afternoon tea. I had baked a few batches of banana muffins now by constantly adjusting the ingredients to achieve a lighter version of banana muffins. 

Below is the recipe that I'm happy with. Please note that I've reduced the sugar significantly as it is meant for kids. Hence, please adjust the sugar amount to your liking. 

Recipe:

(make 10 muffins)

150g cake flour (cake flour makes the cake lighter)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs

50g castor sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

60g canola oil 

80g buttermilk 

200g banana puree

30g rolled oats (Optional. A small amount of oats were added merely for making the muffins more nutritional)

1. Sift cake flour, baking powder and baking soda onto a mixing bowl. Mix in a pinch of salt and leave the flour mix aside. 

2. Beat eggs in another mixing bowl using medium speed for about 30 seconds. 

3. Add in sugar and beat for another 30 seconds on medium speed. 

4. Add in vanilla extract and canola oil and beat further for another 1 minute on the same speed. 

5. Add in half buttermilk and half flour mix. Mix evenly using a whisk. 

6. Mix in the remaining butter milk and flour mix until combine.  

7. Gently mix in banana puree and oats until everything is evenly combined. 

8. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 1/2 full each. I find it easy to use an ice-cream scoop to evenly allocate the batter onto each cupcake case. 

9. Bake in the preheated oven at 175c for about 12-15mins on the lower rack.

10. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Chocolate sponge cupcakes recipe

Whenever I've friends over to visit, cupcakes would be the first thing that comes to mind for a light refreshment. And so it's time for cupcakes again! I chose to bake some chocolate flavour cupcakes this time thinking that who doesn't like chocolate? The cupcakes turned out really well. Seriously, I would never get bored of these spongy cupcakes. They're so light and fluffy regardless with or without frosting.

If you're looking for a simple chocolate sponge cupcakes recipe, you've come to the right place. However, please note that I've significantly reduced the amount of sugar as I was catering for some junior guests. :)

Recipe:

(make 16 small cupcakes)

Chocolate sponge cupcakes:

50g vegetable oil
20g Dutch cocoa powder
60g egg yolks
25g castor sugar
80g milk
Pinch of salt
85g cake flour

180g egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
55g castor sugar

1. Heat the vegetable oil until hot but not until smoking point.

2. Pour hot oil onto the cocoa powder in a mixing bowl and leave it aside to cool.

3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

4. Add milk, salt and stir to combine.

5. Add cocoa mix and stir thoroughly.

6. Sift half the cake flour into the mixture and mix evenly.

7. Sift the remaining cake flour into the mixture and mix evenly. Leave the mixture aside.

8. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

9. Add cream of tartar as soon as the beaten egg white starts to foam.

10. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until stiff peak stage.

11. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix until they are almost combined on each addition. Lastly, scrape down and fold until everything is evenly combined. Bang the batter on the table for a few times to release the big air bubbles.

12. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full each.

13. Bake in the preheated oven at 165c for about 25mins on the lower rack.

14. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Mascarpone cream for frosting:

250g mascarpone
2 tablespoons castor sugar*
A few drops of vanilla extract
150ml whipping cream

* Adjust the amount of sugar based on your liking.

1. Cream mascarpone, sugar and vanilla extract in a chilled mixing bowl over a bowl of ice water until combine.

2. Add in whipping cream and beat until stiff.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Chocolate sprinkles

1. Pipe the mascarpone cream on the cupcakes.

2. Sprinkle some chocolate sprinkles on the cream and serve.

Green tea Hokkaido cupcakes with green tea cream filling recipe

It's Hokkaido cupcakes time again! My all time favourite cupcakes. This time, I baked the green tea version and piped the cupcakes with yummy green tea cream filling. It's heavenly! The green tea flavour balanced out the sweetness just right so the cake is not too sweet. It's a good choice if you don't have a sweet tooth.

I used the same green tea sponge cupcakes recipe which I modified from Hokkaido cupcakes to produce the light and soft sponge. I reckon I am getting the hang of baking Hokkaido cupcakes after baking them so often. And I never get bored of them!

Recipe:

(12 cupcakes)

The sponge cake:

60g egg yolks

25g castor sugar

50g corn oil

80g milk

5g green tea powder mixed with 4 teaspoons of hot water (about 20g) just enough to dissolve the green tea powder into thick green tea mixture. Let it cool before using.

90g cake flour

180g egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

55g castor sugar

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

2. Add corn oil and whisk to combine.

3. Add milk and stir to combine.

4. Add green tea mixture and stir thoroughly.

5. Sift in cake flour and mix well. Leave the batter aside.

6. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

7. Add cream of tartar as soon as the beaten egg white starts to foam.

8. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until stiff peak stage.

9. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix until they are almost combined on each addition. Lastly, scrape down and fold until everything is evenly combined. Bang the batter on the table for a few times to release the big air bubbles.

10. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full each.

11. Bake in the preheated oven at 165c for about 25mins on the lower rack.

12. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Green tea whipped cream:

300ml whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons green tea powder

A few drops of vanilla extract

Note: adjust the amount of sugar and green tea powder according to taste.

1. Pour whipping cream onto a chilled mixing bowl over a bowl of ice water. Add in sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until the cream is at soft peak stage.

2. Add in green tea powder and beat until stiff. You can always adjust the sugar and green tea powder from time to time. You might want to refer to the video tutorial from Joys of baking on how to make whipped cream.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Icing sugar (for dusting)

1. Pipe the green tea whipped cream into each cupcakes.

2. Dust the cupcakes with icing sugar.

Hokkaido cupcakes with strawberry cream filling recipe

I love Hokkaido cupcakes! Its soft and melt-in-the-mouth sponge cake together with the sinful yet yummy whipped cream is simply irresistible.

During my sponge cake exploration, I baked Hokkaido sponge cupcakes multiple times in search for the best recipe. Below is the recipe I am happy with after tweaking the recipe from KitchenTigress. This recipe produces a light, soft and fluffy sponge cake. I have been baking other flavours of sponge cupcakes by tweaking this recipe as well and it works magically all the time.

Other than the sponge cake, the whipped cream is as important because it helps to turn a cupcake into a superstar. I reckon the sweetness of the whipped cream is very much dependent on individual preferences. Joy of baking has a good video tutorial on how to make a simple whipped cream as well as fruits and chocolate flavoured whipped cream.

Well, I baked my favourite Hokkaido cupcakes again. This time, I baked them using paper cups (which help to hold the shape) instead of cupcake cases. Besides that, I piped the cupcakes with strawberry cream filling. Look! These Hokkaido cupcakes look so adorable.

Recipe:

(12 cupcakes with big cupcake cases, 16 cupcakes with paper cups)

The sponge cake:

60g egg yolks

25g castor sugar

50g corn oil

80g milk

85g cake flour

180g egg whites

55g castor sugar

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

2. Add corn oil and whisk to combine.

3. Add milk and stir to combine.

4. Sift in cake flour and mix well. Leave the batter aside.

5. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

6. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until stiff peak stage.

7. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix until they are almost combined on each addition. Lastly, scrape down and fold until every thing is evenly combined. Bang the batter on the table for a few times to release the big air bubbles.

8. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full each. Otherwise, you end up having tall cupcakes like mine. LOL.

9. Bake in the preheated oven at 165c for about 25mins on the lower rack.

10. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Strawberry whipped cream:

300ml whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons castor sugar

A few drops vanilla extract

2/3 cup strawberry purée

1. Pour whipping cream onto a chilled mixing bowl over a bowl of ice water. Add in sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until the cream is at soft peak stage.

2. Add in strawberry purée and beat until stiff.

To assemble the cake:

4 strawberries (for 16 cupcakes)

Icing sugar (for dusting)

1. Cut strawberries into quarters.

2. Pipe the strawberry whipped cream into each cupcakes.

3. Add a quarter of strawberry on top of each cupcakes.

4. Dust the cupcakes with icing sugar.

5. Enjoy the cupcakes with joy!

Green tea Hokkaido sponge cupcakes recipe

While exploring the sponge cake world, I bet one would never miss the green tea sponge. I reckon it's one of the must have sponge in the sponge cakes baking journey. Besides that, green tea is full of nutritional benefits and is widely used in food, health products and even cosmetics! How can we not make a good healthy sponge cake out of it?

As usual, there are many green tea sponge cake recipes around. I have actually tested a few. Most of them are okay. Some recipes are almost gluten free as they use so little flour, thus making the cake super light and airy. Well, nice sponge indeed but too airy for me. After a few experiments, I think I still like the Hokkaido cupcake sponge that I used in making the blueberry Hokkaido cupcakes. Hence, I modified it further for green tea. Guess what?! It turned out to be my favourite green tea sponge so far. Of course, I made them into cupcakes to save baking time!

Recipe:

(12 cupcakes)

60g egg yolks

25g castor sugar

50g corn oil

80g milk

5g green tea powder mixed with 4 teaspoons of hot water (about 20g) just enough to dissolve the green tea powder into thick green tea mixture. Let it cool before using.

90g cake flour

180g egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

55g castor sugar

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

2. Add corn oil and whisk to combine.

3. Add milk and stir to combine.

4. Add green tea mixture and stir thoroughly.

5. Sift in cake flour and mix well. Leave the batter aside.

6. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

7. Add cream of tartar as soon as the beaten egg white starts to foam.

8. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until stiff peak stage.

9. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix until they are almost combined on each addition. Lastly, scrape down and fold until every thing is evenly combined. Bang the batter on the table for a few times to release the big air bubbles.

10. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full each.

11. Bake in the preheated oven at 165c for about 25mins on the lower rack.

12. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Blueberry Hokkaido cupcakes recipe

As part of my sponge cakes baking journey, I stumbled across the Hokkaido cupcakes! They are actually sponge or chiffon cakes but softer in my opinion. After trying out a few Hokkaido cupcakes recipes, I reckon I prefer the recipe posted by Kitchen Tigress. However, I tend to add a bit more milk to get the cotton soft texture but this results in more wrinkles and sinking when cooled. Well, to me looks doesn't matter!

To be even more adventurous, I baked a blueberry version by modifying the recipe. This time, I opted out of the cream filling in the recipe so that it's less fattening and healthier. However, I think it could be better if there were more blueberries to give a punch. To be honest, adding blueberry cream filling would be quite nice.

Recipe:

(12 cupcakes)

60g egg yolks
25g castor sugar
50g corn oil
80g milk
70g blueberry puree
Pinch of salt
90g cake flour

180g egg whites
55g castor sugar

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and thick.

2. Add corn oil and whisk to combine.

3. Add milk and stir to combine.

4. Add blueberry puree follow by salt and stir thoroughly.

5. Sift cake flour into the mixture and mix well. Leave the batter aside.

6. Beat the egg white in a mixing bowl.

7. Gradually add in the sugar when the egg white starts to thicken. Beat until stiff peak stage.

8. Add the egg white mixture onto the egg yolks mixture in 3 batches. Mix the 2 mixtures until they are almost combined using a hand balloon mixer for the first and second batches. Fold in the last batch using a spatula until every thing is combined well. Bang the batter on the table for a few times to release the big air bubbles.

9. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full each.

10. Bake in the preheated oven at 170c for about 18-20 mins on the lower rack.

11. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Suggestion: Dust icing sugar on the cupcakes and serve with fresh blueberries.