Matcha (Green Tea) Pound Cake

As an over-consumer of food magazines and Pinterest images, I've come to miss the cookie and cake pictures this month.

Now that the holidays are over, it seems like many of us have taken a hiatus from baking. January is supposedly the time for salads and soups and juice cleanses, right? At least, that's what all the cooking magazines are telling me.

And healthy-eating-wise, I've been doing okay so far. I don't get bagels with cream cheese or pizza slices three or four times a week anymore. But the baking? No no no. It's so impossible to ween myself off it that I'm not even going to try.

Green tea pound cake is one of those foods that just has a lovely sound to it. It's fragrant, light, complex, yet indulgent at the same time. As for this particular cake, the texture is nice and buttery like a pound cake should be, but also airy and doesn't make you feel weighed down, even after a eating a few slices more than you should.

So if you, like me, haven't taken a break from baking in January, do give this green tea pound cake a try. I adapted the original recipe from Food.com slightly, the biggest changes being adding more butter to make it less dry and green tea powder. (Love the stuff. What can I say?) It works in both a large or small loaf pan; the 9"x5" pan will yield a flatter cake, and a 8.5"x4.5" pan will yield a taller cake.

What are you baking or want to be baking this month?

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Matcha (Green Tea) Pound Cake

Makes 1 loaf

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons green tea powder
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and green tea powder.
  3. In a separate large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs. Add the sifted flour mixture and mix until well-combined.
  4. Pour the batter into a buttered loaf pan (9"x5" pan will yield a flatter cake, 8.5"x4.5" will yield a taller cake). Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

Adapted from Food.com.

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More green tea desserts to try: