Matcha Moss Cupcakes

Happy Spring, tea friends! This new season of sunshine and blooms has me inspired to bring you yet another matcha recipe, but this time, we appreciate green tea’s natural shade of leaf green, not just its delicious flavor. Once a cake is covered with Matcha Moss, it magically becomes a canvas for forest and garden themed confections. The moss is easy-to-make, doesn’t require any piping tips to apply, and best of all, skips over the need for fake food coloring.When combined with bread crumbs, unsweetened coconut, and ground flax seeds, culinary matcha creates a mossy texture that’s fine but not quite uniform. Once the sticky surface of the frosting comes in contact with the moss mix, the green tea will become darker, which sets the stage for a rich base of color.To add dimension, let the cupcake sit for a few minutes, then dunk the cupcake in the moss a second time. The second layer will appear a brighter shade of green than the first layer, like the floor of a mossy woodland.Carrot cake and chocolate cake work well with the flavor of this moss, as do muffins and quick breads like banana bread or blueberry muffins (use a thin layer nut butter instead of frosting for these). I’ve even taken to scattering a heap of the stuff over oatmeal in the mornings for an extra nutritional boost.If you want to go a step further, pastels and florals make beautiful accents against this Matcha Moss. The dried petals or buds from herbals like rose buds, lavender, osmanthus, amaranth, or chrysanthemum can be used like sprinkles for a lively pop of color. Fresh flowers, mini chocolate bunnies, or candy eggs also look fabulous perched atop the lush-looking cakes.Bring the outdoors inside this spring with some whimsical Matcha Moss! This luscious greenery is so naturalistic, you’ll feel like a florist or landscaper when working with it. All that work with instant results–how’s that for easy spring gardening!?
Matcha Moss 

Decorates about 1 dozen cupcakes or 1 cake. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cups of fresh bread or cake crumbs (from 1 large slice or 1 large, unfrosted, yellow cupcake)

1/3 cup unsweetened dried coconut

2 Tbsp culinary matcha

1 Tbsp ground flax seeds or wheat bran

cupcakes, muffins, cakes, or cookies

frosting or nut butter

Equipment:

mixing bowl

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix all the moss ingredients together.

2. Frost the cupcakes with a thin layer of frosting.

3. Dip the top of the cupcakes in the matcha moss. Let the cupcake sit for a few minutes, then dip it in the moss mix a second time. Repeat for all the cupcakes. If you’d like, add more natural-themed embellishments like flowers or candies. Enjoy!

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