My baking is finally in full fall mode. In addition to the pumpkin spice latte cookies I made recently, I also whipped up this kinako cake. If you’re not familiar with kinako, it is a roasted soybean flour used in Japanese desserts. Like my other oil-based cakes, this kinako cake is fluffy, soft, and moist, and it’s not at all dense. Although you can frost this cake any way you like, I love how this fall leaf landscape painted buttercream turned out.
Where to find kinako
I love kinako at all times of year, but its nutty flavor seems especially perfect for fall. You can find kinako at any Japanese market. I get mine at Uwajimaya in Seattle, where it’s usually in the same aisle as other flours, like mochiko. But of course, if you don’t have a Japanese market near you, there’s always Amazon. If none of these words make sense to you, I highly suggest checking out my handy dandy food glossary for an introduction to my most commonly used Asian food ingredients.
How I did the painted buttercream landscape
As for the decoration, how do you guys like this fall painted landscape? It was my first time trying a painted buttercream landscape, and I’m totally in love! It’s a lot easier than it looks too. I used my go-to Bravetart Swiss Meringue buttercream frosting, but you can use pretty much any frosting that can be dyed different colors.
First, I frosted the cake with a base layer of white frosting. Next, I piped the outline of mountains in the lightest shade of green. I used a palette knife to smooth out the frosting, but a butter knife would work too. Then, I repeated that process with the darker shades of green. Finally, I piped the trees in varying shades of fall colors. A lot of my baking supplies are still packed away in moving boxes, so I actually just used a ziplock bag with a small hole snipped in the corner to pipe the frosting. Fancy? No. Effective? Yes.
And that’s it! Voila! I love how this cake turned out. If you give it a shot, let me know how it goes!
Kinako Layer Cake
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup milk (or nondairy alternative)
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup kinako
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line three 6" round cake tins (or one 8" round cake tin or prep 12 cupcake liners).
- Beat eggs and sugar until the batter is pale, fluffy, and can hold a ribbon shape as it drips off the whisk.
- Beat in oil until homogenous.
- Mix dry ingredients (flour, kinako, salt, baking powder) and wet ingredients (milk, vanilla) in separate containers.
- Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients into the batter, either by hand or on very low speed.
- Divide batter evenly amongst cake tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (Cupcakes will take about 15-18 minutes.) Let cool, frost, and enjoy.
Like kinako as much as I do? Check out my kinako blondie recipe!