Dark Chocolate Matcha Layer Cake

I’ve been having some anxiety about writing this post because I don’t know whether to call it matcha or matcha tea or matcha green tea. Are any of these redundant, or all they all correct? For now I’ll call it matcha, but please correct me if I’m wrong. I totally roll my eyes when people say chai tea, so if I’m going to be all judgy, I better use matcha correctly.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on to this cake. Sure, you can mix matcha powder and hot water and drink it and it’s great, but I’m pretty sure this stuff was meant to be used for frosting all along. Now that I’ve added matcha powder to swiss buttercream, I can’t imagine it any other way. The flavor is delicate yet earthy and goes so well with dark chocolate. I usually use this recipe for SMBC from Bravetart as my base recipe, but this time, I decided to play around with the ratios a bit. In terms of egg whites/butter/sugar, I usually do 1:1:3, especially if I’m adding something sweet to the frosting like chocolate or caramel sauce. I have also seen other bakers recommend a 1:2:3 ratio, but this time, I a tried 1:1.5:2 ratio. Less butter made the frosting less rich and let the delicate flavor of the green tea come through, and since the matcha isn’t sweet, I added a bit more sugar than I normally do.

The chocolate cake is a hybrid of a few of my favorite cake recipes. I wanted it to be light and less fudgy than my go to chocolate cake, but not lacking in chocolate flavor. After some experimentation and a few fails (and maybe some tears) I decided to go with a butter based chocolate cake. I tend to prefer oil based chocolate cakes because they don’t dry out as fast, but I have a feeling that this cake won’t last long anyway, especially once you slather it in matcha frosting.

Yield: One 3 layer 6-inch cake

Ingredients

• For the Chocolate Cake:
• 2 ounces (60 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 3 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) boiling water
• 1 cup (125 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 11 tablespoons (155 grams) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• For the Matcha Frosting:
• 6 large egg whites (or 170 grams liquid egg whites)
• 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granuated sugar
• pinch of salt
• 3 sticks (340 grams) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons matcha powder plus additional for dusting

Instructions

1. For the Chocolate Cake:
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
3. Grease and line 3 6-inch pans with parchment paper.
4. In a bowl, combine the unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder, and boiling water and whisk until smooth.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
6. With an electric mixer (or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition.
8. Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
9. With the mixer on low, add the 1/3 of the chocolate mixture followed by 1/2 the flour mixture, alternating between the 2 mixtures and starting and ending with the chocolate. Do not over mix.
10. Divide the batter between the 3 pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
11. Cool on wire racks for about 15 minutes.
12. Run a knife around the edge of the pans and turn the cakes out onto to wire racks to cool completely. For the Matcha Frosting:
13. Combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt in a bowl (I used the bowl of my stand mixer).
14. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. The bowl should not touch the water, nor should the water be at a rolling boil. It's the steam that's going to heat the egg whites, since you don't want scrambled eggs.
15. Heat the egg white mixture until it reaches 160 degrees fahrenheit, whisking frequently so as not to get scrambled eggs.
16. Remove the bowl from the heat, and whip the egg whites on medium high using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer.
17. Whip the egg whites until they become fluffy and double in volume. The bowl should be cool to the touch (this will usually take several minutes).
18. Turn the mixer down to medium low, and add the butter in one chunk at a time, until it has all been incorporated.
19. If the mixture looks curdled at this point, this is normal. Just keep whipping for a few more minutes until it comes together. If the mixture looks soupy, you can add a few cubes of chilled butter, or stick the whole bowl in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes and then continue beating.
20. Once the buttercream has become smooth, and the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
21. Add one tablespoon of the matcha powder and beat to combine. Add additional matcha powder according to your taste. To Assemble the Cake:
22. Place one layer of the cake on an 6-inch cake board.
23. With an offset spatula, spread about 3/4 cup of the frosting on top of the first layer.
24. Repeat this process with the second layer, spreading another 3/4 cup of the frosting on top.
25. Place the 3rd layer of cake on top.
26. Place the cake on a turntable, and apply a thin layer of the frosting on the sides and the top of the cake to lock in the crumbs.
27. Let the frosting set up in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
28. Apply the remainder of the frosting to the sides and top of the cake, using an offset spatula and a bench scraper to smooth out the sides.
29. Pipe the remainder of the frosting on top with an open star tip and dust with matcha powder.
30. Serve at room temperature.

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