Cherry blossom season had me in the mood for more green and pink desserts. This matcha butter cake recipe is pretty simple. It’s based off of BraveTart’s basic vanilla butter cake, but with a few tweaks, including the addition of matcha powder. My matcha cake is moist with a very soft crumb. It has a mild matcha flavor and toned down sweetness, keeping with typical Japanese dessert trends. I scaled down my recipe to make one 8″ round cake layer or 12 cupcakes, perfect for a casual afternoon tea or after dinner dessert. Feel free to double or triple the recipe for a bigger showstopper, though!
A few notes about my matcha butter cake recipe –
You’ll notice in my recipe that I use self-rising flour. I find that self-rising flour gives me the soft, light texture that I really love. You can find self-rising flour in any grocery store, and it really can be used in place of flour + baking powder in most other recipes. However, if you’re not feeling like buying a bag, my next recommendation would be to use cake flour. If you’re still not into buying a specialized flour, all-purpose flour will be fine, but the texture of your cake may not be as soft and fluffy. Make sure you add one teaspoon of baking powder per 8 inch layer if you substitute the flour! Sometimes if I’m afraid that my self-rising flour is too old, I still add a teaspoon of baking powder, just to be safe.
You might also find that my cake is not too sweet. A lot of Asian desserts are not overly sweetened and lack over the top decorations and adornments like you might see at American bakeries. Likewise, I prefer to have mild flavors in my Asian-inspired desserts. A strong matcha flavor is very bitter, so I use only a tablespoon. Feel free to bump up the matcha if you’d like to really pack a punch. Not really sure what matcha is? Take a look at my food glossary for more information on the Asian flavors I use.
This cake would be great on its own as an afternoon snack paired with tea. Because I was inspired by cherry blossom season, I decided to frost it and decorate it with blossoms, using a strawberry whipped cream, made from Bravetart’s fruity whipped cream recipe. Like the cake, it is not overly sweet. However, I would say that because matcha is an earthy flavor, it would pair really well with a more sweet frosting like a cream cheese buttercream.
Feel free to make this matcha butter cake your own! Here’s the recipe.
Matcha Butter Cake
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 150 g sugar (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 egg
- 150 g self rising flour (about a cup)
- 1 tbsp matcha
- 150 mL milk (about 2/3 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 drop green food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cream butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. I recommend using a hand mixer instead of stand mixer for this stage due to the small amount of butter.
- Add egg and mix to emulsify.
- Whisk flour and matcha together.
- Alternate adding in the milk and flour mixture in parts. Mix only until fully incorporated. If you overmix, your cake may not rise well and may have weird bubbles and holes.
- Add vanilla extract and drop of green food coloring (if using) and mix to incorporate.
- Pour batter into a greased 8 inch cake pan. I always line the bottoms of my cake pans with parchment paper. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cake cool completely. The crumb will be very soft, so be gentle turning it out of the pan. Frost with your favorite frosting.
Are you a fan of matcha flavor? Check out my matcha mochi waffles or matcha rice krispies.