Matcha Green Tea Swirl Cupcakes | Cotton Soft Sponge Cake

Want to try something special? These cupcakes is as beautiful as it is super soft and fluffy in every bite of texture, also simple to make. It's perfect for adding to your party table or give it as a delicious gift to your loved ones.

Ingredients

(A)
• 35g, 3 tbsp butter
• a pinch of salt
• 35g, 5 tbsp whole milk
• 55g, 61/2 tbsp cake flour
• 3 large egg yolks, cold

(B)
• 3 large egg whites, cold
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar or 1/2 tsp lime / lemon juice
• 60g, 6 tbsp sugar

(C)
• 11/2 tsp matcha green tea powder

Method:

1) Heat the butter in a saucepan, over low heat, Add a pinch of sea salt, milk and sugar until it dissolves. Turn off the heat. Gently pour hot mixture to the cake flour, and stirring. Add the egg yolks and whisk until just combined, (From the beginning to end not stirring more than 25 times). 

2) In a separate bowl, Whisk (B) egg whites until foamy then add cream of tartar and sugar a little bit at a time, beating in low to medium speed, until to a thick and stiff peak stage, about 5 minutes.

3) Using a whisker, and turn the small amount of egg whites into the batter, mix well and then turn back the batter into the whites, the most important part here is ''not to stirring'' and carefully ''folding '' until just incorporated.and use a spatula and smooth the surface. Bang the cake pan a few times and get the air bubbles out of your cake batter.  

4) Use matcha powder, mix with the remaining batter. To fill the piping bag neatly, stand it in a glass, spoon your chocolate batter in and secure the bag closed and snip off the corner. Gently squeeze and use a chop stick or whatever tools can create any pattern you wanted on the top of cakes before you bake it to get a lovely effect.

5) To prepare a water bath. Pour enough cold water in a larger pan. No need to preheat the oven, for baking, heat needs top and bottom with fan-assisted 120°c for 25 minutes - cupcakes. Baking time, it will depend on the size of your cake pan. Rest in the oven at least 10 minutes. To make sure your cake to succeed even better. It is best to use an oven thermometer and you'll always have the exact temperature of your oven in mind. 

6) Transfer the cake to a plate for serving. Any leftover cake can be covered and kept in the fridge or room temperature for 2 days.

Helpful Tips:
1) Be careful not to get the saucepan hot because the oil will burn. 
2) For guaranteed results it's important to follow exactly this recipe and baking at the right temperature is important. It's recommended to use an oven thermometer.
3) Do not bake the cake quickly at a high temperature and don't remove hot cake out of a baking pan. otherwise the cake could fall apart and crack on top. Baking cake at a lower temperature will help the cake rise much higher and bake more evenly.
4) Please understand that everyone's oven work differently. You should also check the temperature of your oven. if not, your cake won't rise well. 
5) You can test the cake by poking it with a skewer, if it's cooked the skewer will come out clean. if not pop it back in the oven and bake until it's ready. 
6) Folding egg whites into a cake batter. Do not stir and never use an electric mixer. 
7) Use a clean, dry bowl, free of yolk and any other oil or grease while beating egg whites. Do not over or under-beat the egg whites.
8) If it's cooked the skewer will come out clean. if not pop it back in the oven and bake until it's ready. 
9) Do not over mix the cake batter, because gluten in the flour can form elastic gluten strands and it will resulting in a more dense and chewy texture. 

Recipe Source: Josephine's Recipes