The Cake Merchant

Dark Chocolate Matcha Layer Cake

Dark Chocolate Matcha 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.

Dark Chocolate Matcha CakeDark Chocolate Matcha CakeDark Chocolate Matcha Cake

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Dark Chocolate Matcha Layer Cake

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

    For the Chocolate Cake:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. Grease and line 3 6-inch pans with parchment paper.
  3. In a bowl, combine the unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder, and boiling water and whisk until smooth.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  5. 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.
  6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition.
  7. Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
  8. 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.
  9. Divide the batter between the 3 pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  10. Cool on wire racks for about 15 minutes.
  11. Run a knife around the edge of the pans and turn the cakes out onto to wire racks to cool completely.
    12. For the Matcha Frosting:
  12. Combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt in a bowl (I used the bowl of my stand mixer).
  13. 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.
  14. Heat the egg white mixture until it reaches 160 degrees fahrenheit, whisking frequently so as not to get scrambled eggs.
  15. Remove the bowl from the heat, and whip the egg whites on medium high using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer.
  16. 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).
  17. Turn the mixer down to medium low, and add the butter in one chunk at a time, until it has all been incorporated.
  18. 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.
  19. Once the buttercream has become smooth, and the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
  20. Add one tablespoon of the matcha powder and beat to combine. Add additional matcha powder according to your taste.
    21. To Assemble the Cake:
  21. Place one layer of the cake on an 6-inch cake board.
  22. With an offset spatula, spread about 3/4 cup of the frosting on top of the first layer.
  23. Repeat this process with the second layer, spreading another 3/4 cup of the frosting on top.
  24. Place the 3rd layer of cake on top.
  25. 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.
  26. Let the frosting set up in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
  27. 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.
  28. Pipe the remainder of the frosting on top with an open star tip and dust with matcha powder.
  29. Serve at room temperature.
https://cakemerchant.com/2014/10/01/dark-chocolate-matcha-layer-cake/

Comments

  1. This cake looks amazing! Interesting how you’ve experimented with Swiss meringue buttercream. If I just wanted to make a plain vanilla SMB what ratio of egg white/butter/sugar would you suggest? Is the ratio by weight? With all your experience I’m sure you have a favorite for a vanilla!

    Reply

    • For Vanilla SMB, I like this recipe (minus the matcha) and plus a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract). It’s softer than other recipes I’ve tried, so I don’t know of you could do more intricate piping or how it would hold up under fondant. However, if you don’t plan on doing those things, I really like this lighter version.

      Reply

  2. Natasha, this is stunning! The green against the dark brown is such a gorgeous contrast. And your frosting skills are unrivaled – I love that beautiful star-like design on top. I have no idea if it should be called matcha/matcha green tea/green tea but let’s just call it delicious!

    Reply

  3. This cake looks STUNNING. Seriously – my jaw has dropped.

    You also made me super nervous so I went back through my archives to make sure I’ve never posted a Chai-related recipe and called it “chai tea”! Although, I must admit, I have posted “matcha green tea” – oops! 😉

    Reply

    • Thank you, Sarah! I have no idea whether matcha green tea is correct or not, and I’ve googled it to no avail. I’m just super paranoid and I don’t want to annoy any Japanese people 🙂

      Reply

    • I LOVE Matcha! This recipe looks amazing and my hubby will love it! I just wanted to say that matcha, matcha tea, or matcha green tea are all acceptable really. I have found sometimes you have to add more words (matcha green tea) when you are talking to people who don’t know what it is, but just matcha is fine for those who do know what it is.

      Reply

  4. Oh hey, brain twin! I’m working on a chocolate/matcha dessert for next week! Glad to know that great minds think alike. 🙂 I love this combination, and I love how you sprinkled a little matcha on top–gives it such a cool look!

    Reply

  7. Hello!

    I’m French and I just find your cake amazing in looks but also in taste. I love matcha as I lived in Japan. And I think dark chocolate goes very well with matcha (though I am not a chocolate cake fan)
    To answer to your anxiety over matcha/matcha tea or matcha green tea ^_^ You named it well! Matcha refers to tea and specially to green tea.

    I will give it a try though I am not filling too confident in the assembling (the sides of the cake) and if it goes well, I will bake it for my wedding next year! As I said the looks are fab!

    I will also wander around your website. Feeling already my taste buds drooling over hahaha

    Also, please excuse my English as it may not be grammatically correct as well as its syntax…

    Alexandra

    Reply

  8. this cake is so cute! i usually say matcha green tea (but i guess i’m referring to the powdered matcha!?) oh it’s so confusing! love the look and sound of this cake, especially the frosting – will have to try ‘er out! the matcha powder sprinkled on top gives it such a cute finish, too! ^_^

    Reply

  9. Hi this cake looks so yummy 🙂 I am Japanese and I can tell you what matcha mean “mat” means powder and “cha” mean tea. Simply” powdered tea” And in Japan always made out of fine quality green tea.
    Thank you for posting this beautiful cake 🙂

    Reply

  10. I made it yesterday, thank you ! the recipe was easy and I love the texture and taste of the frosting. I wouldn’t imagine matcha would be great in a cake, that was a great ingredient.

    Reply

  11. OMG, you managed to combine my two favorite things, chocolate and green tea….! 🙂
    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I can’t wait to try it out! 😀

    Reply

  12. Natasha, just saw this as I am going to make a wedding cake. Do you know how thus icing holds up if I make and decorate the cake the day before. Would the cake need to be refrigerated?

    Reply

  13. Hi, i was wondering if i could use more matcha powder for the cake, instead of the cocoa powder and chocolate, to make it a matcha cake with matcha frosting?

    Reply

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