Green Tea Lamingtons

Lamingtons are Australian tea cakes. They are generally vanilla sponge cake squares, covered in a frosting glaze and dipped in desiccated coconut. They are usually double layered and the filling is usually either chocolate or jam. I really wanted to make a traditional Aussie dessert before I left Australia. Originally I wanted to make Pavlova, which is a meringue with creme and fruit, but without an electric blender that was out. So I decided to do Lamingtons, but with a twist! And that twist is matcha! I made green tea lamingtons, and they were amazing. No seriously, they lasted about a day and a half before my housemates and I devoured them. The baking part of this recipe was easy, it was the assembly that was difficult.

I baked the cake using a box mix and added matcha powder, I didn't have as much as I wanted so the cake ended up with this cake that had a slight matcha taste, it was nice but I would use more next time. For this recipe it requires that I cut the cake into easily dippable squares. Due to this I had to be strategic with what pan I baked the cake in. I decided on the bread pan, rather than our round cake pan. This ended up being a good idea. The first step to the squares was to trim off them rounded top of the cake (above), I think next time I'll trim the sides to make it more even as well, the reason I didn't this time is because I was worried about not having enough cake.

The next step was to do the layering. I sliced the cake into two layers, which was harder than expected to cut evenly, so the top layer was a bit thicker than the bottom (above left). Next I melted dark chocolate in the microwave and spread it on the bottom layer of the cake (above right). I tried to do this quickly before it hardened up again. Then I stuck the top layer back onto the cake. Next I cut the cake into 15 squares (below left). The next move was to arrange them for the dipping. So I covered a baking sheet in baking parchment and then arranged them on the tray. 

The next step was to dip them in frosting and then cover them in desiccated coconut. Now desiccated is a fancy word for dryed and dehydrated. This is a special type of shredded coconut and in order to really make this treat work you need to buy this kind, it prevents the cakes from getting soggy. What I did was buy some store bought vanilla frosting, I then microwaved it for about 20 seconds (below left) and dipped each individual square in the frosting. I tried to make sure that it was completely covered. Next I quickly moved the cake to a bowl with the coconut in it and covered the frosted cake in the coconut, once again trying to cover it completely. Then I set it on the baking sheet to harden. While my fingers got really messy during this process, it actually worked out so much easier than I expected. First of all, the heated frosting turned into this glaze that sticked really well, and the coconut adhered to it amazingly. And then when it was covered in coconut, I could move it around and set it down without it sticking (below right). Also, as one of my housemates pointed out, I got better at it as I went along so the later squares were easier and prettier.

These cakes tasted amazing. The matcha, vanilla, coconut, and chocolate each added their own texture and flavor to the dessert, and meshed really well together. These are perfect with a cup of tea (or matcha haha) after dinner. Or with a cup of coffee for breakfast! Lamingtons are classic Australia and it makes me happy that I will be able to make these anytime I want at home and bring Australia with me!

Thoughts on this Dessert:

• Like I said, next time more matcha is going into this recipe.
• I would like to try different flavors for these. My sister makes this awesome cake called 'Blush Cake' and I think that it would be great with this recipe, but with rose jam filling. Also I'd try them with taro cloud cake for sure!
• I think that next time I'd use chocolate frosting instead of vanilla.
• When doing the dipping step, its important to reheat the frosting for 5-10 seconds or so after each cake to make sure the consistency stays right. Also to add more frosting to the bowl when it starts to get low so that you don't have to scrape the cake on the bowl. 

Really happy that my last dessert here is a really cool Australian one, and one that I could make my own. I found it really fulfilling to be able to make a recipe that was complicated but turned out well. 

The Ultimate Tim Tam Guide

Okay. I've mentioned Tim Tams a couple of times on this blog, but have yet to devote an entire post to them. This is why. I've been waiting until I tried all flavors of these magnificent cookies, and could review them in their entirety. Well today was the day that I finally for around to tasting them all! So the post I've been waiting to do all semester: The Ultimate Tim Tam Guide.

Tim Tams are chocolate biscuits (cookies are called biscuits here). The easiest way to think of them is the Aussie equivalent of Oreos. Only they are SO MUCH better than Oreos. A Tim Tam is a rectangular chocolate cookie sandwich. It is chocolate cream between two chocolate cookies, covered in chocolate. Sounds good right? Well it is! They are really delicious and they make them in lots of different flavors and fillings besides the typical chocolate ones (see above). I tasted almost all of them (I didn't try the white ones, which were white chocolate covered vanilla cookies with vanilla cream, because I don't really like white chocolate). So the rest of the post is my ranking of the Tim Tams, as well as comments about each kind!

1. Dark Chocolate

These are unsurprisingly me favorite flavor of Tim Tams. Dark chocolate is richer and less sugary than milk and these Tim Tams are no exception. They are the best. Also this was the first flavor that I did a Tim Tam Slam with. A Tim Tam slam, is when you bit off both ends of the Tim Tam and stick it in a drink (preferably hot, but cold works too) This could be coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. I did mine with matcha (see above). You then use the Tim Tam as a straw and suck the liquid through it. You will notice the cookie starts to fall apart, at that point you slam it into your mouth an enjoy. It. Is. Amazing. Basically the Tim Tam becomes this gooey, cakey, choclatey mess, and is three times as good as the cookie by itself. Dark Chocolate Tim Tams can be slammed with all kinds of drinks. Their versatility, along with their general amazingness is why they beat out all other flavors in the rankings.

2. Orange Dark Chocolate

What makes dark chocolate better? Fruit! These Tim Tams are like the dark chocolate ones but have orange cream filling instead of chocolate. They are great because they have all the best qualities of the dark chocolate ones, but also a wonderful unique flavor that comes out amazingly in this cookie!

3. Mint Slice

Okay, so this isn't technically a Tim Tam. But it is a biscuit made by the same company, Arnott's, so I'm counting it. Imagine that a York Peppermint Patty and a Thin Mint had a baby. That is literally what this cookie is. It's basically self-explanatory why this is ranked 3rd on the list.

4. Chewy Caramel

So these guys are basically the original Tim Tam, with a little extra. There is chewy caramel in the middle of the cookie! If you refrigerate them (you have to in the summer because they melt!) it gets hard and crunchy, but at room temp it's gooey and chewy. These are really amazing, the carmel really adds something to the cookie.

5. Chocolate Brownie

                                

I mean this Tim Tam's filling is fudgey brownie batter. I transforms it into more than just a cookie. These ones are seriously addicting and so rich and delicious. I haven't done a slam with one, but I bet it would be out of this world!

6. Double Coat

So these Tim tams are something special. They have an extra coating of chocolate on the outside, and I think a little more cream in the middle as well. Basically the Double Stuf of the Tim Tam word. Also wonderful, I love Tim Tam slamming these ones because they can take a little more liquid before they break down. I did my Tim Tam Slam with Milo (above left). Milo is basically hot chocolate mix, but it's made of malted barley as well as coco (I posted about Milo here). It's amazing and went really well with the Tim Tams. It was such an Aussie thing to eat for dessert it made me happy!

7. Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight is one of the main flavors here, they have Turkish Delight flavored everything, so of course, Tim Tams are no exception. I really liked these ones. They have rose flavored jelly in the middle, and it goes really well with the chocolate. The cookies were actually dark chocolate, but the coating was the traditional milk. They were a yummy surprise!

8. Dark Chocolate Mint

These Tim Tams are basally milk chocolate coated with dark chocolate cookies, and dark chocolate filling with mint extract in it. They are pretty yummy, but I prefer the plain dark ones (the dark chocolate coating really makes it!). Also if I want mint biscuits I really prefer the Mint Slices. I think those two things hurt they're ranking.

9. Salted Caramel

These Tim Tams are caramel cookies, with caramel filling, and a gooey salted carmel center, covered in the milk chocolate filling. Though the salted flavor is really yummy and adds an extra dimension to the cookie, they suffer from lack of chocolate cookies and filling. This makes the Chewy Caramel ones much better. 

10. Double Chocolate Vanilla

Oreo lovers take note! This are the typical Tim Tam, but with vanilla filling instead of chocolate. This basically makes them a chocolate covered oreo. Really yummy, and very satisfying, but the chocolate lover at heat had to rank them lower then all the more choclately flavors :)

11. Raspberry White Chocolate

So as I mentioned, I don't really like white chocolate, but wanted to try these because of the raspberry creme. They were my least favorite, but I did like how the raspberry complimented the vanilla cookies. 

So this is my list of Tim Tams! There may be a couple of other flavors floating around somewhere, but I haven't seen them around Brisbane. These biscuits are my FAVORITE Australian food and I will miss them dearly when I leave. So much so that I'm bringing as many as I can fit back to the U.S. with me. Especially the Dark Chocolate ones!

Green Tea Crepe at the Cairns Night Markets

Ah the Cairns night markets :) This wonderful place is open from 5p to 11p, and sells food as well as souvenirs and other goods. We had already gotten dinner but we couldn't resist getting dessert there as we finished walking around. I saw that they had a creperie and was sold. I saw they had green tea crepes are was REALLY sold. And that's what I got. It had red beans and matcha ice cream in it and crunchies on top. It was very yummy. The green tea ice cream tied together the sweet crepe and the nutty flavor of the beans. I inhaled it before it would melt in my hand. Because, as you can see above, they gave it to me in a really fun way. Wrapped like an ice creme cone! No silverware required :)

Sushi Bar at Ginga Grey st.

So as I mentioned we wanted to go back and try the sushi bar experience at Ginga, the Japanese restaurant my friend and I went to on Saturday. And we did for lunch on Monday. The reason that we were so excited to go back is that their sushi bar is a conveyer belt (see above)! The sushi chef puts the rolls and other tasties on the belt and they go directly to the tables for you to choose. The plates are color coded by price, so you can take whatever you want. They have a handy fold out with pictures of all of the items and names, as well as color coded prices. It was so fun to do, we loved picking our dishes as well as just seeing all of the options go around! My friend is a vegetarian, so that was perfect because we could share dishes :) We first got an avocado roll (see above), then we set out to try some other vegetarian things. I got an egg salad ship (below left) which is egg salad on top of a rice rolled in nori. The egg salad was the perfect consistency and had asian flavors that made it really unique. We also tried mountain veggies on inari! I love inari, it's rice in a sweet bean wrap, and is so good and it was amazing with these veggies on top with a vinegar dressing. It was a really nice find. We also got Tofu sashimi and a mixed veggie roll, both of which I forgot to take pictures of. The tofu was not my favorite, the texture was just so strange that I couldn't get over it. It makes sense I didn't like it because I don't really love cold tofu. The mixed veggie roll was amazing though! It was two huge pieces, so I ate it in one bite and It took me a full moment to chew and swallow it, but I enjoyed that minute :) Half of 4 items was enough to fill me up, and get a lot of great tastes. This was a wonderful way to have a light healthy, and fun lunch.

We decided to also get dessert since those were doing around on the conveyer too. And one of the things that was going around was ice cream mochi, one of my FAVORITE desserts! My friend hadn't had mochi before so we got one to try. I chose the matcha one of course! We split with with the fun spoons that they gave us (see below). It was really yummy and a perfect way to end the meal. I love mochi and I love matcha, so of course the combination is amazing. 

This was such a fun place to go for a late lunch and a great way to start off a hard academic week. Also, sharing plates allowed us to try a lot of yummy things and not spend a ton of money (of course the fact that we were both eating vegetarian probably helped too), The meal was about $12 each. Can't recommend this place enough for the atmosphere and the food!

Matcha Frozen Yogurt Bites

Inspired by Pinterest, made unique by me! I was drinking some matcha milk tea yesterday and had a thought. I have this huge tube of fat-free vanilla yogurt that I've been eating with cereal for breakfast, and I thought that I could easily make matcha flavored yogurt. The idea evolved to making matcha frozen yogurt, and at the suggestion of my house mates making matcha frozen yogurt bites! I mixed a scoop and a half of matcha with 3-4 scoops of yogurt. Then I pooled it onto a plate covered in aluminum foil. It was a lot easier to keep them in the dot shape then I excepted (below)! After that I stuck them in the freezer for an hour. When I took them out it was easy to pop them off the foil and snack on them. They were awesome, cold, creamy, and healthy! They were perfect because the day that I made them it was in the 90's F. This means they were a great and refreshing snack, but it also meant that they melted outside of the freezer in about 7 minutes or so :( A great snack, but not one to put out and serve to people.

Can't wait to try this one with taro powder or milk tea powder back at home!!

Green Tea Soft Serve

Okay, along with Taro, I also love matcha and have wrote about it a ton on this blog. Similar to Taro, I was hoping there would be lots of matcha things here. And similarly, I haven't been disappointed. Yesterday I was walking through one of UQ's main food courts and came across their froyo joint. It's called Nogi and has 4 flavors. Two of which made me stop in my tracks. Along with original and mango they also had taro and green tea froyo. I was sooo excited!!! I got a green tea cone and I can't wait to try a taro one next time. It was good, it tasted faintly of matcha and mostly of yogurt, but was so nice on a hot day! My sister and I often joke about how amazing matcha soft serve would be and how sad we are it isn't in the states. Well it's in Australia!!! As happy as I am about this now, I'm going to have to exercise self control every time I walk past Nogi :P

Green Tea Cake for the GEC Potluck

Green Tea cake is one of my favorite recipes, and due to positive feedback it seems to be one of my friends' favorites as well :) This is basically a recipe for vanilla cake with added matcha (green tea extract that I blogged about in an earlier post). It's a fairly simple recipe if you have matcha. It's a really yummy cake, sweet with a little something extra, and the matcha turns the cake and frosting a pretty green color. It's a kinda unique and fun dessert, so it's one that I like to make and bring to events. 

This time around I made a cake for a Green Events Commission (GEC) potluck. The GEC is a student group I'm part of at Wash U. We provide free sustainable consulting services to other student groups on campus. This is my third year as a member, and I absolutely love being able to make a difference on campus this way! It's also a fun team to be apart of. This weekend we had a potluck dinner, to do some low stress bonding outside of meetings. It was such a success and so fun! Also since many GEC members are vegetarian (and vegetarianism has a smaller carbon footprint > see my super long flexitarian post if you want to learn more), the potluck was completely vegetarian fair! My contributions were Spinach Rolls (which also have their own post) and a special GEC Green Tea Cake. I decided to experiment with cake decorating by recreating the GEC logo on the cake in frosting. For a first attempt, it turned out well. My lettering was kinda messy, but I think that will get better with practice. The complete frosting process is pictured below.

This is what our actual logo looks like

 Thoughts on this Dessert:

• Firstly, I've had several requests for the recipe for this cake so here it is:
• 1 box of vanilla cake mix and what other ingredients the cake box recipe call for (I think its 2 eggs, half a cup of water and 1/4 a cup of vegetable oil)
• 5 packs of matcha
• 1 box of vanilla instant pudding
• 1 container of vanilla frosting
• You basically follow the directions on the cake mix box, and add the pudding. Then mix in 3 packs of matcha once the cake mix is stirred. The bake time for this recipe varies a lot. It tends to take longer than the bake time on the box, so check the cake at 5-7 minute intervals until the middle is completely done. Wait till cool to frost. The frosting is made by just stirring 2 packs of matcha into a tub of vanilla frosting. Make sure it is well mixed!!
• This time there was some extra batter so we made cupcakes as well. I left those at home.
• Matcha is the only ingredient of this recipe that is a bit hard to get ahold of. I suggest greenmax brand, which is sold on Amazon. For more details see my Matcha Tea post.
• This is one of my favorite recipes and I've made it enough times that I can consistently make a yummy and gorgeous cake.

Everyone really liked the cake, and had an awesome time at the potluck. It makes me so happy that I can make something that is new to so many people, and they really like it!

Matcha Tea

Matcha, how I love thee. One of my friends introduced me to matcha last year. And I started craving it shortly after. Matcha is Japanese green tea extract, it does't actually taste like green tea, and it has much more caffeine. Most people have encountered it in Starbuck's Green Tea Frapiccinos, so if you've had one then you've had matcha. That's the main ingredient that they use in them to give them the flavor as well as the color. Actually matcha is a rather common ingredient in green tea flavored things. Green Tea ice cream is basically matcha ice cream. I love Trader Joe's Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream, which has matcha, and I recently tasted green tea pocky (also matcha flavored) and very much enjoyed it. I have matcha in the form of milk tea powder, similar to my regular milk tea one, but the matcha kind comes in individual packets. I like to drink it when I need a caffeine boast but don't want to drink coffee.

Another great thing to do with matcha is bake with it. I make an excellent and very much enjoyed Green Tea Cake with this matcha mix. I'll post it next time I make it (which will probably be in a few weeks for a potluck I have coming up)

Thoughts on MATCHA!!!!

• The package pictured above is about $10 dollars on amazon and has 16 packets in it. So basically a cup of matcha tea for 63 cents each... a super good deal!
• I brew it at 190 degrees, and I have found that a combination of stirring it very well and letting it sit for a bit is the best for getting the strongest taste. 
• Like I said this has a good amount of natural caffeine in it, so coffee drinkers who are looking to cut back, this is a great alternative. 
• Matcha is generally an acquired taste. Its a bit strange at first, but most people I know who try it eventually grow to love it. My mother excluded who thinks it tastes like grass...

All and all, if you haven't tried matcha you should! And keep an eye out for an upcoming post about The Famous Green Tea Cake!!!