Hojicha-ppuccino Recipe plus Matcha White Chocolate Lava Cake

I used to make chocolate lava cakes all the time because it was one of the very few desserts an ex of mine liked to eat, so I ended up getting little bored of them (which is quite impressive for me, seeing as I seldom get bored of any dessert!) My ex is long gone, but my ennui with this pudding continues with no cure- or so I thought.

Luckily for me, I stumbled across Yutaro5296's YouTube channel recently during a late-night online raid of all things matcha-flavoured. As soon as I saw his matcha lava cake video recipe, I knew I had to try it.

matcha lava cake
No words. <3

Needless to say I was not disappointed. (。♥□♥。) And I'm thoroughly in love with all things lava cake once more!

I also wanted an actual cup of tea to go with it. At first I thought matcha latte would be an obvious choice, but I didn't want to overdo the matcha flavour and ruin the actual dessert. So, running with the Japanese tea theme, I decided to make a hojicha latte- or rather a hojicha cappuccino, since the water-to-milk ratio is higher and it's more foamy. The smooth, roasty toasty flavour of the hojicha was a perfect foil for the bitter sweetness of the matcha white chocolate lava cake.


I also served the lava cake with some frozen vanilla yogurt, which cut through the richness of it very nicely.

I prepared the lava cake first, then made my hojicha-ppuccino whilst it was in the oven. Be sure to check out Yutaro's video for the full recipe and instructions!

Tash Tip 1: Cut little discs of greaseproof paper and stick to the bottom of your ramekins/ pudding moulds after you've buttered them- this makes getting the finished cakes out super easy.


Tash Tip 2: Sift the flour and matcha powder together before you mix into the other ingredients- I've always found that sometimes matcha powder can get clumpy and hard to mix easily if not sifted.


Y-san's recipe makes two puddings. At first I thought I'd half it since I'm the only real matcha fan in my family, and then I remembered that lava cake batter freezes nicely! So one for Present Tash, one for Future Tash.

Future Tash can't wait!

Once my pudding had done its time chilling in the fridge and was in the oven, I got to making the second part of the Japanese teafest.


Nope, these aren't wood chippings, this is hojicha: roasted Japanese green tea. It has a lovely rich toasty nutty flavour, and I usually drink it by adding a small pinch of tea leaves to a large mug of hot water.

How to Make Hojicha-ppuccino

1) Brew one tablespoon of hojicha with about 75ml of boiling water in a small teapot (or another mug if you don't have one) for three minutes to make a super-strong shot of tea.



2) Add 2tsp (or to taste) white sugar to your favourite mug.


3) Put 200ml milk (I used semi-skimmed) into a saucepan and give it a quick whizz with a milk frother to start the foam off.


4) Now turn the heat on and bring to a GENTLE simmer- once the milk starts steaming whisk a little more until you have a thick foam, and then switch off the heat (doing it this way stabilises the foam).



5) Add your tea shot to your mug and stir well to dissolve the sugar (don't forget to use a tea strainer or you'll get a nasty surprise when it comes to drinking it!)



6) Pour in the milk, foam and all...


7) And dust with a little cocoa powder or matcha powder for effect!


The white chocolate matcha lava cake only took nine minutes to bake, so while the milk was simmering away I had already taken it out of the oven to cool enough to handle:

See how it's light brown around the edges? My oven was too hot.

All I had to do now was run a knife around the edges, flip it over onto a plate and peel the baking paper disk off. A couple of scoops of frozen yogurt and an extra dusting of matcha powder later, and it was time to eat!





どうもありがとうございました Yutaro-san for the crazy-awesome recipe!

Comments

  1. Your cake and cappuccino are a dessert paradise!!

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    Replies
    1. Haha thank you! It was a very good evening. XD Best thing is I still have one in the freezer ready to go!

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