Even though I do not have a sweet tooth at all and rarely eat desserts, while in Japan, I got hooked on their matcha desserts, especially in Kyoto which is the capital of matcha sweets. Japanese desserts are barely sweet, the focus is on delicate flavors an not sugar. Nothing is too bold, screaming in your mouth and aggressive. I adore the slight bitterness of matcha…and the vibrant color makes all matcha desserts very sexy.

Most matcha desserts are served with black bean paste made with adzuki beans, those kinds of beans are used in Asia to use in sweet preparations. You can make the paste yourself by cooking the beans and adding sugar, or you can buy already made paste at Japanese stores (which is what I did). As for tea, there is two different kinds of matcha, the one for cooking, baking, using in shakes, etc..and the one for tea ceremony drinking. Make sure you buy the right kind of matcha. They are quite different in flavors and colors.

I have seen so many gorgeous pastries, sweets, desserts made with matcha such as baumkuchen, jellies, ice creams, cookies, and anything you can think of. This recipe has been the courtesy of Hibiki-an.

I follow instructions carefully but I might have used less gelatin than the recommended dose of 5g. I found that my jelly was a bit too soft and not as hard as the ones I tasted in Japan. I used one pack, it might have not been 5 grams. The flavor was delicious. I replaced the condensed milk with vanilla ice cream.

A little sample of matcha desserts in Japan…absolutely amazing. They almost managed to turn me into an addict. For someone who does not eat desserts, I did quite well in that department!!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons(5g) gelatin
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon Matcha
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 250ml hot water
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or sweetener of your choice)
• 3 tbs adzuki bean paste
• 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream or condensed milk

Preparation

Soak gelatin in cold water. Set aside.
Make the Matcha: first sift Matcha with a tea strainer, put into a bowl, add 2 tablespoons hot water and then gradually add 250ml more hot water.
Add sugar and gelatin to the Matcha and stir to dissolve.
Strain through a sieve and pour into 4 glasses.
Chill in the refrigerator.
Serve with sweet red adzuki bean paste (anko), vanilla ice cream or condensed milk.