Matcha Cake (Green Tea Cake with Pistachios and Raspberry)
Matcha cake is a delicious, visually stunning dessert that beautifully combines the earthy bitterness of matcha green tea with the sweetness of a tender cake.
Servings 16
Ingredients
What You Need to Make Matcha Cake at Home
For the Matcha Cake (x2):
- 2 cups – all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp – baking soda
- 1 tsp. – baking powder
- 2 tbsp. – Matcha green tea powder
- ¼ tsp. – sea salt
- 8 large – eggs
- 1 ½ cup - granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. – vanilla extract
- 1 cup – kefir
- ½ cup – chopped pistachios
Raspberry Frosting for the Cake Filling:
- 6 cups – cold heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup - boiling water
- 3 oz. – raspberry Jello
- 1 lb. - fresh raspberries
Raspberry Frosting for Decorating the Cake:
- 3 cups - cold heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup - boiling water
- 2 tbsp. - raspberry Jello
Instructions
How to Make Matcha Cake Batter
- Start by preheating the oven to 350°F. Grease a 16x22 inch baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Set it aside for now.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, two tablespoons of matcha powder, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.
- In a separate mixing bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and pale yellow in color.
- Reduce the mixing speed to medium/low and add the vanilla extract and buttermilk. Mix for about a minute to ensure the ingredients are well blended. The batter should have a slightly thin consistency, which is desired.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and gradually add the prepared dry ingredients to the egg mixture, adding ½ cup at a time. Using a hand whisk, gently incorporate the dry ingredients with each addition, being careful not to deflate the air pockets as much as possible.
- Finally, carefully mix in toasted chopped pistachio nuts.
How to Bake Matcha Cake
- Transfer the batter into the previously greased and parchment-lined 16x22-inch baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven at 350°F and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven, dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar, roll the cake into a log, and let the cake cool completely before splitting it in half and frosting it.
- Repeat the process to make another batch of sheet cake sponge using the same ingredients as before. Allow both sheet cake sponges to cool completely before frosting.
How to Make Raspberry Frosting
- To make the raspberry jello frosting, start by combining ½ cup of boiling water with 3 oz. of raspberry jello. Stir the mixture until the jello is completely dissolved and well combined with the water. Allow the jello to cool down until it is just barely warm.
- In a separate bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream until it starts to thicken. It is important not to overbeat the cream, so be careful not to whip it too much.
- Once the jello has cooled down, slowly pour it into the whipped cream while continuing to beat the cream at low speed. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure that all the cream and jello are well combined.
- Continue beating the mixture for about 30 seconds or until it thickens to your desired consistency. Be careful not to overbeat it, as this can cause the frosting to become too stiff.
- Once the frosting has thickened, add cut into small pieces of fresh raspberries. Gently mix to combine.
- You can now spread it onto your matcha cake using an offset spatula.
How to Assemble Matcha Cake
- Once the cake sponges are completely cool, spread frosting generously on all four strips of the cake.
- Gently roll each piece together to prevent as minimal tear as possible into a one large log.
- When rolling up the last strip leave the parchment paper on and wrap additional strips of parchment paper (the ones you baked the cakes on) around the entire perimeter to hold this cake in place.
- Flip the cake log upright and hold both ends of the parchment paper snugly around the cake, while you secure the parchment papers together by taping a long strip of 2" wide clear scotch tape over the parchment paper all the way around the cake.
- Refrigerate the cake for 8 hours or overnight (my preference).
- Let’s make another batch of frosting to decorate the top of the cake. We'll start by making jello again.
- Combine 1/4 cup of boiling water with 2 tbsp. of jello powder. Still until all dissolved and let the jello cool to warm before adding to the cream.
- Beat cream just until it starts thickening. Reduce the mixing speed to low and add the cooled jello. Continue mixing just until the frosting thickens.
How to Decorate the Matcha Cake
- Remove the tape with parchment paper and spread a generous amount of the frosting all around and on top of the cake. Using a cake spatula even the frosting out.
- Pipe roses with the remaining frosting, and place extra pistachios on the very bottom of the cake or decorate the cake the way you desire.
- Refrigerate the cake for a few hours after frosting again.