Why Matcha Is The Vibrant Topping Your Ice Cream Needs

Matcha, the ubiquitous powder that comes from the same plant as your green tea, has made it into oodles of items extolling its potential health benefits, fresh flavor, or some combination of both. Not only can matcha make lattes taste like you're sipping spring, it's found in such disparate items as protein shakes and candy bars. And you can add it to even more sweet treats in the quantity of your desire.

Ice cream is an obvious canvas for matcha powder because, not only is it less of a commitment than, say, baked goods that might require a lot more trial and error, but also because of all of the mix and matching possibilities. Start with a good quality matcha abundant with grassy notes and a near-sweetness and just shower a bit over a somewhat neutral ice cream or gelato like vanilla. Instant devotees will conjure further combinations from there, and we have a few pairing suggestions as well.

There are plenty of ice cream flavors that pair well with matcha. For starters, it isn't just the color that makes matcha such a great companion for pistachio ice cream. Like matcha, the pistachio is also sweetly earthy, and the two mingle marvelously when joined by the ice cream's added sugar. Green tea ice cream is also an obvious contender to keep flavors in the same lane without overwhelming that taste buds like a quadruple dose of something like chocolate can sometimes do.

Although it's less common, any kind of honey ice cream also works with matcha for similarly obvious reasons, approximating a cup of tea if it were frozen and served for dessert. But we'd shy away from most lemon varieties, logical as they may seem, as they might bring out the matcha's occasionally bitter elements. The titular flavors of butter pecan, on the other hand, are more conducive to matcha's verdant qualities, not so much cutting through those rich ingredients as mingling with them to render a more savory finish. A sweet, fresh flavor like strawberry is another great choice. And, while some mashups just seem to make more sense than others, virtually anything is possible if you try it one bite at a time.