For those of you who are reading this and need a little reminder what this fancy Matcha really is, here you go: Matcha is a finely ground powder made of whole Japanese green tea leaves. Matcha tea is a little different than typically brewed green tea leaves, due to the ground nature of the matcha powder, and the nature of how your body metabolizes the product. When you brew tea you aren’t literally eating the leaves whereas with matcha powder, this is generally the case! Green tea leaves also harbour fantastic health benefits such as being filled with antioxidants and A, C, E, K minerals (take that coffee!)

What about the caffeine though? Well, matcha gives you a nice clean caffeine hit compared to those jittery coffee rushes! One serving (1 tsp) of matcha gives you 34mg of caffeine which is the same as a cup of coffee, or half of an espresso shot. The matcha caffeine rush tends to last longer, and is said to feel a little more energizing than a coffee high. Feeling the 3 o’Clock boredom? Hold the matcha tea, and slice yourself a piece of this matcha cake!

Matcha Green Tea Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream and Raspberry Coulis

Matcha Genoise Cake Ingredients:

6 large eggs
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp matcha tea powder
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour three 6 inch pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.

2. Put eggs and sugar in bowl of a mixer and whisk together until combined. Make a double boiler on your stovetop, and place mixer bowl with egg and sugar ingredients on top of simmering water. Heat egg mixture stirring intermittently until it is warm to the touch, or 100 F on a candy thermometer.

3. Carefully reaffix the mixer to the mixer stand, and begin whipping mixture with the whisk attachment. Approx 8 minutes. The mixture should triple in size and be thick and creamy.

4. Sift flour, constarch, matcha into egg mixture. Fold to ombine gently.

5. In a separate bowl, stir together 1 cup of egg/ flour mixture with melted butter. Add vanilla and stir. Pour the butter mix back into the bowl with remaining egg/flour mixture. Gently fold.

6. Pour mix into the three pans. Bake for 24-28 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.  Run a butter knife around edge of pans to loosen cakes, and then after 10 minutes upend them onto the cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting! :)

Raspberry Coulis Ingredients:

1 carton raspberries
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. In a small saucepan, bring the ingredients to a simmer. Stir constantly, and simmer for about 5 minutes.

2. Strain ingredients over a large bowl to remove seeds. Bring to room temperature.

White Chocolate Buttercream Ingredients:

1/2 cup egg whites
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 oz white chocolate, cooled to room temperature

Directions:

1. Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk them together by hand to combine. Fill a medium saucepan with a few inches of water and place it over medium-high heat. Place mixer bowl on top of the saucpan to create a double boiler. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.

2. Whisking intermittently, heat the egg mixture until it registers 160F on a candy thermometer or is hot to the touch without any grainy texture. Once hot, carefully fit the mixer bowl onto the stand mixer.

3. With the whisk attachment, beat the egg white mixture on high speed for 8-10 mins, until it holds medium to stiff peaks. When done, the outside of the mixer bowl should return to room temperature and no residual heat should be escaping the meringue out of the top of the bowl. Stop the mixer and swap out the whisk attachment for the paddle.

4. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time (make sure that it is completely at room temperature!! If it is not, zap it in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds, but don’t let it get runny). Add the vanilla. Once incorporated, turn up the mixer speed to medium high and beat until the buttercream is silky and smooth, 3-5mins.

5. Frost cake in any style you like. I would recommend slicing each cake in half once cooled, and decorate cake by filling each layer with some raspberry coulis. I use an offset spatula to ensure a smooth finish of the swiss meringue! Save about one cup and add 1 tsp matcha powder for green floral garnish design as I did.

Enjoy! All my love,

Blue Owl