When my friends, Zee and Marcus, invited me to their housewarming party, I immediately thought of baking cupcakes for their housewarming present. Red Velvet Cupcakes were a must as they were Zee’s favourite. I used my trusty recipe and at the last minute, I tweaked the recipe which turned out to be better than I expected. 
What a discovery! No longer am I ever going to use Cake Flour. It is all about All-purpose flour and Cornstarch for me from now onwards. Cupcakes come out much more moist and spongier. I am very happy.
Anyway I have been wanting to bake Green Tea Cupcakes stuffed with Red Beans for a while now. So I thought it would be perfect to bake half a dozen of it and another half dozen of Red Velvet for my friends. I did not need to search very far for a Green Tea cupcake recipe. I went straight to my reliable Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake recipe and added 6 tablespoons of Bakeable Green Tea power purchased from Poon Huat. The result? Frankenstein-coloured batter, ultra green giant cupcakes which had a strong green tea taste. I probably added in too much green tea powder and for my next batch, I am definitely adding in 3 tablespoons instead. For the frosting, I went for a simple Creamy Vanilla Frosting by Magnolia Bakery. This is my favourite recipe. It takes time but it holds up so well in the tropical heat and more importantly, less sweet. As you may see, it calls for a lot of butter but just 2 cups of sugar.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Magnolia Bakery! My sister got me the cookbook as a present for getting into Grad School and I love it. Most people say it is overrated but I learned so much from Magnolia by watching their videos on baking techniques.
(Recipe and more photos after the jump)
Green Tea Cupcakes stuffed with Red Bean
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Bakeable Green Tea powder (picture below)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours and green tea powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, at least 3 minutes.
Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.
With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
The batter when 6 tablespoons of green tea powder have been added in.
When baked, big and lovely.
Using a small knife, carefully cut off the center. Add in half a tablespoon of red bean into each cupcake.
(I personally do not like to add much as I like to be able to still taste the cake.)
At my friends Zee and Marcus’ new house with the cupcakes.
My sister made me cupcake toppers. Aren’t they cute?
For the red beans, I used this! From NTUC Fairprice for $2.90. It was already very sweet so I mashed up the beans.
One tin enough for exactly 12 cupcakes.
Bakeable green tea powder from Poon Huat.
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