Green Tea Honey Lemon Cake

Green tea is a very nice tea.  I drink it quite often for its health benefits, although I’m actually not a super big fan of its somewhat bitter, grassy taste.  On the other hand, I love green tea-flavored desserts.  Whether it’s in ice cream, mousse, or macarons, it seems like the more aromatic, less-spinachy side of the tea’s flavor is really brought out and enhanced when it’s accompanied by a bit of sweetness or cream.  Not only that, but the color green tea gives is gorgeous, almost like a minty hue but softer, darker, and more elegant.

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I’ve made a number of coffee desserts and things like that in the past, but up to now I haven’t made a whole lot of green tea recipes or played around much with tea flavors in desserts.  I think green tea goes really well with a spoonful of honey and a squeeze of lemon; these three ingredients together make for such a healthy, soothing drink, and were all flavors I figured would play out just as beautifully in a fancy loaf cake of some sort.  In fact, “green tea honey lemon cake” sounds to me like the ideal thing you would eat for breakfast while sipping tea on a sunny Saturday morning.

This cake really turned out wonderfully.  The honey contributed both sweetness and flavor, and along with the vegetable oil gave the cake its richness and moistness. Meanwhile, the green tea powder gave it lovely color, and the lemon added a delicious citrusy edge.  I even drizzled more honey over my cake for an extra bit of sticky sweetness and shine; you could also dress it up with a nice simple glaze, perhaps something like a combination of lemon juice and icing sugar.

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Green Tea Honey Lemon Cake     –     makes 1 loaf cake

– 1/3 cup vegetable oil
– 1/2 cup honey
– 2 eggs
– 1/4 cup milk
– 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
– 1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp. baking powder
– 1/4 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1 tbsp. lemon zest
– 4 tsp. matcha green tea powder
– 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a bowl, combine the oil and honey.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the milk and vanilla extract.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, lemon zest, and green tea powder.  Gradually mix into the wet ingredient mixture.  Once fully incorporated, mix in the lemon juice.  Pour the batter into a greased or parchment-lined loaf pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool before serving.

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