Unlike black tea, Japanese green tea is lightly processed and has much more moisture in the leaves and soft thanks to steaming process (this is done in order to prevent leaves from oxidation). Our Sencha loose leaves are mostly leaves without stems so it’s easy to eat the leaves after brewing the tea.
During these social distancing times, we have more time baking and I was craving something sweet so I decided to bake my longtime favourite apple cakes with used Sencha tea leaves and Sencha green tea powder.
The powerful antioxidants catechins are strong against heat so the nutrients will still be there after baking. It prevents absorbing fats and sugar so you won’t feel so guilty 
* 20cm round tin *
<<Ingredients>>
- Butter 130 g
- Sugar 120 g (30g for the apples and 90g for the batter)
- Medium Egg 3
- Grounded Almond powder 50g
- Flour (I used wholemeal flour) 100g
- Milk (or fresh cream if you want richer cake) 100ml
- Sencha green tea powder 2 Tbsp
- Used and strained Sencha green tea leaves 1 Tbsp (measured before brewing tea)
- Apple 2
<<Method>>
- Peel apples and cut into slices Put them in a bowl and add 30g sugar and mix them.
- In another bowl, put butter and mix well with an electronic whisk until the texture becomes soft like mayonnaise.
- Add sugar and mix
- Add eggs one by one and mix
- Add almond powder and mix
- Preheat oven at 160 degrees
- Sift the flour together with Sencha green tea powder and add to (5). Mix with a spatura.
- Add milk and mix
- Add used Sencha green tea leaves
- The batter will be like the photo.
- Put (9) into a round tin
- Put apple slices on top and push it down a little (half thickness of apple slice inside the cake and the other half outside the cake)
- Bake 25 minutes. Check with a tooth pick to see if it’s ready.
The tea paired is Genmaicha. Our Genmaicha is a blend of ‘first flush’ Sencha loose leaf, toasted brown rice and a bit of high grade Matcha. Our Genmaicha lovers are on the increase and I hope you will love it too!
