Sake Matcha Nama Chocolate Recipe

My sake matcha nama chocolate recipe is loosely modelled on Japanese Royce nama chocolate, but with sake instead of cherry liqueur.

'Nama chococolate' means 'raw chocolate' or 'fresh chocolate' in Japanese, and is really a kind of chocolate truffle made with chocolate and cream.

The popular Japanese brand, Royce's original nama chocolate is a dark chocolate truffle with a touch of cherry liqueur. But they also have a matcha version, which uses white chocolate with a touch of cherry liqueur.

I decided to make my homemade matcha nama chocolate after trying Royce's during my recent trip to Japan. But since I don't drink much cherry liqueur and I do drink sake often, I decided to use sake as my booze of choice.

I used junmai daiginjo sake to make my matcha nama chocolates because I quite enjoy the combination of fruity sweet notes and umami to pair with white chocolate, and it ended up working quite well. You can use any sake though, junmai daiginjo is just my personal preference.

If you want to make non-alcoholic matcha nama chocolate, simply replace the sake with a little extra double cream.

You can also watch me make these sake matcha nama chocolates on my YouTube channel, Tashcakes:

Ready? Let's go.

Ingredients:

400g white chocolate, chopped
10g matcha
100ml double cream
50ml sake
Extra matcha for dusting (about 2 tsp)

Method:

1. Line an 8x8" square baking tin with nonstick baking paper, using a little vegetable oil to stick the paper to the sides of the tin (but don't oil the inside of the paper).

2. Place the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl and sit on top of a saucepan of barely-simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Sift in the 10g of matcha, and stir until the chocolate is melted and well combined with the matcha. Switch off the heat but keep the bowl on top of the pan of water to keep warm.

3. In a smaller saucepan, heat the cream and sake together until steaming. Pour into the melted matcha chocolate and stir until well combined.

4. Pour into your lined tin, tap the bottom of the tin on the counter firmly a few times to knock out large air bubble, and chill in the fridge overnight.

5. Use a hot knife to cut your sake matcha nama chocolate block into 64 smaller squares. I use a ruler and a small knife to lightly mark 1" spaces along the edges of the uncut square, and then I run a knife under hot water and dry it before each cut.

6. If your room is warm you might need to pop the whole thing in the freezer for an hour to quickly firm up again (or in the fridge for a couple of hours). If not, you can skip straight to dusting the tops of your matcha nama chocolate truffles with your extra matcha passed through a sieve.

7. Box up as gifts, or enjoy all to yourself.

Enjoy, and have fun.