Japanese Green Tea Petits Fours

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup cake flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon green tea powder (matcha)
• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons green tea powder
• 4 teaspoons superfine sugar
• 6 tablespoons almond paste
• 1 teaspoon green tea powder
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 450 degrees f (230 degrees c).
• 2 grease an 11x7 inch pan and line the bottom with parchment paper, and grease and flour the paper.
• 3 sift together the flour, cornstarch and 1 tablespoon green tea; set aside.
• 4 in a large bowl, beat eggs, yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes; fold flour mixture into whipped eggs.
• 5 in a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy; add 2 tablespoons sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
• 6 fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain; spread batter into prepared pan.
• 7 bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until center of cake springs back when lightly tapped.
• 8 sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, then invert onto a flat surface and let cool.
• 9 for green tea whipped cream: in a medium bowl, whisk the heavy cream with 4 teaspoons superfine sugar and 2 teaspoons green tea until stiff peaks form.
• 10 for decorative green tea marzipan: knead the almond paste with 1 teaspoon green tea; roll out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, or lightly dust with confectioners' sugar while rolling.
• 11 to assemble: when cool, remove parchment paper from bottom of cake; cut cake horizontally down the middle to make two layers; spread the bottom layer with 1/2 of the whipped cream, then cover with the top layer of cake and spread top with remaining whipped cream; cut assembled cake into 12 pieces using a knife or decorative cutters; roll out the marzipan and cut into 12 pieces to match the shapes of the cakes; place the decorative marzipan pieces on top of cakes.