Category Archives: Tea Recipes

Recipes for cooking or baking with tea

Tea Recipes

Recipe for a quick and easy gift

Leave a comment

using matcha and/or hojicha powder

Matcha/Hojicha Chocolate Covered Caramelized Almonds

image and recipe courtesy of Sugimoto Tea Company

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (100g) whole almonds (raw or roasted) or nuts or seeds of choice*
  • 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (10g) water
  • 1 teaspoon (5g) butter
  • 2 oz white chocolate
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons (8g) matcha or hojicha powder

Instructions

Step 1: If using raw almonds, roast them at 325°F for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. [If using hulled green pumpkin seeds, definitely want to toast them – only about 5-6 minutes needed. Stir halfway through.]

Step 2: Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir, or Shake the pan every once in a while to dissolve the sugar evenly.

Step 3: Once the sugar melts completely, add almonds and stir continuously. The sugar will start crystalizing and look grainy and white. Keep stirring and the sugar will melt again and turn brownish in color.

Step 4: Remove from heat when the color turns deep amber. Don’t burn the sugar too much! Add butter and stir well. (I forgot to add the butter when making the pumpkin seed batch and they seem fine – pumpkin seeds maybe a bit more fat content than almonds ?)

Step 5: Spread out the almonds on a piece of parchment paper and separate them from one another. Allow to cool.

Step 6: In a small bowl, break the white chocolate into small pieces and melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Add 1/2tsp matcha (or hojicha) powder and stir gently until well combined.

Step 7: Once the almonds cool, put them in a medium bowl then pour about ¼ of the white chocolate over the almonds. Stir carefully until the almonds are covered with the chocolate. Repeat until all the chocolate is gone.

Step 8: Once the chocolate is solid, toss the almonds in the 1 tsp of matcha (or hojicha) powder to coat. [My Note: it took a good half hour in a cool kitchen for the chocolate to solidify enough to coat with the powder so they would look “dusted” rather than it being absorbed into the chocolate.]

*I think hulled pumpkin seeds would be a great substitute, especially with hojicha. Also I have somewhat edited the recipe for clarity based on my experience making my first batch. Comments are turned on so you can share from your experience as well.

My humble first attempt making hojicha almonds – Taste amazing – though not so pretty.

 Pro tip: After coating fully if there is a dusting of matcha or hojicha powder left in your bowl – make yourself a mini drink using standard preparation instructions (reducing water or milk proportionate to the amount of powder you have). Mmmm! OR, if you are gifting these, add it to the jar with the nuts and let your giftee get the extra benefit.

Hojicha pumpkin seed clusters before dusting with hojicha powder
My matcha almonds. Taste much better than they look!
Favorite Tea, Tea Recipes

Chai Ice cream

Leave a comment

(by Galen McGreehan)

 INGREDIENTS

2 cups half-and-half
3 large egg yolks
 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon Traveling Tea Chai Spices
*1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (optional)
In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring the half-and-half to the scalding point (the milk begins to foam up). Remove from heat.
Meanwhile in a stainless steel bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (about two minutes).
Gradually pour the scalding half-and-half into the whipped egg yolk mixture, making sure you keep whisking constantly so the eggs don’t curdle. If any lumps do form, strain the mixture first before heating.
Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook until the custard thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon (170 degrees F).
Immediately remove the custard from the heat and continue to stir it for a few minutes so it does not overcook. At this point stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk in chai spices, making sure to break up any lumps that form.
 Cover and let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate the custard until it is completely cold (several hours but preferably overnight).
Transfer the cold custard to the chilled container of your ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once made, transfer the ice cream to a chilled container and store in the freezer. If the ice cream becomes too hard place in the refrigerator until softened.
Enjoy!
*NOTE – I like my chai pretty spicy, so I added another 2 teaspoons of chai mix as well  ground black pepper.  Adjust to your taste before cooling.
General, News, Special Events, Tea Recipes

Shop Status Update

Leave a comment

Though we are not yet officially open, yesterday was our first event in our new shop location at 2707 Sutton Blvd in Maplewood – The 4th Annual Maplewood Coffee Crawl [I always forget to take pictures!!]

 

600 people were registered, and I know we saw many of you!  The flow of tea sampling was pretty constant from 8:15-12:30.  THANK YOU!  and thank you SO much for your warm welcome to the neighborhood.

We are still waiting for installation of sinks, and have some finish painting etc to complete, as well as final inspections.

We’ll be sending out an email as well as updating Facebook and Twitter as opening day gets close.

————————————————————–

In the meantime, look for us in the Farmers Market area at Earthday by the Muny in Forest Park on Sunday 4/21

AND/OR attend our food and tea pairing at Something Elegant Catering on Tuesday 4/16.  Tea/Food Pairing event details

Attendance is limited to 25 guests and we are more than half full at this point – so don’t delay.  Recipes and tips for cooking with tea will be shared freely.  Call me or email to reserve your spot  314 477 8516 or kateri @ traveling-tea (dot) com

[Click on the image to open in new window and enlarge so it is readable]