This naturally leavened Green Tea and Orange Loaf, infused with matcha green tea powder, candied orange peel and orange blossom water, has a distinct green color before baking and a lighter green after baking.
I’m the host kitchen for the Bread Baking Babes this month. I chose this bread because March 16th is the day before St Patrick’s Day, and I wanted to make something appropriate.
Over the years, we’ve made the regulars – soda bread, potato breads, etc. so I needed something different. After searching through some of my bread books, I found this Green Tea and Orange Loaf in The Larousse Book of Bread by Eric Kayser, and knew this was the one.
About the Candied Orange Peel
The first time I made this bread, I used homemade candied peel. Here is the process I used to make the candied orange peel. https://www.breadexperience.com/making-candied-orange-peel/
I only had about 200 grams of homemade candied orange peel so I used 100 grams instead of the 150 grams called for. I had planned to use the other half for the next loaf.
Well, you know what they say about best laid plans. I gave one of the loaves to my walking buddy. She texted me later that night to say she loved it, but she requested “more orange peel, please!” So, don’t skimp on the orange peel or you might get called out.
The next time I made this loaf, I used store bought candied orange peel. I think I like the flavor of the homemade candied orange peel over the store bought, although both are tasty.
About the Matcha tea powder
The original recipe calls for 10 grams or 2 teaspoons of tea powder. I had almost exactly 2 teaspoons of powder left in a container, but when I measured it out by volume, then weighed it on the scale, it only weighed 5 grams. I thought the bread could use a little more color so I added more the next time I made it.
Also, the original instructions say to add the matcha green tea powder and candied orange peel (after the dough has been formed) and knead the dough until it becomes evenly colored, smooth, and elastic.
I tried this method, but it was tricky getting the tea powder evenly distributed. I was doing this by hand so if you use a mixer, you may not have this issue. For the next bake, I will either use a mixer or add the matcha tea powder with the dry ingredients to see if that helps incorporate it more evenly.
About the size of the loaves
The original instructions say to divide the dough into 4 pieces, about 260 grams each. At first, I wasn’t going to do that. I almost made two regular size loaves, but decided to give the smaller loaves a try. I am so glad I did.
These are lovely small loaves perfect for giving away, which I did. They are so tasty, you don’t need much, plus I didn’t need them sitting around for me to devour. I did enjoy two of the loaves and that was plenty.
I encourage you to make the smaller loaves. You can give some away or freeze them for later. I haven’t tried the freezing part yet because they didn’t last long enough.
The loaves have good keeping quality. Even after several days, they still tasted good. I enjoyed them warm with butter, but my walking buddy said she dipped some in olive oil and it was very tasty.
Notes from subsequent bake
I fed my starter the evening before and let it rest on the counter at a warm temperature. I used 100 grams of the fed starter in the loaf.
I used 150 grams of store-bought candied orange peel instead of the homemade orange peel and 10 grams of matcha tea powder (10 grams = 4 tsp, not 2 tsp according to my measuring spoon). I added the matcha tea powder with the dry ingredients instead of kneading it in the dough.
The dough was a bit greener than the first loaf; however, after being baked, the loaf looked more orange due to the candied orange peel. The dough was also stickier due to the inclusion of more candied orange peel. I had also increased the amount of water used while I was mixing the dough to keep the dough from tearing so this could also be a factor in the added stickiness.
At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked the flavor of the second loaf. It was a bit bitter, but the flavors seemed to blend after resting.
Even so, I think I prefer the flavor of the first loaf. It was a little sweeter. This may be due to the sugar-dusting on my homemade candied orange peel and/or because the second loaf had more matcha tea powder.
The next time I bake this bread, I will probably go back to using 5 grams (2 tsp) of the match tea powder.
- 50 grams all-purpose flour
- 50 grams water
- 25 grams sourdough starter (I used 100% hydration starter)
- 500 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 250 – 300 grams water, divided 125, 125, 50
- 10 grams salt + 15-20 grams water
- 30 grams olive oil
- 25 grams orange flower water
- 10 grams (2 tsp) matcha tea powder
- 150 grams candied orange peel, chopped or finely diced (I liked the bigger pieces myself)
- In the evening of the day before making the bread: Place the starter, flour and water in a small bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is stirred in well.
- Cover the bowl with a plate, or bees wrap, and let it rest overnight in a warm place.
- Pour 125 grams water, orange blossom water and olive oil over the levain. Mix completely to break up the levain.
- In a large bowl, add the flour. Pour the levain/water mixture over the flour and mix to incorporate. Add the rest of the water, gradually, and as needed to fully hydrate the dough. I added 100g, then 30g, and then another 30g water as I was mixing the dough.
- Cover, and let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes, then sprinkle the salt over the top and dissolve it with 15-20 grams of warm water.
- Cover, let rest for 30 minutes, then fold in the matcha tea powder and candied orange peel and knead the dough until it becomes evenly colored, smooth, and elastic. Add more water if the dough starts to tear.
- Note: My dough was sticky after adding the candied orange peel. It was almost too dry up until that point. After the stretch and folds, it was fine.
- Shape into a ball, cover, proof for 2 hours. Stretch and fold the dough after 1st hour. Let rest for final hour. It should increase in volume by the end of the final proof.
- Remove the dough to a lightly dusted work surface. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, about 260 grams each. Shape into balls, cover with a dish towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Roll the dough pieces between your hands to create tension, and form smooth and well-rounded boules.
- Place the loaves, seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let proof for 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. with a baking stone on the bottom shelf (or the next shelf up depending on how many shelves your oven has. Mine has 5 shelves.) and place an overturned roasting pan on top. If you don’t have a roasting pan, you can use a stainless steel mixing bowl.
- Score the loaves in a crosshatch pattern (or the pattern of your choice).
- Transfer the loaves on the parchment to the preheated oven. Remove the baking sheet. Then place the roasting pan on top. Bake for 18 minutes. Don’t burn them.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
There are two ways to incorporate the sourdough starter in this bread.
1) Feed your sourdough starter the evening before you plan to bake, let it rest overnight at warm room temperature, then use 100 grams of the fed sourdough in your loaf.
2) Create a levain. This is the method outlined in this post.
Tanna says
Fascinating how much alike our homemade and store bought orange peel appears!
I agree with you I think the homemade orange peel has a more appealing – brighter – taste and is my preference … IF I can bring myself to do it again.
This is really a very lovely bread. Thank you for suggesting this one and bringing me back to this book!
Cathy says
I’m glad you enjoyed this bread. I’ve been trying to keep myself from making it again. Very tempting!
Kelly says
I’ve been having fun baking with and drinking matcha this month! This bread smells so wonderful, love it.
Cathy says
I’m so glad you like the bread. I like to add matcha tea powder to smoothies.
Karen says
This was definitely fun to make. My husband saw the green dough and wondered what the heck I was doing, but he loved the results.
Cathy says
Ha ha! That’s too funny! So glad your husband liked the results.
Elizabeth says
Your bread looks so beautiful with its lovely pale green crumb.
We noticed that our bread had a slight bitter flavour as well – I think I’d be inclined to use less matcha powder – perhaps measuring by volume rather than weight.
This was really fun though. Thank you for a great choice!
Cathy says
Yes, measuring by volume for the matcha tea powder seems to be the key for this recipe. I’m glad you had fun with this one.
Katie Zeller says
Your loaves are such a pretty color! And the orange…. I can almost smell it!
Cathy says
Thanks Katie! The orange is wonderful!
Radha says
This is a wonderful bread. I incorporated the matcha to dry ingredients and it came out well. Thanks for hosting this month.
Cathy says
Thank you for baking along with us this month! I’m so glad you enjoyed the Match Tea and Orange Loaf.