If you love fluffy Asian bakery cakes and matcha, then this matcha cupcake recipe is for you! Fluffy matcha sponge cake is topped with matcha whipped cream. Make a little over a dozen regular sized matcha cupcakes or 36 mini matcha cupcakes with just one recipe.
You. Guys.
These are the matcha cupcakes OF MY DREAMSSSSS.
It’s been about a million years since I last posted a cupcake recipe, but I’m coming back strong. These cupcakes are light and fluffy, just like those Chinese bakery cakes made from a chiffon sponge. But they DON’T require you to separate any eggs or beat egg whites to stiff peaks. CHA-CHING!
They’re topped with a light matcha whipped cream because honestly, whipped cream is the best tasting frosting. Hands down. My Asian tastebuds can’t be denied. (Although SMBC comes in a close second).
AND to make things extra cute and loveable, I made this recipe in a mini muffin tin for 36 mini matcha cupcakes. They’re bite sized!
Anyway, if you’re pretty familiar with my style of fluffy cake making, then go ahead and skip on down to the recipe. If not, keep reading for the insider scoop and best practices on making these matcha cupcakes!
How to Make Matcha Cupcakes with Fluffy Asian Cake Texture
Firstly, you may be wondering what an Asian bakery style cake is. Popular in modern Chinese bakeries, these cakes are super fluffy and soft. They’re not at all dense like typical American butter cakes. In Western baking terms, this type of cake is called a chiffon cake. Chiffon cakes are also very popular in Japan, where they’re frequently made in a tube pan like Angel food cakes.
Now, the key element in making a Chinese bakery cake or chiffon cake is to separate eggs and beat the white to stiff peaks. Then, after you add your flour and other ingredients to the yolks, you fold everything back in together. I do love a good chiffon cake and have posted a couple chiffon cake recipes already!
BUT.
I am also very lazy. I sometimes just do not want to separate eggs. Nor do I want to beat the whites. And then fold things. Some days it’s all just too much.
And so I have come up with this little shortcut for making Asian style sponge cakes without separating eggs! It’s based off a hot milk cake, which is somewhere in between a chiffon cake and a genoise. (If none of those words made any sense to you, it’s fine. Just ignore this section. But also you obviously aren’t watching enough Great British Bake Off, so you may want to rectify that.) In this recipe, you beat the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then you add your fat, in my case, oil. And then you add in the rest of your dry ingredients and liquids.
That’s it! Super easy and you STILL get a fluffy sponge texture.
What Matcha to Use for Cupcakes?
I often get this question on social media, about what matcha I use for drinking vs. baking, etc. The best answer is to use whatever matcha has the flavor you want in your end product. You don’t need to worry too much about labels like culinary or ceremonial. In America, these labels often refer more to price point than usage. And in Japan… those labels don’t even exist. They were made for marketing purposes to people unfamiliar with matcha.
But it is true that for baking, you will be adding lots of sugar and other ingredients, which means the matcha flavor needs to be strong to hold its own. AND if you have specific matcha for baking, you may not be using it all up before it goes bad, so you may not want to spend the big bucks on matcha for baking. If you haven’t tried enough different matcha brands to know which one suits your needs, I recommend starting with Maeda-en’s universal quality matcha for baking. It’s pretty cheap, but the quality and flavor still are suitable for my baked goods. It’s got a pretty strong flavor that I wouldn’t want to drink, but it works well in cakes and cookies, and the color is still vibrant, unlike in other lower quality culinary matcha products.
For those of you new to matcha or just wanting more in depth information about matcha blends and brands, take a look at my Ultimate Guide to Matcha post!
How to Store Matcha for Baking
Here’s a pro tip for those of you with a specific matcha for baking: Keep it in the freezer! Matcha can go bad rather quickly, but when you only use a tablespoon here and there for baking, you don’t want to keep buying an entire cannister every time. Matcha lasts for a long time in the freezer, and you don’t even need to defrost it before scooping it into your next bake! Seriously, try it!
Matcha Whipped Cream for Frosting
This matcha whipped cream consists of just heavy whipping cream, sugar, and matcha. That’s it! Beat it to stiff peaks, and make sure you let your cupcakes cool before frosting.
I used to avoid whipped cream for frosting because it doesn’t keep as well as buttercream, but I find that keeping these cupcakes in the fridge kept the whipped cream in okay condition until the next day. Not ideal, but it works in a pinch. I HAVE heard that you can add a tablespoon of instant pudding mix to whipped cream to stabilize it, but I haven’t tried it for this recipe. I will report back when I do!
More Asian Cake Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to peruse my other cake and cupcake recipes!
Mini Matcha Cupcakes with Matcha Whipped Cream
Equipment
- Electric mixer
- Mini muffin/cupcake tin
- Mini cupcake liners
- Piping bag and star nozzle optional
Ingredients
For Cupcakes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp matcha
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup milk
For Matcha Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp matcha
Instructions
For Matcha Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line mini cupcake tins with mini cupcake liners. See note for if you only have one tin.
- Sift 2 tsp matcha into a bowl. Add flour and baking powder. Whisk until well combined and set aside.
- In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or with electric beaters), beat 2 eggs and 1 cup sugar until the mixture becomes a pale yellow and looks light and fluffy.
- Add oil and beat until homogenous.
- Alternate adding dry ingredients and 1/2 cup milk in small portions. Gently mix until everything is combined.
- Spoon about 1-1.5 tbsp cupcake batter into each mini cupcake liner. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
For Matcha Whipped Cream
- Sift 1 tsp matcha into the bowl of a stand mixer or other mixing bowl. Add heavy cream and 2 tbsp sugar.
- With a whisk attachment (or electric beater), beat heavy cream until stiff peaks appear.
- If cupcakes are ready to be frosted, put whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe small dollops of whipped cream onto each mini cupcake. Otherwise, keep whipped cream in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to frost.
Video
Notes
- This recipe can also make 12 regular size cupcakes. Bake for 18-21 minutes.
- If you only have one mini cupcake tin, you can keep leftover batter covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake your second batch.
- Cupcakes frosted with whipped cream are best eaten the day they are made. However, they will keep okay in an airtight container in the fridge for a day.
2 comments
[…] Matcha Cupcakes with Matcha Whipped Cream […]
[…] Best mini matcha cupcakes […]