happy MARCH! wait a second, how is it march already? didn't we just celebrate the new year? i originally had this post schedueled for the last day of february to kick off a certain green holiday in march, but then i realized there is no february 30th this year, or ever (LOL fail, huge fail). oh well, who is ready for saint patrick's day! i usually put green food colouring in anything i can possibly think of, but what about a more natural green route this year. matcha powder! i used aiya matcha's cooking grade matcha powder in both the chocolate cake portion & buttercream frosting. it is a special blend that doesn't lose its flavour when mixed with other ingredients. to give it a fun, festive, twist i did a two tone frosting of half vanilla buttercream & half matcha buttercream. how pretty do they look? i had several taste testers devour these cupcakes & they all agreed it was the perfect amount of matcha to chocolate flavour.
enjoy! xo
ingredients
(makes one dozen cupcakes)
for the chocolate matcha cake
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dutch dark cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons aiya matcha powder (i used the cooking grade blend)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup full fat sour cream or yogurt
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup boiling water
for the vanilla matcha buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon matcha powder
- chocolate sprinkles, for topping
directions
for the chocolate matcha cake
- preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- in a large mixing bowl add the raw sugar, oil, vanilla, cocoa powder, matcha powder, egg & sour cream. beat until well combined.
- sift in the flour, baking soda & salt until well combined.
- slowly pour in the boiling water until silkly smooth.
- divide evenly between 12 lined cupcake tins & bake for 15-18 minutes.
- let cool while you make the frosting.
for the vanilla matcha buttercream
- in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, sugar, vanilla & sea salt. beat until light & fluffy, about 8 minutes.
- divide frosting between two bowls & add the matcha powder to half. stir until the frosting is a smooth green colour.
- in a piping bag alternate between adding a heaping spoon full of vanilla buttercream & matcha buttercream.
- pipe as desired & top with chocolate sprinkles!
thank you so much to aiya matcha for sponsoring this post! all opinions are my own. the cooking grade matcha blend that i used is available here. xo