Matcha Biskvi

A biskvi is known as a french biscuit, however in Sweden they are tiny little delightful almond paste cookies with a buttercream filling. Here is a combination that brings forth my Japanese side. Matcha! Matcha is a powder made from green tea leaves. It is the purest form of the green tea itself, and can be very bitter if not used properly. The very famous Japanese tea ceremony is done with this specific tea. So why not create a matcha flavored biskvi! Yes!!!! Yumm!!!!

Here’s how you make them!

INGREDIENTS

For the Almond Biscuit Base

450g almondpaste
75g eggwhites
125g sugar

For the Matcha Buttercream

115g unsalted butter
270g confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar)
2 tbsp of high grade matcha powder
2 tbsp heavy cream
pinch salt, to taste

For the White Chocolate Coating

200g White Chocolate
2 tbsp coconut oil

METHOD

Almond Biscuit Base –

Turn your oven on at 175C and line a baking tray with parchment or baking paper.
In a medium sized bowl, break up the almond paste until it becomes small crumbles. I like to use my hands as I find the almond paste is quite sticky so when breaking it up with a spatula or spoon it tends to stick to it and doesn’t really break off properly.
Mix in the sugar and egg whites until it starts to resemble a smooth paste. Then taking a hand mixer you can beat the mixture just a little on low to medium speed, until it resembles a smooth paste.
Once you have your paste, then pour into a piping bag and pipe it out onto your baking tray, lined with baking or parchment paper. Pipe out tiny disks, roughly 1.5 cm in diameter. Bake at 175C for 15-20 min, or until lightly golden brown. We dont want them too brown, we want to give a little chew when biting into them.

Once they are baked, leave them to cool completely before filling.

The Matcha Buttercream –

With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy – about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, matcha powder, and heavy cream with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Taste and add salt as needed. Add up to 1/2 cup more confectioners’ sugar if the buttercream is too thin or another Tablespoon of cream if it is too thick. Give the buttercream a taste, and if the matcha flavor is to weak, add just a teaspoon more, and taste. You can keep adding by teaspoon to check the flavor strength, but make sure not to add too much at once, as matcha can be a very strong a bitter flavor. The key is to keep tasting through each teaspoon added.

White Chocolate Coating –

Chop the white chocolate into small bits, and place in a bowl with the coconut oil. Heat in the microwave for roughly 2-3 min, until the white chocolate is soft enough to stir. Then stir rigorously until everything is blended well. Pour the chocolate into a deep bowl – to make it easier to dip the biskvi in.

Assembly –

Firstly take your buttercream, and place it into a piping bag.
Once all of your biskvi have a generous drop on them, place them into the freezer for about 15-20 min, until the buttercream is stiff.
Then take them out of the freezer and get your white chocolate mixture ready. Dip each biskvi upside down (so buttercream side facing downwards) into the white chocolate, and shake off the excess chocolate and then place back onto the tray. Surcease the buttercream is very stiff and cold, it wont melt in the warm white chocolate and the white chocolate will also harden very fast. Do this with all of your biskvi.
Once they are dipped, they are ready to be eaten, or you can go a step further and decorate them, i decorated mine with sifting some matcha powder over the top on all of them. 🙂

ENJOY!