Japanese Matcha Munavalgekook

this is something that Dear saw on Foodgawker (my favorite iPhone app!) and requested for. it was a very simple cake but required quite alot of eggs whites. I had problems using up the egg yolks after that and ended throwing some away - yes, it was wasteful. I should have been more curious to find out what "Munavalgekook" means before baking this. that's me, i usually "skip" the words that i cannot pronounce, when reading in silence. it's subconscious. I wonder if anyone of you is like me. ...The awkward moment when you wrongly pronounce the name of a lead character in a popular book when excitedly discussing about the character with another fan of the book...


anyway, the word "Munavalgekook" is Estonian for "egg white cake". unlike angel cakes  which also use only egg whites and contain little/no fat, munavalgekook has added fat and is taste buttery and moist. coupled with the aroma of matcha powder, i think it is wonderful as as a tea-time snack with any brewed tea!

I chose to bake this cake in a bundt pan. I love making bundt cakes as they already look pretty on its own. 

Japanese Matcha Munavalgekook
(adapted from closetdomesticbunny)


Ingredients:

• 6 large egg whites

• 2tbsp caster sugar

• 100g butter, melted and let cool

• 150g caster sugar (original recipe called for 200g)

• 160g self-raising flour

• 2tbsp of cornflour

• 1tsp of baking powder

• 1tbsp matcha green tea powder (could add 1/2tsp if desired)

Method:

1. Line your baking tin and pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together and sift a few times until ingredients are all mixed thoroughly.
3. Beat the egg whites and 2 tbsp of sugar with a hand mixer until pale and foamy, or if you'd like the cake fluffier until soft peaks form.
4. Sift the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites. Fold with a spatula gently.
5. Add the melted (but cool) butter and mix gently.
6. Pour into the baking tin and bake for 30-40 minutes. Mine baked for about 45 min.
7. let cook in the bundt for 5min and transfer to cool on a cooling rack

Chocolate Bundt Cake

this is actually a pound cake in a bundt mold. wanted to try out something in preparation for Christmas! Hohoho!


sadly, the pictures cannot really show how great the cake actually tasted. most of the comments i gathered were really positive. to perfect it, go with vanilla/chocolate sauce or vanilla ice cream..


to those who have tried it, i really hope you will crave for more, because i shall be baking more of it for others to try. one of my most satisfied bakes till date. ;)

Chocolate Bundt Cake (adapted from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book)


Ingredients:


181g ---------------------- all-purpose flour
57g ----------------------- cake flour
92g ----------------------- dutch-processed cocoa power
2 1/4 tsp ----------------- baking powder
1/2 tsp ------------------- salt
340g --------------------- unsalted butter
500g --------------------- granulated sugar (i used only 380g)
4 large eggs
2 tsp ---------------------- vanilla extract
242g --------------------- sour cream (i replaced about 1/5 of it with plain yoghurt)

Method:


1. preheat oven to 163degC. grease the inside on a 10-in bundt pan and dust with flour
2. sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
3. using an electric mixer, at medium speed, beat butter until very creamy (~2min). gradually beat in the sugar. increase speed of electric mixer to medium high and beat the mixture until well-blended and light (~4min)
4. reduce speed to medium. beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition
5. stir the vanilla extract into the sour cream.
6. now add the dry ingredient into the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 additions, mixing until just well-blended (note: the flour mixture is prone to splatter during mixing. use a splatter shield on the mixing bowl if you have)
7. scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top
8. bake the cake for 75 mins, or until a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15minutes. after that, invert the cake onto the rack and let it cool completely