Matcha Cakes with Strawberry & Vanilla
Updated: Sep 1
I LOVE matcha! I have it several times a week and absolutely love its distinctive, earthy flavor. I know matcha can be a little divisive, but I think it’s especially fun to experiment with it in desserts and baked goods.
Combined with sweet, fresh strawberries and creamy vanilla, the slightly grassy matcha flavor adds something really special to the cake.
So if you’re a matcha fan, this one is definitely worth trying – and if you’re not sure about it yet, this might just be the recipe that changes your mind!
Amount:
6 cakes
(I used this ring silicone set for the cakes.)
Ingredients:
Day 1: Shortcrust, curd
Day 2: Mousse, gel, cream
Day 3: Glaze, decoration
Day 1:
Shortcrust Pastry:
155 g all-purpose flour
25 g almond flour
60 g powdered/icing sugar
95 g cold butter
25 g egg (approx. half of a medium egg)
a pinch of salt
Strawberry Curd:
0.75 sheet gelatin (1 sheet = 1.75 g, bloom value 240)
75 ml strawberry purée / 225 g strawberries
4 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 eggs (1 medium egg = 50 g)
20 g egg yolks (from approx. 1 medium egg)
35 g caster sugar
35 g butter
Day 2:
Matcha Mousse with White Chocolate:
1.25 gelatin sheets (1 sheet = 1.75 g, bloom value 240)
90 g white chocolate (28%)
200 ml heavy cream (min. 35%) (120 ml to be whipped, 80 ml to be heated)
2.5 tsp pure matcha powder
Matcha Broken Gel with Lemon:
50 ml lemon juice
50 ml boiling water
2 tsp pure matcha powder
100 g caster sugar
2 tsp agar agar
Optional: a little green and white food coloring
Vanilla Cream:
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean / 1 tsp vanilla paste
125 ml whole milk (25 ml for the egg yolk mixture, 100 ml to heat)
25 g egg yolk (from approx. 1 medium egg)
15 g caster sugar
15 g cornstarch
100 ml whipping cream (whipped to soft peaks)
Day 3:
Glaze:
10 gelatin sheets (17.5 g, bloom value 240)
250 g white chocolate (28%)
183 ml heavy cream (min. 35%)
83 g water
233 g caster sugar
250 g glucose syrup
Green food coloring paste
Decoration:
120 g white chocolate (28%)
Green powdered food coloring
Edible flowers (If not edible, you can use a bit of food-grade wax when adding the flowers)
Instructions:
Shortcrust Pastry:
Place the flour, almond flour, powdered sugar, salt, and butter (cut into cubes) in a food processor and pulse quickly until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Transfer the dough to a bowl and quickly bring it together with the egg. Be careful not to overwork the dough.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and let it rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or about 45 minutes in the freezer. It should be very cold when you take it out.
Cut out the crusts using the cookie cutter that comes with my preferred ring silicone set and bake the crusts in the oven at 175°C / 347°F for about 10 minutes (preferably on an Air Mat placed both under and over the dough for more even baking) until they are a deep golden brown.
Let the crusts cool on a wire rack.
Store the crusts in a cookie jar until ready to use.
Strawberry Curd:
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5–10 minutes.
Bring the strawberries to a boil and strain the juice to yield 75 ml of strawberry purée.
Whisk the strawberry purée, lemon juice, eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together in a saucepan. Slowly heat to a boil while whisking constantly.
Let the cream simmer for a couple of minutes until it thickens, while continuing to whisk constantly. Be careful not to use too high a heat, as this can cause the cream to burn. Simmer gently for a couple of minutes, whisking constantly, until the cream thickens.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter, cut into cubes. Then add the gelatin.
Strain the strawberry curd through a fine-mesh strainer. Finally, blend with an immersion blender until completely creamy.
Divide the curd among the six molds.
Let the molds set completely in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
Matcha Mousse with White Chocolate:
Soak the gelatin in cold water for 5–10 minutes.
Gently melt the chocolate (in a double boiler, if necessary) and set it aside in a bowl.
Heat the matcha powder and 80 ml of heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the gelatin.
Strain the mixture to avoid matcha lumps, and pour the hot matcha cream over the chocolate while stirring in the center with a spatula until it comes together. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm.
Whip 120 ml of heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into the mixture, which has cooled to lukewarm (if it’s too warm, the heavy cream may separate).
Pour the matcha mousse into the six molds.
Remove the frozen strawberry curd inserts from the freezer and place them into the matcha mousse.
Place the cakes in the freezer for at least overnight.
Matcha Broken Gel with Lemon:
Bring the water to a boil and whisk in the matcha powder until smooth and lump-free.
Add the lemon juice, sugar, and agar agar, and heat the mixture in a saucepan. Simmer for 2 minutes while whisking continuously to prevent it from burning.
Strain the mixture.
Pour the jelly into a container and place it in the refrigerator. Let it cool completely and set.
When you’re ready to decorate the cake, transfer the jelly to a tall pitcher and blend with a hand blender until smooth and lump-free (but not so long that the mixture gets warm). If desired, add a little green and white food coloring.
Transfer the jelly to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
Vanilla Cream:
Whisk together sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and 25 ml whole milk in a bowl.
Heat 100 ml whole milk, vanilla seeds, and the vanilla bean to a boil in a saucepan.
When the milk reaches a boil, pour it over the egg yolk mixture while whisking.
Pour the cream back into the saucepan and bring it to a boil, whisking constantly.
When the cream has thickened well, remove the saucepan from the heat
Transfer the cream to a bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap. Let it cool completely in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight.
Once the cream is thoroughly chilled, remove the vanilla bean and briefly whisk the cream.
Whip 100 ml of heavy cream until soft peaks form.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the vanilla cream and transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
Glaze:
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5–10 minutes.
Finely chop the chocolate and place it in a large pitcher.
Heat the sugar, water, heavy cream, and glucose syrup to a boil. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the gelatin.
Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate in the pitcher. Blend with an immersion blender until the glaze comes together (hold the immersion blender at an angle to avoid air bubbles). Add a little green food coloring
Cover the glaze with plastic wrap and let it cool to 34-35°C / 93-95°F.
Remove the frozen cakes from the freezer just before glazing. Place the cakes on a wire rack lined with parchment paper.
Pour the glaze over the cakes. Use a small palette knife to run along the bottom of each cake on the rack to remove any glaze strands.
Place each cake on a shortcrust pastry base.
Chocolate Semi-Circles:
Cut 6 flat chocolate semi-circles (approximately 2.5 cm x 9 cm), shaping them to follow the curve of the mold, and set them aside on the kitchen counter.
Temper the chocolate and add green powdered food coloring.
Pour the chocolate over the acetate sheet, smooth the surface with a small palette knife, peel the acetate sheet off the counter, and run your fingers along the edge of the sheet to remove any excess chocolate.
Once the chocolates have almost set, place them between two cutting boards and put them in the refrigerator. This will keep the semi-circles flat.
Remove the acetate sheet once the chocolate has set.
Assembly:
Place one chocolate semi-circle on each cake.
Garnish with broken gel, vanilla cream, and flowers.
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