Do you know ‘Houjicha’? It is Roasted Green Tea which is Japanese Tea with a marvellous aromatic scent. I enjoy having it when I want to relax and cleanse my body. Although it is Green Tea, it looks quite brown because it’s roasted.

I normally use loose leaves for making tea but recently I’ve got this lovely powdered Houjicha. The tea leaves were very finely ground and has kept the wonderful aroma and taste. This powdered type is quite a new thing for me and even in Japan (I think). I found it is great that you can add it into whatever you want to make without brewing tea.

I have been trying to use this powder in several ways and in order to enjoy its aroma at the maximum in the finished products I think it is the best using it without heating. The scent is so good that I don’t want to lose any during the cooking process. I think ingredients also should be limited. You know what they say; “Simple is Best!”

Melting Moments with Houjicha Cream

[Ingredients]

(Melting Moments – Biscuits)

• Unsalted Butter 125g
• Icing Sugar 40g
• Vanilla Extract 1 Tsp
• Plain Flour 120g
• Corn Flour 40g

(Houjicha Cream)

• Unsalted Butter 75g
• Icing Sugar 110g
• Houjicha Powder 2 Tsp

[Direction]

(Making Melting Moments) Preheat the oven at 160℃. Sift Icing Sugar. In a bowl soften Butter and mix well with Icing Sugar until it becomes creamy

Add Vanilla Extract. Add in sifted Plain flour & Corn flour and combine it well

Divide the dough and make into small balls about 3cm in diameter. Place them on a baking tray with a baking sheet with a gap of 3 cm between them

    

Flatten the balls with the back of a fork or your hand (I flattened and pressed with a Sakura Cherry blossom stamp). Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven but cool Biscuits down on the tray for 5 minutes. Transfer them onto a wire rack to cool down completely

(Making Houjicha Cream) Mix soften Unsalted Butter well in a bowl. Add in sifted Icing Sugar and combine well

Add in Houjicha Tea Powder and mix well

Pair Melting Moments. Pipe out Houjicha Cream on one of each pair and push the filling down with the other piece. Dust some Icing Sugar on top

The dark colour of Houjicha makes the Cream almost look like Chocolate flavour. It goes well with Vanilla flavoured Melting Moments. When I had this for my afternoon tea, it was really like a Melting Moment.  🙂

This is additional information for the people who are wondering where to get Houjicha Powder. I got this packet from Japan. This very finely ground powder has an amazing aroma and is highly recommendable.