Baking – Ways to Make Matcha Powder Less Bitter in Baking

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I want to use Matcha powder in some baking recipes (cake, macaroons, cheesecake, etc), and while I think it tastes fine many others have told me that it is too bitter. So I was wondering if anyone knew a good way to kind of keeping the unique matcha flavor but reducing the bitterness to make it more sweet or palatable for others.

For example: I made a matcha cheesecake the other day.

Ingredients:

  • 24 ounces of cream cheese
  • 8 ounces of sour cream
  • 1 cup of granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of matcha powder
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs

I combined the cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar until smooth and creamy. Then I added the matcha powder and vanilla extract for flavor; this also thickened the batter. Finally, I mixed in the eggs individually until just combined to make the batter smooth again. The cheesecake turned out excellently and I thought it tasted good, but all my friends and family thought it was too bitter. So I want to keep the matcha flavor while reducing the bitterness for others who are less familiar to the matcha flavor can enjoy.

My thoughts to counter the bitter flavor were to either combine:

  • mix 1/3 cup heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of matcha powder
  • mix 4 ounces of melted white chocolate with 2 tablespoons of matcha powder
  • add 1 tablespoon of honey with 2 tablespoons of matcha powder
  • Or some combination of the three

If anyone knows if these combinations work or has other suggestions I would be happy to hear them.

Best Answer

So, first things first... matcha is not supposed to be overly bitter. It has a certain bitterness to it, but good, well-prepared matcha is not overpoweringly bitter. (I'm talking about the actual tea itself, not anything made with it)

I'm going to add a few precautions you should take when making anything matcha-flavored:

  • Make sure what you're buying is good and authentic matcha, even if it is culinary grade.
  • Good matcha is very bright green and very finely powdered.
  • Look for shade-grown, stone-ground matcha made of tencha from Japan. It is going to be expensive, but it will keep you from disappointment.

That being said, matcha doesn't like to be heated past 80-90 degrees C and needs to be quite thoroughly aerated for the flavor to spread and blossom. This is why the best-tasting products made of matcha are usually things that are not boiled or baked, like mousse, icecream, or cookies with matcha frosting.

Potential solutions:

  • Switch to a no-bake cheesecake recipe (so you don't cook your matcha)
  • Prepare the matcha in milk (or other very fluid, easy to aerate liquid) and incorporate that as an essence / extract in your recipe - the usual proportion for drinking is 1-2g in 80mL of water so you can go from there for adjusting your liquid quantity
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