Thursday, January 17, 2008

Green Tea Pudding

Green Tea Pudding

Green Tea Pudding

Sometimes I try recipes for pleasure, and sometimes I try recipes for research. When I look at a recipe I usually think one of three things:

1. This looks delicious and I want to eat it.
2. I've never made this before.
3. This is a pretty photo and I want to make a pretty dessert.


I chose the green tea puddings from The Sweet Spot because I like green tea, I rarely make pudding, and I have a pile of gelatin sheets in the cupboard.

The puddings came out much greener than the ones pictured in the book. Food photography can be decieving; sometimes the dessert is executed differently in the photo than in the recipe. I often see visible change-ups in baking pans, cutting techniques, or ingredients.

This pudding recipe doesn't overdo the gelatin; the texture was very nice. The green tea flavor is very strong, so I don't recommend it if you aren't passionate about matcha. Do try and serve the puddings with a large dollop of whipped cream and fresh fruit. They are lighter than most panna cottas and extra richness, texture, and flavor makes them much more interesting.

I'd consider making the chocolate or raspberry pudding variations. While this dessert isn't my favorite (generally I hate anything with noticeable gelatin use), it's very elegant and easy to make. It'd be a good, light party dessert.

Green Tea Pudding
adapted from The Sweet Spot by Pichet Ong and Genevieve Ko

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 gelatin sheets, soaked in cold water until softened and drained, or 1.5 tsp powdered gelatin, softened in 2 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp matcha powder
1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup diced mango for garnish
whipped cream, optional

Put the milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until bubbles begin to form around the edges. Add the gelatin and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let the mixture sit until it cools to room temperature.

Whisk the green tea powder and lemon juice into the gelatin mixture and continue whisking until the green tea powder dissolves completely (a hand blender makes this easier.) Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Divide among eight small serving bowls or cups and refrigerate, uncovered, until set, about 3 hours.

Garnish with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

13 comments:

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

My name is Emily & I am writing to you on behalf of Wheeler's Black Label Frozen Desserts. We are holding a very special "chocoholic" ice cream tasting with Little Cakes in NYC this weekend and would love to see members from your meetup group attend!

There will be several different varieties of vegan chocolate ice cream (including Wheeler's favorite, chocolate chocolate chip, and some vanilla and pumpkin flavors for those who aren't quite chocolate enthusiasts) all put together in a lovely little tasting party held at Little Cakes art gallery.

Here is all of the details:

WHERE?
Little Cakes Art Gallery
625 East 6th Street, #1B
New York, N.Y. 10009

WHEN?
This Sunday, January 20th from 1-3PM

Thanks, hope to see you there!
Emily @ Wheeler's Black Label Frozen Desserts

Anonymous said...

This dessert would certainly impress at a party---the color is beautiful. I have a few match fans who would love it, thanks for the recipe!

alien man?! said...

Hi there! I saw this on Taste Spotting and it looks so good! I think I'll try it out this weekend :) Thanks for sharing~

BTW I'm still at beginner's level when it comes to culinary explorations, hehe. Would it be weird to replace the whole milk with soy milk?

Anonymous said...

I actually prefer your picture of the Green Tea pudding than Ong's :)

I think the recipes in the book are solid, but I was a little leery about the 2 tbs. of matcha powder in the recipe. Seems awful lot.

The spiced chocolate pudding recipe looks promising. Looking forward to reading your take on it :)

Pittsburgh Needs Eated said...

alien man-

I don't know about soymilk. It would probably work (remember, gelatin isn't vegan if you're trying to make it vegan) but you have to be careful with sugar content. Some soymilks are very, very sweet.

natalie-

The puddings were strong tasting, but not bad. I'd probably leave out a 1/2 tablespoon next time, just to try it.

I love the banana bread and kabocha squash cheesecake recipes from the book, but I wasn't crazy about others. I'm going to try some of the cookies and then decide whether or not i'll keep my copy.

Muffin said...

These are so cute. I don't think I could eat one, thats how cute they are!

...ok, so I'd eat one, but I'd squee with every bite!

food makes me happy said...

What a perfect snack!

Sarah said...

Hi Lisa~ These look real pretty. Where do you get you matcha in Pittsburgh? I've never made anything with it, but I've been eyeing the green tea ice cream recipe in The Perfect Scoop. Any thoughts about matcha ice cream?

Pittsburgh Needs Eated said...

Sarah-

I love green tea ice cream. That recipe is a good one (i've made quite a few from that book).

I bought my matcha in California. I've never bought it in Pittsburgh- i'd try looking at the asian markets in the strip district, or maybe the Tokyo Mart on ellsworth.

One of my roommates says she's ordered some from amazon.com, and i've heard good things about the product available from lepicerie.com.

I wish I knew how to gage quality of green tea powder. I see it in asian markets sometimes, but i'm never sure if it's exactly what i'm looking for.

Ehrrin said...

I got some matcha at Lotus Asian Food Market in the Strip (it's the one near Wholey's...Penn and 17th, maybe?). I think there were about four different kinds. I wasn't sure which to pick, so just settled on one based on looks, and it tastes good to me. But, I can't remember the name (can't remember if it was in English either). It's a white bag with lots of green, blue and black lettering.

Ehrrin said...

p.s. just noticed last night in the East End Food Co-op, they have maccha in the bulk section so you could get as much--or as little--as you like!

Anonymous said...

Margarets Fine Imports
5872 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill)

(412) 422-1606
margarey154@yahoo.com
www.margaretsfineimports.com
Sells tea in Pittsburgh

Dr.Gray said...

These do look great. Im not much of a pudding guy but the color is just fantastic. Love matcha in desserts. Great pictures by the way.