Matcha, a Japanese green tea powder, adds vivid green color and a delicate flavor. Look for it in Asian grocery stores and gourmet markets, or order online. Store tightly covered in the fridge. (It oxidizes quickly.) If you can't find matcha, pulverize regular green tea in a spice grinder.
I am making this cake for the second time. It is so pretty on the plate. I made it for friends at work when it was first published, and people still talk about it. The design works if you actually use the scoops and gently place the batter in the pan and don't disturb the pan or shake it or anything that will blend the colors together. Because I was taking it to work and didn't want the sticky glaze on desks and keyboards, I made a more traditional powdered sugar glaze with lemon to cut the sweetness from all the sugar in the recipe. It created a great flavor balance. I garnished with sugared lemon peel curls I made from the lemon that I juiced for the glaze.
Aim: I made this recipe in anticipation of an Easter dinner and brought it to the lab to share with my co-workers to judge it and see if it was worthy of making for my family. Hypothesis: This cake looks delicious and the novel combination of flavors will result in a great tasting cake. Disclaimer: I followed the recipe to a T. Results: The cake was dry, but nicely fluffy. There was NO indication any green tea/matcha was used. Tasted like a generic yellow cake. The glaze's proportions were off and was too buttery and the orange liquer flavor was not present at all. A VERY mediocre cake.
If you were to make this, I highly recommend upping the amount of matcha AND orange liquer and definitely glaze this cake after it has cooled to avoid glaze pooling at the bottom making a soggy cake.
It was just okay. Wouldn't try it again. Not worthy of Easter.
a little too sweet for my taste. disappointed in the the blend of flavors - felt the bitterness of the macha clashed with the delicate flavor of the honey, with the orange notes, left totally on their own. however, the texture was fine and the look gorgeous.
This is a sweet cake. So if you don't like sweet move on. Excellent flavor, moist. Used regular green tea- one tea bag was enough. Swapped out 1 stick of butter for 4 oz cup unsweetened applesauce. For the glaze I only used 1/2 stick butter and exchanged the orange liqueur/water for 1/3 cup orange juice. Used a basting brush for even coverage and no pooling. Glazed bottom, turned out the cake and glazed top right away.
This cake was a big success. My family loved the texture and moisture in it. Next time I will use less sugar. I used Cointreau for the glaze instead of Gran Marnier, The Matcha (powdered green tea) gave it a very unique flavor. After pouring the glaze.. it looked like it had come from a bakery and not from my kitchen. I know I will be making this cake for many celebrations in the future. Highly recommend it.
I made this cake for Easter dessert and everyone raved over it. It was moist, rich, and delicious. The swirls of green from the tea looked so nice when the cake was sliced, and the glazed just put the whole thing over the top. I did grate the peel of one orange to add to the cake batter and I poked holes throughout the cake before pouring the glaze over. Once the cake was removed from the ban, these holes were not visible but they helped the glaze soak into the cake. I couldn't find matcha at our area stores, but putting green tea leaves through the spice grinder worked fine. I would definitely make this again!
