Bake Matcha Latte Cheese Tart

I'm pleased to introduce another new Bake Cheese Tart flavour, the Matcha Latte Cheese Tart!!

So far I've attempted the original (Check them out - Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV), Thai Milk Tea,  Pandan Coconut as well as Coconut flavours.

Wonder why I took so long to make this matcha flavour? Our family loves green tea as well as matcha and we drink this beverage on a regular basis. Oh well, better late than never right?

Actually I was conducting fridge-clearing "exercise", have half a tub of mascarpone cheese, few pieces of cream cheese, some milk, a bit of matcha powder, so yep, why not give it a go?

In fact, the basic recipe is there, it's just a matter of experimenting with different flavour and proportion.

I have 2 types of matcha in my fridge. 1 type is matcha with green tea, the taste is lighter, suitable for drinking only. The other type is pure matcha powder, taste stronger with distinct vegetal aroma, suitable for drinking and baking/cooking. I use the pure matcha powder for the cheese custard as I prefer a stronger note of matcha.

Bake Matcha Latte Cheese Tart
13 petite size tarts - 5cm round cutter/2.5cm base tart cas
8 small size tarts, using 6cm fluted cutter/3.5cm base tart case

Ingredients

(A) Tart pastry

• 115g plain flour
• 5g matcha powder (about 2 tsp)
• 10g caster sugar
• 60g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
• 3-4 tsp fresh milk

(B) Matcha latte cheese custard

• 100g fresh milk
• 85g cream cheese
• 50g mascarpone cheese
• 40g salted butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 3-4g matcha powder 
• 10g corn starch
• 1 egg (about 50g nett weight)
• Egg wash for brushing sides of tart pastry 

Steps

(A) Tart pastry

1. Sift plain flour and matcha powder into a large bowl, add caster sugar and mix well.
2. Add cold salted butter cubes. Using finger tips, break the butter and rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add 3-4 tsp of fresh milk to the mixture, use a scrapper to help with the mixing.
4. The mixture will come together and thereafter, use hands to form the mixture into a pliable dough.
5. Knead the dough gently into a ball. Place the dough between 2 pieces of plastic sheet.
6. Roll the dough to about 4-5mm thickness and place in fridge to rest for about 1 hour.

(B) Matcha latte cheese custard

1. Add fresh milk, cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, salted butter and caster sugar into a small pot.
2. Place the pot into a large, shallow pan/pot with barely simmering water. This is the bain marie method, to create a gentle and uniform heat for cooking custard. Keep stirring the mixture till everything is melted.
3. Add sifted matcha powder. Mix till well-blended. The matcha powder may not dissolve fully.
4. Add sifted corn starch. Mix till well-blended, the mixture will thicken slowly.
5. Add the egg and keep stirring till well-blended, the mixture will further thicken into custard.
6. Stop cooking once the desired thickness of custard is reached (shorter cooking time - runny texture, longer cooking time - gooey texture)
7. Sift the custard for a smoother texture (as they may be some fine lumps and grainy bits in the custard).
8. Cover the custard with a clingwrap on the surface and let the custard cool down completely. 
9. Fill the custard into a piping bag. Set aside.

(C) Assembly

1. Remove the dough from fridge. Dust a baking mat (and rolling pin) with flour, use the round cutter to stamp the dough.
2. Use a metal scrapper (dust with flour) to lift up the cut dough.
3. Place the cut dough over the tart case and gently press it downwards.
4. Using finger tips, gently press and mold the dough into the tart case. Use a fork to poke holes at the base of the tart pastry.
5. Bake the tarts at 180C, fan mode for 10mins. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
6. After the tart cases are cooled slightly, remove them from the tins and let cool completely before use.
7. Preheat oven to 235C conventional mode. 
8. Pipe the matcha latte cheese custard into the tart pastry, shape slightly domed. Use a spatula to smoothen the top if necessary. Brush the sides of the tart pastry evenly with egg wash.
9. Bake the tarts at 235C conventional mode, 5-6 mins for petite size, 7-8 mins for small size.
10. Once baked, remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Best eaten warm, freshly baked.  

** I made a video of tart making in the Coconut Cheese Tart post. As the steps are quite similar, re-post here for reference.

Love love love how the tarts turned out! Crunchy tart pastry and gooey cheese custard with distinct aroma and taste of matcha. Had to resist myself from eating one after another.

The kiddo super loved it and declared that this flavour is his favourite of all, well not surprising since he's a matcha lover too. He chomped a few pieces after my photo-taking (kept asking me if I'm done) and already reserved a few for his breakfast and snack in school. I know for sure this recipe and flavour is a keeper for my family.

Not sure if I will continue to explore other flavours, such as chocolate (once again why I haven't try yet huh)? Depends on whether I'm in the mood for baking like today (and it had to rain in the afternoon making the lighting so poor for photo-taking. DUH).