green tea for gma B! ---that rhymes!

my gma b is in town this weekend and we're getting together for dinner tomorrow night.  so, i decided i'd bake some cupcakes for her.  since she's diabetic and loves dessert but always gets scolded for having them, i decided to try a low sugar cupcake.

i started out with this book that joe got me:

it's really neat because it has the basic cupcake mixes (white cake, yellow cake, chocolate cake, pound cake, etc.) as well as more complex mixes.  in the past, i haven't had much success with mixes from scratch so i usually use box mix and tweak it to make it semi-homemade.  but i figured i'd try these new recipes in hopes that this time would be different.

so i used the white cake recipe and substituted splenda for the sugar.  i also added in some matcha green tea powder (i've been wanting to try a green tea cupcake again because my last one came out super dense and oily.)  Anyway, on the bag of splenda it says to substitute equal parts of spenda for sugar, so that's what i did.  it also says to check on the cake 7-10 mins. prior to expected finishing time because splenda tends to speed up the baking process.  usually i bake cupcakes for about 25 minutes, so i set the timer for 12 minutes, just to be safe...checked them and not done.  then i set the timer for another 5 minutes, not done...another 5 minutes, not done...5 more minutes...it seemed like it was done so i took it out.

i let the cupcakes cool and then i tried tasting one...ugh...not reeeaaally done, they were edible but still kinda mushy inside...so my bright idea was to try microwaving it (since i already turned off the oven.)  i put it in the micro for 2 minutes, i started to smell burntness so i went to check it.  well, the cupcake shrank! and the graham cracker crust that was on the bottom of the cupcake was black.  note-to-self, and note-to-you...don't microwave your cupcakes!

since my bright idea didn't work, i reheated the oven and put the cupcakes in for...yep, you guessed it, another five minutes...and this time, they were done!  hooray!

so in the end, these cupcakes came out better than last times green tea and they're healthier because they're low in sugar, but they're not as good as my tweaked box mixes...i need to find out how betty crocker does it!

low sugar green tea with green tea butter cream (l) and vanilla whipped cream (r)

hopefully gma B will enjoy her low sugar green tea cupcakes...baked with love! :)