adzuki beans, matcha mousse and hazelnuts praline crumble.

I love matcha. Have I said it yet? Okay then, I love love love matcha. 

Making multi-component desserts are just so exhausting I had to find refuge in something homey and comforting. Like a spoon dessert. Nothing beats curling up on the sofa, cookbook in lap and a bowl (or glass in this case) and spoon to slowly savour your daily dose of sugar. This isn't a stressful dessert mainly because I cheated a little here and there. I used store-bought adzuki beans and pulled out an old batch of hazelnut praline, so 50% of the work is already done. The crumble was a snap to put together: just melted butter, equal parts sugar, and slightly more than twice the amount of flour of butter. The hazelnut praline powder was mixed in without measurements into the flour mixture consisting of the flour, sugar and some salt before combining everything together in a bowl.

I made too much crumble. Is there such a thing?

The matcha mousse was spot on. Its signature grassy flavour really came through because the sugar level was controlled. I think matcha is a like-it or hate-it thing. Some people don't want to feel like they've been grazing in the field with the horses but to me it just tastes healthy. 


I made a mistake when assembling the mousse. I didn't really combine the milk mixture with the whipped cream well enough so they parted ways when I left the glass to set in the fridge. What I got was a light spongy layer on top with less matcha oomph and a saucy layer at the bottom with more matcha character. It was sort of like eating melted green tea ice-cream. Oh tragedy, tragedy. 


Matcha Mousse
recipe taken from sweetsandloves

Fresh milk 160ml

Matcha powder 10g

Castor sugar 50g

Gelatin sheets 6g

Whipping cream 120ml

1. Soften the gelatin sheets in cold water and set aside. 

2. Stir together the matcha powder and castor sugar. Heat the milk until almost boiling and pour it into the matcha and sugar mixture. Stir till smooth.

3. Wring the excess water from the gelatin sheets and add to the mixture. Stir till the gelatin sheets are well-blended into the mixture.

4. Beat the whipping cream until fully whipped. Fold the whipped cream into the matcha mixture till well-combined.