Green Tea White Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

This months Sugar High Friday theme is sweets with an Asian twist. I could could not resist participating with a theme like this. I really enjoy using Asian ingredients like matcha (powdered green tea), azuki beans, black sesame seeds, in sweets. I particularly like the matcha and white chocolate combo. Recently I have not been able to get the images of these chocolate mascarpone brownies out of my head. They just looks so dense and moist and chocolaty and good. I thought that a matcha and white chocolate version would be really nice. (I am not really sure if they were still brownies at this point or if they become blondies or something else...) I decided to go with a straight dark chocolate ganache to contrast the flavours a bit but I was thinking of that a white chocolate and green tea ganache would also be nice.

The only changes that I made to the recipe were replacing the dark chocolate with white chocolate and replacing the cocoa powder with matcha. I was not sure how much matcha to use so I started with one tablespoon. The batter looked nice and dark green and I could really taste the green tea so I stopped there. The matcha white chocolate mascarpone brownies came together easily and tasted really good. They were nice and dense and moist and fudge like in texture. Matcha is slightly bitter and it tempered the sweetness of the white chocolate and the brownie had the perfect amount of sweetness. Unfortunately the nice dark green colour faded with baking and the green tea flavour was not strong enough to stand up to the chocolate ganache topping. The next time I make these, and I will be making them again, I will use two tablespoons of matcha and I will either use a thinner layer of chocolate ganache or skip the ganache entirely. Of course the the rich, dense brownies went well with a glass of milk or a cup of green tea.

Green Tea White Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces white chocolate (chopped)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon matcha (green tea powder)
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (softened)
3 large eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler.
2. Mix in the sugar and matcha.
3. Beat in the mascarpone, eggs and vanilla.
4. Fold in the flour and salt.
5. Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 inch baking pan.
6. Bake in a preheated 325F oven until a toothpick poked into the middle comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces dark chocolate (chopped)

Directions:
1. Heat the cream and butter in a small sauce pan until just before it boils.
2. Pour the cream and butter over the chocolate in a bowl.
3. Stir until smooth.

Pour the ganache over the brownies and wait until it is firm before cutting.



Similar Recipes:
Green Tea Macarons
Green Tea and White Chocolate Opera Cake
Green Tea and White Chocolate Ice Cream
Mayan Orange Brownies
Apricot White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Blondies

Take a look at the Sugar High Friday: Asian Sweet Invasion roundup at La Petite Boulangette.

Rice Pudding with Cranberries and Pistachios

This months Sugar High Friday theme is pudding. I was pretty pleased with the pudding theme as I have never made pudding before and I have not really eaten a lot of pudding. I have been seeing some really nice looking pudding on food blogs for a while and this was the perfect excuse to try some. There are a lot of different types of pudding out there and I though that I would start with a simple rice pudding. Making rice pudding is similar to making rice except that you use more liquid and you cook it a bit longer. You can do so many different things with rice pudding. You can use different types of rice. I used Japanese short grained rice. You can use different liquids such as milk, coconut milk, etc. You can use different sweeteners like sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc. You can make it with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. You can add different things like fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts etc. Since it was the holidays I decided to go with a holiday theme of cinnamon, orange zest, cranberries and pistachios. I was hoping that the rice pudding would end up white with the red cranberries and green pistachios but the cinnamon darkened it. The aroma of cinnamon and orange while it was cooking was pretty amazing. I could not wait for the pudding to cool down so I ate it warm. I will have to try cooking it in the fridge the next time to see how it is. The rice pudding tasted really good. It was nice and creamy and the cranberries were chewy and the nuts were crunchy. I look forward to experimenting with variations of rice pudding and other types of puddings. I wonder if you can cook rice pudding with milk in a rice cooker?



Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups milk

1/4 cup rice

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup pistachios



Directions:

1. Place the milk, rice, salt, sugar, vanilla extract, orange zest and cinnamon in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25-35 minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Mix in the cranberries and pistachios reserving some for garnish.

4. Remove from heat and let cool.



Similar Recipes:

Strawberry Rice Pudding with Balsamic Syrup

Mango Coconut Rice Pudding

Apple Crisp with Amaretto

The theme for this months Sugar High Friday being hosted at SpiTtoon Extra is Drunken Apples. I like this theme because local apples are in season and I have been getting different varieties from the farmers market each week. I have been looking forward to making an apple crumble for a while now. I ended up using the following apples in the crisp: 2 Honey Crisp, 1 Mutsu, and Jona Gold. For the drunken part I though that I would try adding a little Amaretto to the crisp. Amaretto is an almond flavoured liqueur that I recently tried. It added a nice subtle almond flavour to the crisp. The crisp was really good and the melting vanilla ice cream was the perfect topping.

Ingredients:
5 cups apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
1/4 cup amaretto
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter (melted)

Directions:
1. Toss the apples with the amaretto, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.
2. Mix the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter in a large bowl.
3. Place the apple mixture into an 8x8 inch baking dish and pour the topping on.
4. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until it is bubbling and the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Similar Recipes:
Dulce de Leche Apple Pie
Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble
Pear and Cranberry Crumble
Mango Crisp with Macadamia Nut Crust
Apple Rhubarb Crisp

White Chocolate Chunk and Macadamia Nut Cookies

My Favorite dessert/snack/cookie is "White Chocolate Chunk and Macadamia Nut Cookies". I have been chasing this recipe based on a memory that I have from long ago... I have tried many variations and this is my favorite so far. It is not yet perfect and I sometimes wonder if it is possible to compete with a remembered taste...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/8 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate (coarsely chopped)
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (coarsely chopped)

Directions:
1. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl.
2. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
3. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl.
4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.
5. Mix in the chocolate and the macadamia nuts.
6. Place the dough onto a cookie sheet one table spoon at a time.
7. Bake in a 350F preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.

Similar Recipes:
Peppermint White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies
Chocolate Chunk and Pecan Cookies
Cranberry, Pistachio and White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Apricot and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Apricot White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Blondies

Take a look at the Sugar High Fridays roundup at the Domestic Goddess.