recipe

matcha oreos

in

ways my younger self enjoyed oreos:

1. drop one into a glass of skim milk so that it's fully submerged, divert attention for a few moments, probably look up to watch a few scenes of arthur, use a spoon to fish it out of the milk and eat the soggy remains in one bite. repeat until belly ache.

2. put one on our front stoop, divert attention for a few moments, probably go inside to watch a few scenes of arthur, return outside and meet all of the millions of ants that would be swarming about the oreo.

3. carefully twist one open, carefully twist another one open, carefully extract the filling of one and place it on top of the filling of the other, reassemble that one, and enjoy an o.g. double stuffed oreo. and when double stuffed came out, make one quadruple stuffed. 

i didn't like the whole act of "twisting" with someone else. so much pressure, what if you don't get the filling? what if the filling breaks and you only get half? ugggh, i couldn't take it. 

it's so silly how one cookie can cause so much joy and stress and fascination and... ants. oh and dog names, so many dogs are called oreo. 

here are some oreos that would be fit for any st. patrick's day celebration! (or any other celebration???) the chocolate shortbread cookies are dainty and crispy and sandwiched with sweet buttercream that has just a hint of matcha. they are perfect with your afternoon coffee or anytime coffee, and they keep well in the fridge, so go ahead and make a double batch.

matcha oreos

makes about 18 sandwich cookies

ingredients

cookies:

2 c all-purpose flour

1 c unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting*

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 1/4 c unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract 

*dusting your work surface with cocoa powder will yield a beautiful, dark, chocolatey aesthetic, but using a lot of it could make the cookies taste a little bit bitter on their own since the cocoa powder is unsweetened. when they're paired with the super sweet buttercream, i love it. but if you know you'll prefer a sweeter cookie, dust your work surface with powdered sugar or a mixture of powdered sugar and cocoa powder. 

filling:

3/4 c unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 c powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp aiya cooking grade matcha

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

a pinch of kosher salt

clues

make the cookies:

preheat oven to 325. line two baking sheets with parchment and set them aside.

in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.

in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. mix in the extracts. slowly add the dry ingredient mixture and beat until just combined. it will still be a bit crumbly.

pour the mixture out onto your work surface and give it a few kneads to bring it all together. if needed, dust your surface with cocoa powder and/or powdered sugar, and working swiftly and carefully, roll out your dough and cut out 2-inch circles. transfer them to your baking sheet, about an inch apart (using a small offset spatula really helps with this step). re-roll scraps and cut out remaining circles.

this is a super delicate dough, so try not to handle it more than you need to, and if it gets too soft, stick it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm up.

bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are no longer shiny. let them cool.

make the filling:

beat together all ingredients. taste and add a bit more matcha, if you'd like.

assemble:

fill a piping bag with the filling and pipe a blob onto the center of half the cookies. top them with the rest of the cookies to make little sandwiches. place them in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the filling to firm up before serving. store in the fridge.

enjoy!

-yeh!

this post is sponsored by aiya matcha! all opinions are my own.

halva + jam hamantaschen

in , ,

the whole time we were in europe, whenever my phone would get a little bite of wifi and refresh its facebooky self, a new outrageous form of hamantaschen would pop up on my screen and my jaw would drop and i would take eggboy's attention away from his maps and tell him all about them. cheddar biscuit hamantaschen. hand pie hamantaschen. manischewitz hamantaschen. sprinkle (!!!!!!!) hamantaschen. taco hamantaschen!!!!!

like, i'm sorry, original sacher torte, you need to hold on, i'm having a hamantaschen emergency. being present and living in the moment, it's what i do best (?)

fascinatingly, i found a hazelnut filled triangle cookie in the back of a dainty pastry case in lucerne that looked almost exactly like the massive hamantaschen from new york delis. i asked the baker what it was called, curious if lucernians had a different name for it, but she didn't know and i already had a mouth full of marzipan so i didn't get one and now, talking to you, i'm embarrassed by my poor research skills. 

needless to say, i had a big list of things to make as soon as i got home and hamantaschen was number one. (goulash was number two, knödel was number three.) it was a true sign that leah koenig's new book, modern jewish cooking, was waiting for me when i returned. and there are some sexy hamantaschen in that book, both savory and sweet. 

there are a lot of sexy things in that book in fact. a sundae with tahini, pistachios, and figs. jalapeño-shallot matzo balls. savory french toast with za'atar butter. it's like leah asked me what all of my favorite ingredients were and then fancied them up in the most inspiring and beautiful ways. there's already a stain on the hamantaschen page, and i look forward to getting the rest of it all dirtied up and loved to bits. 

these hamantaschen use the dough from leah's book, which is extra convenient because it doesn't require softening butter or cream cheese, and so you don't need to use an electric mixer. it's also totally dairy free. for the filling, i took some of my own liberties and used halva spread from sesame story, which is the creamiest halva i've ever had, but you can also make your own and do what leah does and add a brilliant pinch of cayenne. and then any jam will do. i pulled out blueberry, blackberry, apricot, and strawberry... the more kinds you use, the more you get to taste test :)

halva + jam hamantaschen

makes about 36 cookies

ingredients

dough (from leah koenig's modern jewish cooking):

2 1/2 c/315 g all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tb fresh orange juice

1/4 c/60 ml vegetable oil

2/3 c/130 g sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon zest

filling:

halva spread

jam

clues

whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. 

in a large bowl, whisk together the orange juice, vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined. slowly stir in the flour mixture until the dough begins to come together. turn the dough out onto a flat surface and knead a few times with your hands until it is smooth, but not sticky. (if the dough appears too dry, knead in more orange juice, 1 tsp at a time. if it looks too wet, knead in up to 1/4 c/30g more flour, 1 tb at a time until you reach the right consistency.)

divide into two flat discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

preheat oven to 350f/180c and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. remove half of the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-in/4-mm thickness. use a 3-in/7.5-cm round cookie cutter or glass to cut out circles and transfer them to the baking sheet, 1/2-in/12-mm apart. re-roll scraps and cut out additional circles.

spread about 1/2 tsp of halva spread in the center of each circle and then add a small dollop of jam. fold the left side over on an angle, followed by the ride side and then the bottom, forming a triangle-shaped pocket. pinch the seams firmly to seal. repeat this process with the remaining dough.

bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. let them cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

-yeh!

matcha cake with black sesame buttercream

in ,

greetings from the alps!! today we left salzburg and arrived in the tiny town of mittersill, austria, which is surrounded by the biggest and handsomest mountains i ever did see. we are so full on cake and knödel and rye bread and i have forgotten what vegetables taste like. we are having the most wonderful time! 

i believe there is a sauna at our hotel so we're off to do some research on that! but more on our honeymoon soon :) 

for now, cake!

may we all give a round of applause to the power couple that is matcha and black sesame? they go so swimmingly well together in sweet green tea and nutty sesame glory, and they even look good together, in that dark but whimsical way. to the designer that creates a matcha and black sesame inspired dress, can i be your friend?

let's take a look at some of matcha and black sesame's recent appearances:

buttermilk matcha rolls with black sesame filling aka the star of my next brunch party!

black sesame vertical cake roll with matcha mochi completely mind blowing.

matcha + black sesame mousse cake it almost looks too perfect to eat.

black sesame cake with matcha frosting as if these mini cakes just swapped their outfits.

matcha panna cotta with sesame brittle such daintiness!

matcha cake with black sesame frosting and brittle beautiful!!! 

sesame nougat with matcha chocolate and black sesame yes.

do you see what i mean? look out, blake lively and ryan reynolds. 

here we have mini cakes and medium cakes. the mini cakes were made in their typical mini cake way, with 2 1/2-inch circles stacked with a blob of frosting piped in the middle. and the medium cakes were made using a newer-to-me technique that's based on momofuku milk bar's cake decorating technique, with of course further inspiration from graham and his cake to end all cakes. with this technique, you are supposed to use a cake ring and some acetate to create sort of a tube that you fill with layers of cake and frosting before freezing and then removing from the ring. (specific steps are here.) but i spent about 20 minutes too many searching for the perfect cake ring online before deciding to just make my own by way of a 28-ounce tomato can. so i removed both ends of the can, (made tomato soup), and then used the can to cut out a few cake circles. instead of using acetate i lined the inside of the can with parchment, and then set it on a plate before pressing some cake down into it and piping in some frosting between the layers. i froze my can of cake for a few hours before removing the can and the parchment. it was so much fun! i highly recommend it.

of course, if you'd like a magnum sized cake, this recipe will also work to make one 2-layer 8-inch cake. 

matcha cake with black sesame buttercream

makes one 2-layer 8-inch cake, three to four 4-inch cakes, or about twelve 2 1/2-inch cakes

ingredients

cake:

1 3/4 c sugar

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 tb aiya cooking grade matcha 

1 1/2 tsp each: baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt

2 large eggs

1 c buttermilk

1/2 c flavorless oil, like canola

1 1/2 tb vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

3/4 c boiling water

frosting:

2 c unsalted butter, softened

4 2/3 c powdered sugar

6 tb toasted black sesame seeds, finely ground in a spice grinder

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

a pinch of kosher salt

clues

cake:

preheat oven to 350.

for an 8-inch cake, grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment. for medium or mini cakes, grease a half sheet pan (18" x 13") and line the bottom with parchment.

in a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. in a medium bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients except for the boiling water. whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then stir in the boiling water. it will be a very thin batter. pour into cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 20 minutes for a sheet pan and 28 minutes for round cakes.

if you're making a round cake, let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn the cakes onto a lightly greased cooling rack. make your frosting (below) and decorate as desired.

if you're making medium or mini cakes, it is easiest to let the large sheet cake cool fully in the pan. once it's cool, wrap it in plastic wrap and then freeze it for a few hours or overnight, until firm. cut out your circles and then decorate as desired.

frosting:

use an electric mixer to beat all ingredients together until smooth. 

enjoy!

-yeh!

this post is sponsored by aiya matcha! all opinions are my own.

fairy toast, three ways

in

yo. listen to this thing that kids eat in australia: bread with butter and (wait for it) sprinkles. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's it! it even has a cute name! it's called fairy bread. i think i'm actually probably really late to the game on this one, but i just can't get over how adorable everything is about it. it's like five-second funfetti. the happiest open-faced sandwich in all the land. the life of the australian birthday party. the new number one reason why i want to go to australia (sorry, koalas!!!). 

look at this buzzfeed list of fun fairy bread-inspired recipes. 

when i received my new best friend, the toaster, over the holidays (thank you, stella!!!!!!!!), it was clear that there would be only one way to christen it. fairy toast. on big thick bread, with silly toppings. it was so much fun. usually when i use that many sprinkles, i have to earn it by way of baking a cake, frosting it, etc., but this time i just had to toast bread and it felt so wrong but so so right.

for a good smile, try this.

fairy toast, three ways

the olivia newton-john (classic) // white toast + butter + sprinkles

the healthy one // multigrain toast + coconut butter + naturally dyed sanding sugar

the lorde (lively and far from traditional) // sourdough toast + butter + sweetened condensed milk + bits of marzipan

-yeh!