A while back, I picked up a little tin of matcha tea so that I could try baking with it. Needless to say, it has been living on the spice rack in the pantry and would probably still be there, unopened, if the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers had not chosen to make matcha financiers this week!
Since we are trying to lose a little weight here, I only made a third of the recipe which gave me 10 little cakes. My new pan, one I found on my last trip to Pennsylvania, is actually for popovers and for some reason, it only has 7 cups in it which meant I had to use 2 pans. The ones I baked in the muffin pan, a black-nonstick pan, are on the right side of the photo. The look very different from the ones baked in my aluminum popover pan.
Not only did they look different, they also came out shorter and much darker. Beleive it or not, I used a portion scoop and each one is the same amount of batter-the pans were just so different that it really shows in the baked cakes above.
Matcha tea is not easy to find and I picked mine up in a spice shop that also sells teas. The tin is so cute but if you notice the size of my measuring spoons next to it, you should see that it is also tiny; it holds barely 2 tablespoons!
My new, old pan. It is a fairly heavy gauge, aluminum popover pan and the cups are nice and deep. Best part, I think I spent $3.00 for it!
A side view of the cups-nice and deep
The photo in the book has very bright green cakes but the recipe tells you that the batter will be a pea green. Mine are definitely pea green which makes me wonder about the photo in the book. The day these were baked, the flavor was a little grassy and I did not care for them but as they aged for a day or two, the flavor improved, a lot. These may make another appearance in our kitchen, but not for a while-we really need to get back on track with the diet!
To see how the other bakers did, visit the website. Feel like baking along with us? Pick up a copy of the book and head to the kitchen!
will garden for cake 
I really like the look of your little cakes.
The colour and texture looks great.
Interesting how different pans produced such different results!
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Baking is all about chemistry and physics-the pan you choose will have an affect on the outcome!
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Good luck with the diet 🙂
I think the brand of powder used impacts the end color. The brand I picked up at the Asian market this time was definitely more “vibrant” that the kind I’ve bought from the health food shop.
Nice popover pan!
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It probably does have a lot to do with it-but so does the color balance of a photo. By changing the settings on my camera, I was able to get a bright color that looked more like the photo but I went with the one that actually resembled the cakes.
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They look great. I particularly like the photo of the interior that shows the moist crumb.
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I love the way the pop over pan made them look… and extra touch of specialness. Your pictures look great too!
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Thanks Nicole!
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Interesting the way they baked so differently. Both look good and have a great
color.
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The difference was the pans; amazing what can happen when you use a different pan. Another reason why I prefer heavy gauge aluminum over black metal pans.
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Photos in recipe books often bear scant resemblance to the finished product, I have found. Your financiers in the popover tins are so different to the muffin tin versions. Matcha seems universally to come in small tins and very pricey, gathering from everyone’s posts.
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Isn’t it amazing how the recipe bakes in different pans? I knew that it would look very different if baked in the mini muffin pan I have because it is a black pan with a nonstick coating. My general preference is to use aluminum pans for just about everything but I do have some tin, steel and nonstick ones too.
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Oh, I love that you included the difference about the pans…how interesting!
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I have been baking professionally for a long time and have had many chances to see how a pan can affect the outcome-it made sense to share it with everyone, hope it helps!
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