Baking for Beginners: Matcha Tea Loaf

Those nice piglets at Tea Pigs recently sent me a some matcha tea. Matcha is 100% organic green tea that's been dried and ground into a very fine green powder. Opening the pot was a bit like opening a magic potion - a little puff of green smoke emerged, and the subtle fragrance of the tea rose up like a little green ghoul ... just less spooky.

Apparently matcha tea holds something like 137 times more antioxidants than regular tea ... which, I think, basically means its pretty darn good for you! Now, things that are good for you are awesome, but I wanted to see if I could make something good just a little naughtier.

Green cake? Tea in cake rather than a cup? Yes indeed.

You'll need:

• 7oz self-raising flour
• 5oz caster sugar
• 4oz butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1oz ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon of matcha tea
• Handful of currants
• Splash of milk

Make it!

• Preheat your oven to 150C. You can consider what colour to next dye your hair whilst you do this, if you like.
• Grease and line an 8 inch loaf tray.
• Gently beat the eggs. Blend the butter with the sugar until you've got a smooth paste, then add the eggs and blend again.
• Sift the flour, ground almonds, salt and matcha tea into a bowl and combine until evenly distributed.
• Add the milk if the mixture is very dry - you're looking for a smooth but not runny consistency (thicker than a sponge mix but not as firm as cookie dough).
• Blend the currants through the mix.
• Pour the mix into the tin and spread evenly using the back of a spoon if necessary.
• Sprinkle flaked almonds over the top and bake in the oven for around 30 minutes.