Warning:
If you HATE boybands, it might be best to skip the next part and head straight to the recipe section of this post. =)
What is it about tonight that's making me look back to some of the crazy things I did back in highschool? It must have been the Color Me Badd ( and I bet you'd probably say Who??? ) concert that happened 2 weeks ago. You see, as embarrassing as it is, like any other teenage girls out there, back then my friends and I WERE crazy about boybands. Living in a small city, we don't really get a lot of visits from foreign artists & groups, unless of course, when their fame is up and they're old and wrinkly and no one can remember their names anymore, then that's when they actually consider coming here. lol. It was AGES ago but I still have vivid memories of what happened. One boyband in particular came to my city and a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go with her to watch their concert. I was 16 and I didn't know anything about this British boy group called Code Red but I thought it might be fun so why not. We were just completely smitten when they came out on stage. Good looks plus wonderful vocals can make teenage girls do crazy things. First was the concert, then the autographs, then one thing lead to another and before you know it, we were driving behind their bus like some crazy stalkers. ( But don't worry folks, that was all in the PAST.) It was absolutely insane but we had a blast and the best times of our lives. It's one of those experiences that will always bring a smile on my face when I look back and I will never forget the rest of my life.
So anyway, I'm listening to some of their old songs right now while writing this post and I'm feeling inspired. I also went through a "cupcake" phase. I'm always looking for something that's a little bit different than the average. I found this interesting combination of flavors for a cupcake, strawberry yogurt and green tea. I LOVE green tea. Tea and coffee are my daily staples. I feel like my day is never complete without them. I must have done something wrong with the recipe though because these came out TOO MOIST. They were so moist, they tasted more like steamed rice cakes than cupcakes. But the flavors were wonderful. I might make these again some time in the future with a little tweak to the recipe and see how they turn out the second time around.
recipe adapted from justJENNrecipes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup strawberry yogurt
1/2 cup butter, melted
a drop of red food coloring
1 tbsp green tea powder (matcha)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp milk
sweetened whipped cream
green tea powder for dusting
Strawberry Yogurt Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Sift it once to get rid of any unwanted lumps. In one bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until well mixed. Add the flour and baking powder mixture slowly. Add the yogurt and mix well. Mix in the melted butter. Take 1/2 cup of this cake batter to make the green tea cake portion and set aside. Add a tiny drop of red food coloring to the remaining batter to give it a nice pink color.
Green Tea Cake
In another bowl, mix the green tea powder, sugar and milk, turning it into a smooth paste. Add 1/2 cup of the cake batter and mix until it turns into the lovely green color of matcha.
Mixing the two together
In a muffin tin lined with cupcake liners, spoon a little of the strawberry yogurt cake batter. Spoon a little of the green tea batter on top of it in the middle. Do not cover the pink part completely. Alternate these 2 layers until it is 3/4 of the way full. Take a knife and swirl it around to give it a marbled look. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before frosting with slightly sweetened whipped cream. Sprinkle a little green tea powder on top.
