I am not superstitious by any means but over the years I have come to believe in the cycle of good and bad. There is good, followed by bad. Like day after night. Like happiness after a blanket of misery. And then I have come to believe in the power of three. Just when I am least expecting it, good things happen in threes and sometimes bad things do too.
A few weeks ago I hit a crippling creative block. A little doodle I drew of a deer was declared a donkey by my offsprings. I was heartbroken. For two whole weeks, I stared at a blank document that was meant to be an artisanal flyer for a food festival. A few days after, it was followed by a loss of words - a writer's block. And then my misery stuck the motherlode. I didn't want to cook and when I attempted anything at all, it was just not good enough.
I gave in and succumbed to the uselessness I felt. I always struggle when that happens. It is something my system cannot comprehend. I cannot not do anything. I think even as a baby, I was all systems go. I am pretty sure I came out of my mother's womb wound up like an energizer bunny. So I gave in knowing that something would happen to recharge my batteries.
That moment arrived last week when I trudged out in my pajamas to bring in the eggs from the chook house. With my nose giving Rudolph's a run for his money in the cold morning air, I trudged back heavily taking comfort in the fact that I could go back to robotically folding my laundry and refreshing my Pinterest page for no rhyme or reason. I stepped on the sash of my dressing gown (yep, thoroughly fancy and utterly clumsy!) and started stumbling forward on this ridiculous concrete ramp that we have to walk up to enter our home in the backyard.
Picture this. In slow motion. With a deep dragged out wail, the kind you hear in cartoons when a monster is about to come crashing down. Grey, fluffy, polka dot gown comes undone (I am wearing pajamas, remember? This is a PG blog!). Arms cradling seven eggs against my chest (I was too lazy to take out the egg basket to collect them) fly out in front, elbows try desperately to balance the eggs and eyes open wider trying to focus on each egg that has flown the safety of my bosom. I make a decision in that split second. Two of them will have to be sacrificed, hard as it may be. As two warm eggs meet their end on that concrete ramp, a series of limber moves in a grey, fluffy, polka dot dressing gown save the yolk of the remaining five.
The adrenaline kicked in and jumpstarted my thought process. It had only taken a few seconds to shake off my stupor from the previous weeks. I placed the rescued eggs on the counter and opened the pantry door. The little green can of matcha sitting on the haphazardly stuffed shelves of my pantry beckoned. It's bold, vivid, bottle green colour was like light to my moth. I knew exactly what I wanted to make. A little French-inspired teacake, sage green in colour and coconutty. I even trudged out with more purpose this time around and finally picked the lemons weighing down my lemon tree.
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COCONUT AND MATCHA TEACAKES
Ingredients
- 125 g butter
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
- 1 teaspoon matcha, green tea powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 5 egg whites
- icing sugar and extra coconut to dust
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole friand tin with paper liners.
- Place buter in a pan. Heat on low until golden and bubbling. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Place almond meal, sugar, flour, coconut, salt, baking powder and matcha in a large bowl. Mix. Add the egg whites and mix with a hand blender until combined. Add butter and and lemon zest. Mix for a minute until blended.
- Spoon mixture into prepared friand holes until each is 2/3rds full. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes until cooked through and golden on top.
- Cool completely before removing the paper cases carefully. Dust with icing sugar and a sprinkling of dessicated coconut before serving.
Hi Sneh, I gave these a go last night. I used muffin tins instead of friand tins and baked them for the time stated. But sadly they're over-cooked - very hard & dry. Will definitely try these again though, as they smell, taste and look divine, but are very tough and dry 🙁 Wish I had of kept a more observant eye on them!
These look wonderful! Do you think it would be possible to bake them in a springform pan instead of individual little tea cakes? Thanks in advance .... 🙂
I made them last week and they were delicious. And they stayed fresh several days!
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Many of us definitely can relate to this occasional creative block. Glad you manage to wiggle yourself out with this delicious teacakes!
Thanks for sharing this. It definitely looks a fantastic recipe. would have to try.
What a story! Thanks for the laugh (sorry it's at your expense).
Will have to give this recipe a go - I love friands as do my kids.
Sneh, from where does one buy matcha???
So glad you've got your writer's block "unblocked"!
Alison, you will find matcha at any of the tea parlours or Chinese/Japanese grocers.
Love this recipe and I can't wait to bake it. Baking is therapeutic!
I find baking to be therapeutic and it gets me out of my mood swings, funks and the likes. Glad to hear you are back to your creative self once again!
These little teacakes look absolutely delicious!!
Very simple recipe and teacakes looks incredible! I would like to try bake it with my daughter. 🙂
Beautiful li'l teacakes!
I'm glad you didn't get hurt and you managed to save enough eggs for these beautiful tea cakes. Inspiration comes from wacky sources sometimes.
the matcha sounds really yummy but was wondering if you could replace it with anything else or if u could just skip completely
Love your website, and recipes...thank you
Debs
Hi Debs, you could skip matcha as it is mostly for the colour and the delicate flavour. You could try substituting with 2 tablespoons of very finely ground pistachios for a similar colour.
Very nice wish I could reach in and taste one. And never heard of matcha so will need to look around
Very pretty & I'm sure they're equally as tasty.
A delicious combination! Those teacakes must have a refined taste.
Cheers,
Rosa
Lovely little cakes! I'm glad you have your inspiration back, though I'm sorry it took going through such an ordeal with the eggs!
YAY! I am a serious matcha holic so glad you posted this recipe 🙂 And it's so pretty I have all the ingredients at home so definitely going to make these asap but I might add an extra teaspoon of matcha hehe
A little baking always helps. I was like that for two weeks, absolutely dull and no creative juices flowing around. Then I pushed one day, just had to and finally got back in zone 🙂
I never used matcha but have seen quite a lot of recipes that got me tempted, including your teacakes. Have to find these gorgeous green powder and get over the curiosity!
Love matcha! These look so dainty and exquisite.
Love the combination, true!
Really enjoy your recipe and the staging of your photos too!
Cheers! Joanne
ooh these sound devine! actually anything with matcha is a sure winner!
Woohoo, the egg incident seems rough..I agree sometimes it's never too good enough. But, the whole point is there is a good just after. I'm glad you saved some beautiful egg for this lovely cake.
Absolutely gorgeous Sneh! I've been waiting for you to share this recipe ever since I saw it pop up on Instagram.
And I hear you about the creative blocks. I think it gets even worse when we look at the work of people we admire because we just want to be like them. We just need to remember we are good enough, and try to pick up the pieces and carry on, much as you did with your eggs to make these beautiful cakes.
I'm so glad you're out of your funk! I'm sure these delicate little cakes helped to enhance your mood too!