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Dalgona Matcha (Vegan)

Dalgona coffee has been trending over the last few weeks as people are looking for something to do. If you’ve ever looked up dalgona, it’s actually a Korean candy that resembles honeycomb toffee (yum!) – which has no part in the dalgona coffee recipes that I’ve come across at all. The work from home and required social distancing is reason enough to look for something to at home as people become better (or worse?) cooks and baristas at at home.

As someone who doesn’t drink coffee, I definitely scoffed at this idea of making a whipped coffee. That is, until I saw photos of a matcha version pop up on Instagram. But most people were sharing photos of it without a recipe (for shame!). So I challenged myself to make it at home with what I had on hand. It took a few attempts, but I finally got something that tasted good, looked mostly right – and I did it all with ingredients I had available – win! Because of the ingredients I used, this is vegan, you’re perfectly welcome to sub in non-vegan/vegetarian ingredients…

Just don’t use coconut milk. I tried that (and it was gross).

Dalgona Matcha – Serves 2

1 tbs matcha powder¹
2 tbs agave syrup
4 tbs aquafaba²
Soy milk³
Handheld milk frother or whisk

¹I used DavidsTea’s Grand Cru Matcha.

²Aquafaba is this fascinating stuff that is the water from cooking legumes (like chickpeas!). I got the aquafaba from this recipe from opening up a can of chickpeas, but you can cook your own and use the water from that.

³I use Silk’s Unsweetened Organic Soy Milk as my non-dairy milk of choice.

In a bowl (or measuring cup), froth the aquafaba until it is approximately tripled in volume and white.
Slowly mix in agave syrup, continue to froth.
With handheld frother off, sift in matcha. Stir it in with a spoon before turning on the milk frother again and fully incorporate the matcha.
Fill 2 glasses approximately ¾ full with your soy milk.
Top with frothed matcha foam.
Take a photo (or two) for the ‘gram & enjoy!

If you make this Dalgona Matcha, I’d love to see your photos! Be sure to tag me on Instagram (@onemoresteep #onemoresteep) or comment below with a link to the photo!

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Supporting Your Favourite Tea Shops While Distancing

Tea for some people can be quite the social event. For some it involves dressing up and heading to a local tea salon with a group of friends, enjoying a gorgeously assembled stand of savouries and sweets, devouring freshly baked scones with in-house made clotted cream and preserves. But right now, that’s not the best idea. A lot of areas have issued recommendations (or mandates) to socially distance – staying home to stay healthy and safe. Nobody wants to get sick right now and keeping away from other people is so important right now.

So how can you support your favourite tea shops? It’s especially hard when a lot of them have closed their physical retail stores in hopes of discouraging gatherings – which is so important right now!

Shop online. A lot of shops have an online presence that will enable you to order your favourite loose leaf or bagged tea online! For those locations that also serve food, they may have partnered with food delivery apps so you can have the option of getting food delivered to your home. Bonus, you get some pretty tea-rrific mail when you put in an online order!

Take-out & phone orders. For those without an online presence, they may be taking orders over the phone. A lot of shops have been offering the option of prepaying over the phone coupled with contact-less pick-up at the door or curbside/car delivery. One of my favourite local bakeries is doing this as well, and strictly operating on a cashless basis to limit exposure times to people. A favourite tea salon of mine is offering afternoon tea to go so when you order, you get all the goodies boxed up in a bag, along with a pouch of loose leaf tea with steeping instructions. So if you feel comfortable with food delivery/take-out orders at this time, that may be an option. Be sure to wash your hands before and after receiving your items, and make sure to practice good hand hygiene!

Give them some stars. Share photos of your at-home tea experience with their products. Word-of-mouth recommendations are gold to businesses, large and small. Consider leaving a review for them on their Facebook page, Google, or Yelp profiles.

Purchase a gift card. Eventually social distancing will be a thing of a past (but hopefully everyone keeps up the hand washing!). Purchasing a gift card now is a great way to show some support to your favourite tea shop – plus it gives you the excuse to go for a little shopping trip when the stores are reopened to pick up some more tea, or if it’s a gift certificate for afternoon tea, it’s the perfect reason to invite a friend you haven’t seen since before the pandemic was declared to catch up.

Take advantage of coupon codes (and share them!). A lot of shops are offering discount codes and free shipping codes right now. It’s a great way to show some support while saving some money. Maybe you could even discover some new favourites! Don’t be afraid to try a new-to-you product because you’ve got a lot of time right now to be making a cup of tea at home.

And now for a gentle reminder from me. Stay home if you can, stay safe & healthy. Be kind to one another. Remember that while March seemed to last for a year, this is the temporary normal for now. Practice good hand hygiene, practice social distancing, practice kindness.

And have a nice cup of tea (at home) – there will be time for afternoon tea with your friends later.

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Earl Grey Jelly

Decided to throw a #virtualpartea today on Instagram Stories with a fun template (scroll to the end of the recipe to find it!) and this recipe – my contribution to your at-home, social distancing virtual tea party. As we’re all practicing our hand washing skills regularly and keeping physical distance apart from one another, it’s tough to find some cheer in the world! So join in the fun – let everyone know what you’re making or bringing to the party, and tag some friends to join in the fun! I’ll be sharing responses to everyone’s answers to the story template on my own Instagram account @onemoresteep!

Earl Grey Jelly – Makes 2 cups

¾ cup water
1½ cup sugar
3 tbs Earl Grey loose leaf tea (I used DavidsTea’s Organic Earl Grey)
2 tbs agar-agar¹

¹ If you don’t have agar-agar, you can use gelatin instead – just use the same amount!

Steep Earl Grey tea in water for as long as the steeping instructions tell you for a cup (usually ~5 minutes)
Strain out/remove tea leaves.
Add tea and water together in a sauce pan, heat over medium heat.
Stir until sugar is fully dissolved.
When close to boil, stir in agar-agar.
Allow it to come to a boil – keep stirring!
After 5 minutes of boiling, remove from heat.
Pour into clean containers.
Once fully cool (and it’s had to a chance to turn into a jelly), put on an air-tight lid and keep in your fridge.

Earl Grey Jelly goes great on toast, scones, and basically anywhere you’d use fruit-based jellies.

If you make this Earl Grey Jelly, I’d love to see your photos! Be sure to tag me on Instagram (@onemoresteep #onemoresteep) or comment below with a link to the photo!