Lemon Matcha Cake Bites

These Lemon Matcha Cake Bites are a slightly more sophisticated version of cake balls, which have been all the craze over the last few years.  These truffles are just as easy to make as traditional cake balls, but with some matcha green tea powder, fresh lemon, and white chocolate, these cute little cake bites are transformed from sweet treats to charming one-of-a-kind confections.

I think I’ve gone matcha-crazed lately.  It’s that beautiful, natural green color that I can’t get enough of, especially as Christmas is coming around the corner.  There’s just no “leaf green” shade of green food coloring that can match the beauty, taste, and wholesomeness of matcha green tea.

I’ve made a matcha pound cake here by adding 2 tablespoons of matcha to my favorite pound cake recipe, but the green tea cake can also be made by mixing the same amount of matcha tea powder into a standard boxed white cake mix.  After the cake is baked and cooled, place pieces of cake into the food processor and pulse until you get fine crumbs.  And if you don’t have time for the baking, just buy a loaf of pound cake from the store, give it a few pulses in the food processor, and add matcha powder to the pound cake crumbs.

When it comes to dipping the cake truffles, technique is important.  To make your dipping efforts that much more effective, I’ve included one extra step of transferring the dipped cake ball to one piece of parchment before it is once again moved to another piece of parchment to finish drying.  This one extra step eliminates the pooling that occurs around the base of the ball when you haven’t tapped off all that excess candy coating, thus making the truffles a bit less messy looking.

These cake truffles can be left at room temperature for a few days before needing to be placed in the fridge, so they are great for packaging and shipping as holiday gifts.  I’ve found some boxes from the Container Store that fit exactly 1 dozen of these cake truffles perfectly.

This year, ship these off cake bites off to your friends instead of cookies.  With refreshing matcha and tart lemon, these unique confections will bring just the right amount of brightness to any holiday dessert table.

Lemon Matcha Cake Bites

Makes 25 cake bites.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp heavy cream

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

2 1/2 cups of matcha cake crumbs OR 2 1/2 cups white cake crumbs + 1-2 Tbsp matcha powder

1 Tbsp lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

6 oz. White Candy Melts

4 tsp canola oil

1 Tbsp matcha powder

large heart sprinkles

Equipment:

chocolate melter (I have a Wilton Chocolate Pro) or double boiler

2 forks, 1 large spoon

parchment paper (one piece for cake truffles, another for pooling excess candy coating)

25 mini cupcake cases

cookie scoop with 1 3/4″ diameter (2 Tbsp)

Directions:

1.)  Heat cream until it almost comes to a boil.  Place white chocolate chips into a medium bowl and pour hot heavy cream to cover all the chips.  Let sit for 4 minutes without touching, then mix with spoon until you get an even ganache where all the chocolate chips have melted completely.

2.)  Add lemon zest and lemon juice to the ganache, then add the matcha cake crumbs.  Mix thoroughly, then scoop out the truffle cake mixture with a level measure of the cookie scoop and place each ball onto a sheet of parchment paper.  After you have scooped all 25 cake balls, use your hands to roll them into smooth, rounded balls.  Set aside on a large sheet of parchment paper to firm up.

3.)  Meanwhile, melt candy melts in chocolate melter or on top bowl of double boiler set on low.  Add the 4 tsp of canola oil and mix in well until you get a smooth dipping consistency.  Be sure not to over heat the dipping melts, as this will result in uneven patterns forming on the truffle after being dipped.

4.)  Using your index and thumb, take one cake truffle ball and lightly dip the bottom 1/4 inch of the ball in the melted candy coating, then place the tines of one fork under the dipped base using your other hand.  Using the a large tablespoon, spoon the melted candy coating and evenly and generously atop the cake truffle ball, then lightly tap the fork handle on the edge of melting bowl to shake off any excess dipping chocolate.  If you see that there are parts of the ball that haven’t been coated, ladle more candy coating on top of the ball and again tap off excess.

5.)  Place the dipped ball (that is now fully and evenly covered in dipping chocolate) onto the second piece of parchment by pushing it off the first fork with the second fork.  Let the ball rest here for a few seconds to allow any excess candy coating to drip off and pool onto the parchment.  Making sure that the edges of the parchment are held down with some weights,  then use both forks to “cradle” the bottom base of the ball on both sides and transfer it to the original piece of parchment (this will prevent an excess amount of dipping chocolate from pooling around the finished truffle ball).

6.)  Sprinkle some matcha tea on the cake truffle ball before the coating sets, then place a heart sprinkle in the center of the top.  Let cool completely before transferring to a cupcake case.  Store truffle balls at room temperature of up to 3 days.

Step-By-Step:

Pour hot cream onto white chocolate and let sit for 4 minutes.

Mix ganache to a smooth consistency, then add lemon zest and juice.

Add the matcha cake crumbs.

Mix thoroughly to get your cake ball filling.

Scoop out 25 cake balls using a cookie scoop.

matcha cake truffles dipping

Have melted white candy coating ready for dipping, making sure not to over-heat.

Place dipped ball on second piece of parchment, and have matcha and sprinkles ready.

Then move the ball back to the original piece of parchment. You can see that some excess melting chocolate has been left behind at the first stop.

Let the cake bites set before placing in cases.

Love matcha green tea powder like I do?  Check out my recipe for Matcha Green Tea Noodles and Matcha Green Tea French Macarons!

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