Molten dark chocolate pudding with matcha green tea powder

Vitamin and mineral-packed matcha green tea powder is created with finely ground, shade-grown green tea leaves. The bright green, slightly bitter powder adds the unmistakable flavour and colour of green tea to everything it graces. It adds a sophisticated and complex flavour to savoury and sweet dishes and I particularly like using it to dust over desserts such as the Molten Dark Chocolate Pudding or adding to custards.

Ingredients

200 g	Unsalted butter, to grease the moulds
1 cup	Caster sugar, to grease the moulds
100 g	Unsalted butter
75 g	Cocoa butter
125 g	Honey
275 g	Dark chocolate, I use Marou Ben Tre (Main)
5	Eggs
100 g	Eggs, yolks
60 g	Eggs, whites
50 g	Caster sugar
2 Tbsp	Matcha (green tea) powder, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Begin by melting the butter for greasing the Masu boxes. Pour the hot butter into one box at a time, making sure all the sides have been lined with butter. Pour butter into the next box and repeat until all of the boxes are greased.
2. Fill one box at a time (6 x Masu wooden boxes (available at Japanese stores)) with the caster sugar and ensure all sides and the base have been lined. Pour any remaining sugar into the next box and repeat until all have been lined. Place in the fridge until required.
3. To make the cake batter, melt the butter, cocoa butter, honey and chocolate over a double boiler, set aside to cool slightly.
4. Whisk eggs and yolks together and warm them up by whisking continuously over a double boiler. Once they have begun to fluff up whisk until light and fluffy.
5. Form a meringue by whisking the egg whites and caster sugar to a stiff peak using a stand or hand mixer. Gently fold the warm chocolate into the fluffy egg yolk mixture then add the meringue.
6. Fill the greased moulds and cook in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot (still in the box) with a heavy dusting of matcha green tea powder on top.

Note

Marou Ben Tre can be found at various stocklists listed onmarou.co.nz.