So you may have seen this curious looking bright green powder popping up everywhere on instagram and the internet? To give you a very brief synopsis “cha” in Japanese means tea, and “ma” means powder, thus the word “Matcha” translates literally as powdered green tea. This powdered green tea has become very popular all over the world not only because of its bright green colour but also because of the medicinal powers it is believed to contain. Preparation and consumption of powdered tea was formed into a ritual by Zen Buddhists, who cultivated the green tea plant, called “sencha”, by growing it under shade conditions thus maximizing the therapeutic benefits of the green tea, or what became known as “Matcha”. The Zen Buddhists believed that this tea brought to them a greater sense of clarity and well-being and thus enabled them to be much more “centered”, “focused”, and maintain a level of sustained energy throughout the afternoon which they had never experienced before. 
As far as its nutritional profile goes Matcha is source of Vitamins A, B, C, E & K but is rich in components with super antioxidant activity including polyphenols, catechins and chlorophyll. Okay so enough about the tea now! In all honesty this product excites me more because of its fabulous colour and the fact that its totally natural. I am using it here in this recipe principally because of these factors and not for nutritional benefit as I think you would need to eat about 10 of the chocolates to get any nutritional benefits – which defeats the purpose of the health benefits entirely! I can also make bright green banana smoothies for my boys with it which they think is totally cool 🙂
These are so easy to make… and fun for your kids to join in too… queue licking of spoons covered in melted chocolate 🙂 They are great as after dinner party treats… or just treats in general and I always have something like this stashed away in the fridge as you never know when a friend will be popping in and need a mouth hug!
Ingredients for 12 treats:
- 200g best quality dark chocolate 75% (I like African Origin Couverture Chocolate from Tomes – I can get 2 kgs for 300zar which is a bargain!)
- 2 tsp Matcha Powder (optional – its not cheap!)
- 1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
Preparation:
- Throw your coconut, coconut cream, 1 tsp Matcha and maple syrup into a blender and pulse to create a thick mixture. Place to one side.
- Break the chocolate up into pieces and melt in a double boiler/bain-marie.
- Pour 1 teaspoon into each little “dip” in the mini muffin pan and push the chocolate up the sides a little. You should have half the chocolate left melted in the bowl. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
4. Once the chocolate has set remove from the freezer and take a tablespoon of the coconut mixture in your hands and make a small ball that you will flatten into a disc and place on-top of the set chocolate in the muffin pan. Pour the leftover melted chocolate spoon by spoon over to coat the top of each coconut disk.
5. Place the pan back in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.
6. If your pan is decent quality non-stick you can literally just pop the chocolate out.
7. Dust them with the last teaspoon of Matcha powder using a tea strainer to distribute the powder nicely… and keep chilled in the fridge until you want to serve them.
NOTE: If you don’t have a pan like this or a mold you can just roll the coconut mixture into balls and freeze. Once hard you can dip them into the melted chocolate and coat. Place them on a plate covered in baking paper and freeze till solid. You can dust with the Matcha powder finally and serve 🙂
Don’t they look ridiculously pretty????
