Matcha Croissants

Yes for 2018 being in full swing. It's time to kick off my January bakes. I decided to only do Matcha bakes, mainly because I've always wanted to bake with Matcha and I have a lot of Matcha I need to use that was just hanging out in my pantry. Matcha is a really finely ground green tea powder from Japan. It has an earthy, grassy taste sometimes, I think it pairs really well with raspberry, or citrus and in the baking world you can't go wrong with adding in some white chocolate. I decided to ease into the matcha bakes by baking croissants and adding some matcha cream cheese filling to a couple. They turned out great. Next time I bake these I will add more filling. I was scared that the filling would ooze out while in the oven. Also I might flavor the dough with matcha but I was concerned that people would think the flavor was too strong, so I opted into just doing a filling on some and still bake butter, and almond croissants. So now that everyone has dipped their toes into the matcha pool next weeks Matcha bake will definitely involve more Matcha Flavor.

Matcha Croissants

I really loved how these turned out. I think they looked really yummy. They were super flakey, crispy and had lots of buttery layers. I also had freeze dried raspberries in the pantry that I ground with some powdered sugar and made a yummy raspberry dust for the tops of some of the Matcha Croissants.

Matcha filled croissant with raspberry powder

Here's what you are going to need

Croissant Dough

• 500 g unbleached all-purpose flour + (extra for dusting work surface)
• 140 g water
• 140 g whole milk (you can take it straight from the fridge)
• 55 g sugar
• 40 g soft unsalted butter
• 11 g instant yeast (if you buy those little packets it's exactly two) 
• 12 g salt

Butter layer

• 280g of good quality unsalted butter (that's around 10oz)

Matcha Filling

• 4 oz of softened cream cheese (1/2 cup)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of good matcha powder
• 1 teaspoon of orange extract (optional)
• 3/4 to 1 cup of powdered sugar (depends on your taste)

Additional items for croissants

• 1 egg + tablespoon of (cream, milk, or water) 
• good quality white chocolate
• almond paste
• slivered almonds
• powdered sugar
• matcha powder

Since I've made croissants on this blog before I will post the link to the original post for detailed pictures and instructions

How to make Croissants 

So lets make the Matcha Filling which is super easy.

Take your softened cream cheese and orange extract and place it in a bowl. 

 Take your powdered sugar and matcha powdered and stir together in a small bowl

Sift the powdered sugar + Matcha powder over your cream cheese

sifting helps with lumps

Mix until all combined. If you need to add more powdered sugar. If you added too much powdered sugar and your mixture is too thick and hard to stir add a tablespoon of milk. The consistency should be like a thick glue.

Matcha Cream Cheese Filling

Place your Matcha Cream cheese in the fridge until you are ready to fill your croissants.

Now you should have your croissant dough rolled and cut out after following the instructions on how to make croissants

You are ready to fill these croissants.

Take your croissant triangle of dough and place about a tablespoon of filling at the base of your croissant.

Starting from the base of the triangle carefully roll the croissant up with the palm of your hand.The point of the triangle should be under your rolled croissant

look at that Matcha filling from the side

so cute, ready to rise....

Brush on the egg wash and let the croissants proof for 2 hours

Before the croissants bake in the oven brush on another coating of egg wash. This is also where you will place any hard toppings like slivered almonds or sesame seeds.

Ready to bake 

 Bake in 400F oven for about 20 minutes. Until nice and golden brown. Then place on cooling racks.

Butter Croissants

Dust Almond croissants with a generous amount of powdered sugar

Almond Croissants

Dust Matcha Croissants with Powdered Sugar and Matcha Powder

So Green

I have to admit that these are really cute.

Also they can be topped with raspberry powder and a drizzle of white chocolate

I love the raspberry powder

everything is better with a white chocolate drizzle

Here's a finished  Matcha croissant

so pretty

 Here's a view of the inside

look at those layers.....

Here are the Almond ones

fresh out of the oven and all toasty, waiting to get their dusting of powdered sugar.

I want to eat all of these

Almond Croissants are my freaking favorite

I love that Marzipan filling

First Matcha bake down, three more to go. The next Matcha baked shall be Matcha dougnuts with a Matcha Glaze.

2018 For The Win! A Year in Review

So It's now 2018 and before looking forward to future bakes I wanted to look back on some of my favorite bakes. I'm not going to say that this was easy I counted 56 different bakes posted. That is a ton but not at all everything that I baked in 2017. There were some days that I just did not want to post or edit pictures. I didn't want to type post or upload the content. I just really wanted to get to 52 posts so it would average like I baked once a week. I'm happy with everything on the blog, I may even introduce some video in the future. I loved the direction the blog post went in during the month of October, with sticking to a theme for the bakes that month. I will continue that going forward. January shall be Matcha Month. All things Matcha, so look forward to that.

Ok I'm going to just post pictures of my favorite things I baked. My Top 10. Then I will post the Top 5 most viewed bakes.

My Top 10 Bakes (they aren't in any specific order)

Mango Curd Tart

I just really thought that this tart was beautiful and it really tasted delicious and was fun to make. I think this was my first time making a fruit curd other than Lemon. I remember toasting the coconut with cinnamon to give it an extra punch. The toasted meringue on top added just enough sweetness to offset the nuttiness of the crust and the tartness of the mango. Everyone gobbled these up. I really loved the colors, so summery.

Lemon Tart

I will and forever love a good lemon curd. After making so many macarons I always have egg yolks, and if I have fruit and egg yolks I'm going to make a curd. Lemon happens to be my favorite, so I made a lemon tart. I think this was my first time making a sweet pastry tart shell. I was brushing the line between burnt crust. This was really yummy and tart. I added the blackberries for a visual contrast and we all know berries and lemons go well together. Pistachios added a nice textural difference. Oh and I loved the way the crescent design of the berries came out.

Dulce De Leche Macarons

These have got to be my favorite macarons that I have ever made. I've baked a ton of macarons and this is my absolute favorite flavor combination. The shell was coffee flavored, I dusted coffee on top of each shell before it baked. I made my own dulce de leche filling by boiling condensed milk slowly for 3+ hours and I topped each dollop of filling with some flakes of coarse sea salt. These weren't everyone's favorite because of the strong coffee flavor but I adored these. They were filled with bitter notes, chocolatey notes, salty and sweet. I loved them.... I need to bake these again.

Lemon Poppyseed Macarons

I also enjoyed these. I didn't eat as many as I would have liked of these because I made these for my brother. Everyone in our family loves lemon and these are what he requested. I remember making these and thinking to myself that I wanted these to be so lemony. I filled each macaron with a lemon poppyseed buttercream and I filled that with some homemade lemon curd. They were delicious. I mean I loved the way the poppy seeds popped on the shell and they gave a different texture to the buttercream, very sprinklesque.

Croissants...Butter, Almond, and Pan Au Chocolat

I always wondered what it would take to make my own croissants, and now I know. It takes three days and some patience. Obviously these are delicious and I've made them a couple of times since posting the recipe on the blog. Everyone has a favorite, so It's nice that you can split the dough and make a couple of different flavors. I personally like the almond croissants, filled with a homemade almond paste, dusted with powdered sugar. A little messy but still delicious. You just have to remember 3 days and some good butter.

Coconut Mousse Cake with a Marble Mirror Glaze

This cake was beautiful and my first attempt at making and using a mirror glaze. It was time consuming and a bit scary but it turned out well. It was jammed pack with coconut flavor, from the spongy cake layer to the coconut mousse, and the hidden coconut water jelly inside. I loved pouring the marbled glaze over the cake and I'll probably be making more entremets and large mousse cakes in the future.

Lemon Poppyseed Baked Doughnut

Again one of my favorite flavor profiles. I love Lemon and I love Poppyseed. I love how the slate blue poppy seeds look on the glaze of this doughnut. I think I made these for my mom's birthday breakfast. This was also my first time making, and baking doughnuts. They were wonderful and they don't take that much time. These were a breakfast success and were gobbled up.

Orange Blossom Macarons with a Saffron+ Cardamom Buttercream and Orange Marmalade Center

This was a new flavor combination I was working on. They came out great. I was just playing around with flavors I had at home. I was actually thinking about some of my great friends who came from India. I was thinking of tea, then I thought of gulab jamun, and toast and jam. This concoction was born. I'm glad it was because it smells amazing and taste amazing. These were popular too.

Cardamom Poached Pear Frangipane Tarts

There is a theme. When I like a certain flavor I tend to try to incorporate it into multiple desserts. I remember baking these on a fall day. I wanted to bake something that I never baked and I saw a picture of a beautiful poached pear 9 inch tart. I knew I wanted to make mini versions. This was my first time poaching pears and it was a lot easier than I thought. I also made frangipane for the first time and it was so good. Almond everything is delicious, right?

Churros

I love churros, I don't know why. I mean yes I do, fried dough in cinnamon and sugar. I think the reason I love them so much is because churros are just something you don't eat everyday or even every month. I saw they were super simple to make and it allowed me to learn how to make pate a choux dough. They are so good freshly fried. So crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. Hey dunk them in some dulce de leche for an extra yummy treat.

Top 5 Most Viewed

5. My Mom's Birthday Cake AKA the Loaded Confetti Cake

4.) The Dulce De Leche Macarons

3.) The Apple+Blackberry Hand Pies

2.) The Pumpkin Cheesecake

1.) The Lemon Poppyseed Macarons with Lemon Curd Center

Thin Mint Cookies For The Win!

Yeah we survived the holidays. Here is the final cookie recipe for 2017, as well as the last recipe post on this blog for the year. I'm pretty happy, well ecstatic that I was able to post over 52 different baking recipes on this blog for the year. I also look forward to 2018 because I will introduce more savory bakes as well. I'm excited. Well for today we went with a chocolate mint shortbread cookie dipped in chocolate. You know a Thin Mint cookie. I think they taste just as good as the girl scout ones. They are a little thicker so you don't have to eat as many. I made these for a Christmas Eve party so check them out and everyone ate them. I was barely able to get a picture of the finished product.

Thin Mint Cookies

Thin Mint Cookies

• 1 cup (8 oz, or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutched dark cocoa powder which worked well)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour (fluff the flour before scooping and leveling the cup, too much flour will result in a dry dough)
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips (or whatever chocolate variety you prefer)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of crisco, or coconut oil ( to thin chocolate for dipping)
• crushed peppermint (optional for garnish)

Preheat your oven to 350F

Cream butter until light and fluffy

Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.

 Stir in the salt, mint extract and cocoa powder. 

Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter resembles a thick frosting.

Add the flour and mix just until the flour is combined, making sure to not over mix.

Form dough into a ball. Knead a few times to bring together, then flatten into a disk between half an inch and one inch thick, cover in plastic wrap then place in freezer for 15 minutes.

Remove dough from the freezer and roll it out really thin on a floured surface, about 1/8-inch. Cut cookies using 1 1/2-inch cutter (I used a small cordial glass that measured almost 2" and it was the perfect size).

Place cookies on a baking sheet and bake on 350F for 10 minutes.

 Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cookies bake, make the chocolate  coating. Chop the baking chocolate into very small, thin pieces. Place in a glass measuring cup or similar container along with the oil and microwave in short 15-20 second bursts. 

Gently drop the cookies, one at a time, into the coating. Turn to coat entirely, then lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and bang the fork on the side of the pan until the extra coating drips off.

 Place on a parchment or plastic wrap-lined baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set. (* if you are sprinkling anything on top of your cookies you have to do it before the chocolate sets)

There you have it, yummy, minty, chocolatey goodness

close up of the peppermint goodness

Perfect winter treat