Tea-rific dessert idea

SINCE tea was first brought from China in the 9th Century, Japanese monks and nobles have cultivated a meditative practice centred around its contemplation.

Known as Chado, or the Way of Tea, this highly ritualised ceremony splices together philosophical ideas of inner spirituality with a humble acceptance of the ephemerality of life.

The tea used for this ceremony is a refined form of green tea called matcha. Known for its pronounced aroma and deeply savoury flavours, matcha is the result of a highly specialised form of tea production.

Unlike traditional tea plants that are grown in full sunlight, in the weeks ahead of harvest matcha bushes are covered with hessian cloths to remove sunlight. This causes the plant to generate vastly increased amounts of chlorophyll, turning the leaves a deep shade of green. This in turn causes a radical change in the flavour profile.

Once picked, the tea can be processed in a range of ways: as whole dried leaves (sencha); as compressed blocks (tencha); or as a finely ground powder (matcha). That powder is considered to be most highly valued of all.

But matcha is more than simply the basis for a cup of tea, it is also a superb ingredient for a range of savoury and sweet recipes. From doughnuts to butter cakes, ice cream to eclairs, matcha has become one of the idiosyncratic flavours of our age. To use it in baking, it is simply a matter of dissolving the powder in liquid before folding it in gently.

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