We are traveling to Japan this Friday so I got this sudden bug up my butt to cook with green tea this week. If you know me, you know that once I get into something I can't get out of it! So I needed this freaking green tea powder and I didn't have any. I have never used Matcha powder before and it's a little hard to find if you don't know where to look. You can't use regular green tea to bake or cook with so you need to find green tea powder. Amazon has a lot and the large bags are really affordable. But if you're like me and you want to make something that very second you will need to go to a Japanese market or a high-end market. I found my Matcha in Gelsons, but it was a very small tin and it was pretty pricey. 0.7 oz for $15. You can get an entire bag on Amazon for that. So anyhow, don't do what I did and order yours today so you can make it tomorrow or this weekend. The taste is very much green tea-ish, meaning it tastes like green tea and smells like green tea so if you don't like green tea you will want to pass on this one. I happen to really like green tea, and the combo with the white chocolate is honestly amazing. Supposedly the Matcha also boosts your metabolism, gives you energy, and improves your skin! I'll take that any day. I highly recommend this to any of you tea lovers out there. The process is pretty easy so follow along. Recipe at the bottom!

楽しみます

Green Tea Chocolate

Ingredients
14 oz premium white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons green tea Matcha powder (plus more for dusting)

Directions
1. Cut the butter into small chunks and set aside.

2. Pour the heavy whipping cream into a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Watch the cream carefully and when you see bubbles around the edge of the saucepan, remove from heat and switch pan to a cold burner.

3. Immediately add the white chocolate and butter and with a rubber spatula, repeatedly stir together until everything is combined.

4. Once the mixture is smooth add 2 tbsp of green Matcha tea powder, making sure to sift the powder before dumping it into the chocolate. This is important. If it's easier you can just sift the powder directly into the chocolate. Stir to combine and pour into a 9"x9" parchment lined baking dish. 

5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, before cutting into squares. You can dust the top of the chocolate with more powder simply by running it through a sifter. Store in refrigerator.

TIP: Making white chocolate is extremely temperamental and quite often it will seize up if you don't have a perfectly clean pan or you have water left over in your saucepan or left on your spoon etc. so make sure everything is clean and dry before making this. If your chocolate does seize up, you can add 1 teaspoon of vegetable shortening and stir until it becomes soft again.