Chocolate Matcha Swirl, #BundtaMonth

Matcha is the elite member of the green tea family. Shizuoka, southwest of Tokyo (an hour away by train) and Uji on the southern island of Kyushu are two areas famous for the choice green tea leaves.

Picking premium Japanese green tea leaves
Photo Credit

For this month’s swirl-in-a-Bundt theme, I twirled chocolate matcha into a bona fide Southern belle of a pound cake.

The pound cake recipe is from Kim Nelson of South Carolina. She is the owner of the well-known Daisy Cakes shop. Her creations are beyond – in taste and appearance. Ms. Nelson has generously shared her pound cake recipe on TV shows and in media interviews. The recipe for the light, luscious and moist cake below is adapted from ABC News.com.

Daisy Cakes Southern Pound Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3½ cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Thoroughly Pam (baking) spray a Bundt pan. Next, sprinkle in fine panko breadcrumbs. (This works wonders in releasing the cake from the pan.) In mixing bowl, cream butter. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Scrape down the mixing bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients along with 1 cup buttermilk. Blend at low speed until combined. Scrape down the bowl again and mix for 2 minutes. Reserve and set aside 1 cup of batter. Prepare the swirl.

The Ninja Baker’s Chocolate Matcha Swirl
Adapted from the banana bread chocolate swirl at Roxana’s Home Baking

¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons matcha powder (or less if you prefer a more subtle green tea accent)
1 cup of batter (from the cake recipe above)

Combine together in a heatproof bowl over a simmering pot of hot water. Take off the heat when chocolate is melted and add reserve batter.

Pour half of vanilla batter into prepared Bundt pan. Add the chocolate mixture and swirl with a chopstick or knife. Cover with the remaining vanilla batter.

Bake at 325 degrees 65-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean with just a few crumbs on it.

A bold accent of chocolate and matcha in a sweet Southern pound cake.

We have a swirly theme this month for #bundt-a-month. 16 gorgeous swirly cakes in every form will be inspiration enough for you to bake with us this month. Apple Swirl Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days Cinnamon Praline Pecan Swirl Bundt Cake by Karen at In the Kitchen With KP Cinnamon Pecan Swirl with Cinnamon Glaze by Stacy at Food Lust People Love Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Bundt by Anita at Hungry Couple Chocolate Matcha Swirl by Kim from Ninja Baking Double Chocolate Swirl Bundt Cake by Lora at Cake Duchess Lemon Raspberry Swirl Bundt Cake by Carrie at Poet In The Pantry Lemon Basil Blueberry Swirl Bundt Cake by Kate at Food Babbles Nutella Swirl Bundt by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen Nutella Swirl Bundt Cake by Anuradha at Baker Street Orange Creamsicle Bundt by Holly at A Baker’s House Strawberry Nutella Swirl Mini Bundts by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Bundt by Sandra at The Sweet Sensations Espresso Swirled Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life Vanilla Cherry Swirl Mini Bundt Cakes by Heather at Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks Zebra Bundt by Tara at Noshing With The Noland HTML

• Apple Swirl Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Cinnamon Praline Pecan Swirl Bundt Cake by Karen at In the Kitchen With KP
• Cinnamon Pecan Swirl with Cinnamon Glaze by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Bundt by Anita at Hungry Couple
• Chocolate Matcha Swirl by Kim from Ninja Baking
• Double Chocolate Swirl Bundt Cake by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Lemon Raspberry Swirl Bundt Cake by Carrie at Poet In The Pantry
• Lemon Basil Blueberry Swirl Bundt Cake by Kate at Food Babbles
• Nutella Swirl Bundt by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen
• Nutella Swirl Bundt Cake by Anuradha at Baker Street
• Orange Creamsicle Bundt by Holly at A Baker’s House
• Strawberry Nutella Swirl Mini Bundts by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom
• Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Bundt by Sandra at The Sweet Sensations
• Espresso Swirled Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life
• Vanilla Cherry Swirl Mini Bundt Cakes by Heather at Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
• Zebra Bundt by Tara at Noshing With The Noland

Text Here ís how you can be a part of Bundt-a-Month: Simple rule: Bake us a swirly bundt Post it before June 30, 2013 Use the #BundtaMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title could read #BundtaMonth: Cherry Bundt) Add your entry to the Linky tool below Link back to our announcement posts Even more Bundt fun! Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous Bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from hundreds of Bundt cake recipes.

Wishing you moments as  blissful as bites of Bundt cake.