Matcha Sablés

Sablés are traditional French (round) shortbread biscuit with a delicate, crumbly interior and golden hue. Its sand-like texture was what probably gave rise to its name "sablés" which means "sand" in French. I should have shared this post long time ago when making Green Witch's Fingers for Halloween 3 years ago, but there's always some other recipes that distracts me from doing so. Being one of our favorite snacks, I make them in different flavors from time to time. And one of the family's favorite are these Asian infused, matcha sablés.

Matcha Sablés (makes approximately 50 cookies)
(Recipe from Okashi by Keiko Ishida)

   240g     Pastry Flour, chilled
     15g     Green Tea Powder

   150g     Butter, unsalted, room temperature
   130g     Icing Sugar
   Pinch of Salt

      2        Egg Yolks
      1        Egg White, lightly beaten

Optional
Granulated Sugar
Green Tea leaves
Black Sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 150ºC
1. Sift together the pastry flour and green tea powder twice and reserve.

2. Using a paddle attachment, cream the butter, icing sugar and salt till soft and creamy. Add egg yolks and mix well.

3. Add the green tea flour mixture and fold in with a spatula. Cover dough with cling wrap and chill in refrigerator for about 15 mins.

4. Divide the dough into portions. Roll them into 3.5cm diameter logs with a piece of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm. (I prefer to cling wrap them before refrigerating.)

5. When firm, cut logs into 7mm thick rounds and dip the edges in granulated sugar.

6. Brush a little egg white over the top and scatter a few green tea leaves/black sesame seeds.

7. Bake for 20-25mins or until the sablés has browned slightly. Cool completely on wired rack.

Thoughts: Although the recipe calls for the dough to be rolled in sugar before baking, I have always skipped that step so the sablés don't turn out too sweet and everyone in the family can enjoy. If you have a sweeter tooth, do roll them in sugar. Otherwise, the sweetness is just right to balance out the slight bitterness that comes from the matcha powder.

The type of matcha powder used will affect the taste of your sablés as well. If available, a high quality, unsweetened matcha powder will be the best choice. They are stronger in terms of flavor and will not add to the sweetness of the sablés.

Every bite is filled with buttery goodness and perfumed with the fragrant matcha. It is impossible to stop at just one piece. Although they can last up to a week in an airtight container, I seriously doubt they can "survive" that long! At least they never did in our family.

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Dashi Stock (Pure Katsuobushi)

The fundamental of Japanese cuisine - Dashi. While in the past I rely purely on Hondashi, which is instant granules of dashi stock, the recent trip to Japan made me feel the need to prepare dashi from scratch. Well, at least for one time, so I can see if there are huge differences between the real McCoy versus the instant granules. 

Dashi are typically prepared by using Kombu (dried kelp) and Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), though there are other variation using Niboshi (dried baby sardines aka ikan bilis) and Shiitake (dried mushrooms). I thought I brought back a piece of dried kombu from Japan, but I turned my pantry inside out and still couldn't find it. It's gonna be just katsuobushi for now I guess. There are countless recipes around (but mostly requires kombu), so in the end I've decided to just go with my guts but follow tips given by some of them.

Dashi Stock (with just Katsuobushi) - makes about a litre

Ichiban Dashi

500ml     Water

2 handful of Katsuobushi

1. Bring the water to boil, turn to low heat and add the katsuobushi.

2. Simmer for 2 mins and remove from heat.. 

3. Strain the liquid and you're left with a clear ichiban (first) dashi stock.

Niban Dashi

500ml     Water

leftover katsuobushi from ichiban dashi

1 small handful of Katsuobushi

1. Add another 500ml to the leftover katsuobushi. Bring water to a boil.

2. Once boiling, turn to low heat and simmer for 5mins.

3. Remove from heat, and add the fresh handful of katsuobushi. This process is call oigatsuo (chasing katsuo). Continue steeping for 5 mins.

4. Strain the liquid and squeeze the katsuobushi to their last drop. You now have a cloudy niban (second) dashi stock.

Thoughts: As expected, with the missing kombu, this broth is not as flavorful. However, it is still an easy way to have an umami filled stock within a few minutes. While hondashi is stronger in flavor, it is not as delicate as homemade dashi. Still a good substitute for busy days where you just don't have the extra time to prepare dashi from scratch.

Ichiban dashi is commonly used for dishes where clear delicate soup (suimono) is needed, like soba or shabu shabu, whereas niban dashi can be used for a lot of other dishes like yasai itame (stir fry vegetables) or even cooking porridge!

The stocks are best used within 2-3 days from preparation. Any unused stock should be kept in the freezer; I froze them into different shapes so I know exactly what they are. Although according to some sources, they will lose some flavor but I think they comes in very handy so a little lost of flavor is still worth it.

All blog posts and photos are properties of WhatToBakeToday (unless otherwise stated). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these contents, whole or part thereof, without express or written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to WhatToBakeToday with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. 

Easter Cupcakes

Not a new idea, just wanted to share something relevant since it is Easter. These cupcakes are easy to put together. Bake some cupcakes and they don't even have to be chocolate flavored, some green-colored frosting plus these commercially available, cute, little, brown-speckled chocolate eggs. Voila!

Easter Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes, or any flavor you prefer

Green frosting

Cadbury Mini Eggs 

1. Bake the cupcakes according to your preferred recipe. Or use my favorite Chocolate cupcakes recipe. 

2. Once completely cooled, pipe "grass" onto the cupcakes using a grass piping tip (wilton 233). If you don't have one on hand (like this silly me), use a small round tip to pipe the individual grass blade. A little time consuming than using a star tip but I find the effect is nicer.

3. Top the cuppies with a few chocolate eggs and you're done!

Happy Easter!

All blog posts and photos are properties of WhatToBakeToday (unless otherwise stated). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these contents, whole or part thereof, without express or written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to WhatToBakeToday with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.