Matcha Red Bean Vanilla Cake

Happy Matcha Monday! A new week has come and today we have a new matcha dessert recipe for you to try. This recipe is a little challenging but I guarantee you will love the final product!

Introducing… Matcha Green Tea Red Bean Vanilla Cake by Wei Jun aka @budderbelly

Wei Jun is from Singapore, and currently pursuing his passion in baking which he discovered about a year ago. Before this, he did not come from a culinary or pastry background, so everything is self-taught via social media.

Every product he makes begins with inspiration from someone else’s work. Then he tweaks the recipe and designs the decoration, sweetness and other components, adjusting it to his personal preferences. Wei created his social media account to display his works and pass on the inspiration. You can learn more about Wei Jun and his creations here.

As for this cake, Wei says it’s mainly inspired by the beautiful red and green colors of Christmas, with red bean paste and green matcha powder making the theme. The cake is topped with raspberry to add a tartness to compliment its sweetness.

Okie dokie, let’s get baking!

Matcha Red Bean Vanilla Cake

All ingredients are listed in grams and used at room temperature unless stated.

I. Matcha Spongecake

• 300g whole egg
• 230g white sugar
• 2g salt
• 175 ml melted butter/ buerre noisette
• 133 ml whole milk
• 220g cake flour
• 20g matcha powder (add more or less accordingly)
• 7g baking powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C, grease 3 8-in cake tin and set it aside
2. Combine eggs and sugar well in a mixing bowl over double boiler till it reaches 38~40 C
3. Remove the egg mixture from double boiler
4. Whisk the egg mixture on medium speed for 10~15 mins till ribbon stage, switch to low speed for another 5 minutes to minimize air bubbles
5. Lightly warm up butter + milk till melted then set aside
6. Combine flour, salt, matcha powder and baking powder together
7. Fold into the egg batter in two portions till fully combined while not deflating too much air
8. Do a liaison by whisking ¼ cup of the egg mixture into the milk-butter mixture till fully combined (It should resemble the same texture as the egg mixture)
9. Once combined, fold the liaison mixture into the egg mixture (Be careful at this stage because you want the bubbles to be intact to produce a fluffy cake)
10. Portion the cake batter, bake at 180 C for 15~20 minutes
11. Let the cake cool completely before leveling.

II. Matcha Syrup

• 300 ml water
• 100g white sugar
• 20 ml glucose
• 30g matcha powder

Method

1. Boil sugar and water in a saucepan till completely dissolved
2. Add in glucose and matcha powder.
3. Stir till combined then remove from heat
4. Let cool completely before using to stack the cake
5. Soak each sponge cake with matcha syrup to moisten it up when stacking

III. Red Bean Paste

• 300g red bean
• 1000ml water (top up if needed)
• 150g white sugar (add more or less accordingly)
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Soak red bean overnight before using
2. Drain the red bean and boil with the water till soften for about 1.5 - 2h
3. Drain the bean from the bean water (do not discard the water)
4. In a blender, add the bean water gradually and blend the beans to obtain a smooth yet firm paste
5. Transferred bean puree into a large saucepan
6. Stir in sugar and salt till entire mixture turned into a thickened paste for about 15 mins on low heat
7. Let cool before stacking with the cake

IV. Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 140g white sugar
• 140g egg white
• 455g unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Method

1. Combine egg white + sugar in a mixing bowl over a double boiler till reaches 71 C
2. Transfer the egg mixture to another mixing bowl
3. Whisk on high speed till stiff peaks are formed (at this stage, turn down to low speed, whisk till very stiff peaks & the mixture completely cooled down)
4. Add gradually butter cubes till well combined
5. Portion out the buttercream and use it to spread on the cake

Notes:

• For the sponge cake, the egg mixture must be warm up to 38~40 C to allow batter to expand.
• Egg mixture should reach ribbon stage (do an 8-shape and it will stay atop the batter) otherwise cake will not rise properly.
• Do not deflate the air bubbles by over-mixing which may lead to dry and tough cake.
• Buttercream may curdle while whisking, continue to whisk till it is fully emulsified and resemble buttercream texture.
• Oven temperature may differ, so do adjust accordingly to avoid over-bake or under-bake cake.
• Unused swiss meringue buttercream can be stored in the freezer that lasts up to one month.
• The red bean paste can be done overnight and kept for one week in the refrigerator.

Voila! This cake is so delicious and surely makes the perfect dessert for your family and loved ones!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

To get more awesome recipes like this, please:

• Subscribe to our newsletter
• Like us onfacebook
• Follow us oninstagram
• Tweet us ontwitter