With a light & fluffy crumb, creamy frosting, and earthy green tea flavor, this matcha cake is truly a matcha latte in cake form! This simple 9-inch snack cake is topped with an easy whipped mascarpone frosting that's so mild in flavor, it lets the matcha really shine.
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Why you'll love this matcha cake
- Soft & Fluffy Texture: This matcha cake is incredibly soft and fluffy, making it the perfect base for a fresh spring/summer dessert.
- Subtly Sweet & Earthy Flavor: This cake is just sweet enough, letting that earthy green tea flavor come through in each bite!
- Creamy Mascarpone Frosting: Mascarpone is light and creamy on its own, but whipped up with a bit of sugar and heavy cream creates an impossibly smooth frosting that's the perfect touch on top of this cake!
- Beautiful Natural Green Color: Thanks to this ceremonial grade matcha, the cake bakes up with a stunning natural green hue.
For more one-layer cake recipes, try my Chocolate Guinness Cake, Salted Caramel Pumpkin Cake, Red Wine Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Orange Cake, and Strawberry Crunch Cake.
Ingredient Notes
- All-Purpose Flour: Use a high quality unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Matcha: I use this ceremonial grade matcha! It holds its color and flavor beautifully when baked in a cake. You could also use a culinary grade matcha, but they tend to not be as high quality as ceremonial grade matcha.
- Unsalted Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for best overall flavor.
- Neutral Oil: Using both oil and butter gives this cake a super moist texture without losing out on that buttery taste.
- Vanilla Extract: Always need a good amount of quality vanilla to make an outstanding cake!
- Mascarpone: Mascarpone cheese is similar to cream cheese in texture but lighter in flavor. Be sure to keep it cold before using for the frosting.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this matcha cake recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Beat butter into dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, matcha powder, baking powder, and salt. Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
STEP 2: Mix in wet ingredients. Add the oil, whole milk, and vanilla, and mix until just combined.
STEP 3: Fold in whipped egg whites. In a separate medium bowl, add the egg whites. Use an electric hand mixer to whip them until medium peaks form. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined.
STEP 4: Bake. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Wrap the cake strips around the outside of the pan. Bake the cake for about 35 minutes or until the cakes start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
STEP 5: Make the frosting. In a medium bowl, add the mascarpone and sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth. Pour in the heavy cream, and beat on medium speed until thick.
STEP 6: Decorate. Place the cake on a serving platter or cake stand, then top with the mascarpone frosting. Dust the top with more matcha powder, if desired. Cut the cake into 9 or 16 slices and enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- Use cake strips to create a flat cake. Soak these wilton cake strips in ice water before starting the cake batter. Just before baking, wrap the cake strips around the pan. The cold temperature on the outside of the cake will prevent the edges from baking faster than the center, resulting in an evenly baked flat cake.
- Do not over-whip the egg whites. Whip the egg whites only to medium peaks. Whipping them to stiff peaks will make the egg whites too dry, causing them to deflate as they're folded into the batter.
- Use cold mascarpone & heavy cream. In order to create a sturdy whipped mascarpone frosting, pay close attention to the temperature of the ingredients. Cold mascarpone will ensure it's thick enough, while cold heavy cream will whip up and give the frosting enough structure.
Recipe FAQs
The reverse creaming method is the process of beating room temperature butter into the dry ingredients. The fat coats the flour and inhibits the gluten from developing. With this method, the cake is sure to bake up flat without becoming too golden around the edges or on top. In contrast, the creaming method involves beating the sugar and butter together, which adds a lot of extra air into the batter.
Cakes may dome in the middle when they bake because the outside bakes faster than the center, so the center has more time to rise. This is not ideal for layer cakes, because it is a pain to have to trim away the top of the cake. The best way to ensure your cake layers bake up flat rather than doming is to use cake strips. Soak the cake strips in cold water before wrapping around the outside of the cake pans. This will ensure that the outside of the cake does not bake faster than the center.
I use this ceremonial grade matcha! It holds its color and flavor beautifully when baked in a cake. You could also use a culinary grade matcha, but they tend to not be as high quality as ceremonial grade matcha.
Store slices of this matcha cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other cake recipes to try
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📖 Recipe
Matcha Cake
Ingredients
For the matcha cake:
- 270 g (2 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 250 g (1 ¼ cups) granulated sugar
- 12 g (2 tablespoon) matcha powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 113 g (8 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp
- 100 g (½ cup) neutral oil
- 340 g (1 ½ cups) whole milk, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 egg whites
For the whipped mascarpone frosting:
- 227 g (8 oz) mascarpone, cold
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 227 g (1 cup) heavy cream, cold
Instructions
For the matcha cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9" square pan with parchment paper.
- Soak two cake strips in ice water.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, matcha powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
- Add the oil, whole milk, and vanilla, and mix until just combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, add the egg whites. Use an electric hand mixer to whip them until medium peaks form.
- Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Wrap the cake strips around the outside of the pan.
- Bake the cake for about 35 minutes or until the cakes start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the whipped mascarpone frosting:
- In a medium bowl, add the mascarpone and sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth.
- Pour in the heavy cream, and beat on medium speed until thick.
For assembly:
- Place the cake on a serving platter or cake stand, then top with the mascarpone frosting.
- Dust the top with more matcha powder, if desired. Cut the cake into 9 or 16 slices and enjoy!
Notes
- Use cake strips to create a flat cake. Soak these wilton cake strips in ice water before starting the cake batter. Just before baking, wrap the cake strips around the pan. The cold temperature on the outside of the cake will prevent the edges from baking faster than the center, resulting in an evenly baked flat cake.
- Do not over-whip the egg whites. Whip the egg whites only to medium peaks. Whipping them to stiff peaks will make the egg whites too dry, causing them to deflate as they're folded into the batter.
- Use cold mascarpone & heavy cream. In order to create a sturdy whipped mascarpone frosting, pay close attention to the temperature of the ingredients. Cold mascarpone will ensure it's thick enough, while cold heavy cream will whip up and give the frosting enough structure.
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