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Itโs Sundayย Funday!!
Which clearly means CAKEโฆ
If you think like I do anyway.
Normally, I am all about chocolate cake. Like all chocolate, with triple layers and GENEROUSLY frosted with extra fudgyย chocolate frosting. When a serious cake craving hits this will always be my number one choice. Always.
BUT this spring I am feeling out a few new cake flavors. Maybe itโs the thought of warmer days, spring flowers and generally lighter eats. Whatever the reason I am pretty excited about this non-chocolate matcha green tea cake. I mean, I want to say itโs all healthy and good for you, with that matcha green tea, but ahh thatโd be a lie. There is butter, sugar and so much vanilla, but itโs so good.
Hey, you can always pretend itโs healthy. Works for me.
I am going to be honest, when I set out to make this cake, I was nervous. This was my first ever non-chocolate cake. Like, I have never even made a vanilla cake. Never. I know, thatโs crazy, but again, I was bred to think solely chocolate (and at all times). Canโt really complain about that, but sometimes you gotta try new things.
So I did.
I was scared.
But it all turned out good. So, so, so good! The matcha cake, just tastes like a super moist vanilla cake with just a slight hint of tea. Itโs the perfect amount of tea to vanilla combo. But umm that frosting? Itโs a game changer.
Itโs sweet and perfect in every which way. The honey pairs so nicely with the whipped cream cheese and yeah, finger dipping worthy for sure.
Oh, and those eggs on top? I just couldnโt resist. I had so many left over from Easter and well, they are milk chocolate, how could I not add them? Plus no one in my family would even try a cake without any chocolate, I had to make sure they didnโt pass this cake by. Good thing too, cause itโs already gone!
Matcha Green Tea Cake with Vanilla Honey Cream Cheese Frosting.
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons matcha green tea powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 2 eggs
- ยพ cup hot water
- Toasted coconut and chocolate Easter eggs, for decorating (optional)
Vanilla Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
- ยผ cup salted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter/spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Whisk together the milk and oil, and add to the dry ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the matcha powder, vanilla extract, almond extract and eggs and beat again for 2 minutes on medium speed. Now slowly pour in the hot water and beat until smooth. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then grab 2 large flat plates, line them with wax or parchment paper and invert the cakes onto the plates. Cover and let the cakes cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting, add the cream cheese and butter to a large mixing bowl. Using and electric mixer beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the honey, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat another 2-4 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- To assemble, place 1 layer, flat side up, on a plate or cake stand. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top. If desired, you may also frost the sides. I prefer to either leave the sides unfrosted or lightly frosted so that pretty green color shines through! Decorate with toasted coconut and milk chocolate eggs if desired.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Lets do this.
Hi Tieghan!!! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I made this cake for a friend of mine for her birthday. Matcha is her favorite. The cake was delicious – the icing is AMAZING. It came out very dense unlike yours which seems fluffy. I used two 9 inch pans (I thought they were 8 inch). Could that be why it was dense? She liked it too even though she is used to the fluffy textured cake she gets from the Asian bakery. She’s a cake snob.
On a different note, I made the spaghetti sage recipe from what I think is your newest book!!! I wanted to let you know it was SO yummy, and my son LOVED it!!!! I cannot write a review for your book recipes anywhere so I figured I would give the recipe a shout out here.
Made this recipe for an office potluck and it was a great success! I think there is a mistake with the quantities of sugar in the icing, should it be 3/4 of a cup ? I only added 1 cup and thought it was just enough. The recipe made 15 cupcakes and I baked them for 18min in a convection oven. Thank you as always for your recipes, I never try them beforehand as I know it is going to be a great success ๐
Hey Genevieve,
Awesome!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was a hit!! The icing measurement is correct, but you can certainly reduce that to your liking:) xT
The different advantages of green tea include reduction of blood pressure and helps in weight loss effectively as compared to other weight loss supplements.
Can I sub grapeseed oil for canola?
Hi Prath,
Yes that would work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I made this but unfortunately, I wasn’t too impressed. The cake tasted more of almond essence than matcha. The texture was great – soft, moist and springy – but that’s the only good part. The frosting is dense and cloyingly sweet. However, this recipe is one miss amongst a lot of hits from your website.
Hi Angela! I am sorry this did not work too well for you. Are there any questions I could help you with? Thank you! xTieghan
Hi teaghan,
this recipe looks really scrumptious, but unfortunately i’m can’t consume buttermilk and is there any substitute for it?
will it be possible if i use almond milk and vinegar?
Can’t wait to make this recipe ๐
Hi Sylvia!! I would just use almond milk. That will be great!
I’m making this for my boyfriend and his family (all Japanese, big green tea fanatics) for his birthday and I might play around to try and reduce the sweetness of the cake and up the matcha factor. I’m still debating what to decorate the cake with (he’s not a huge fan of chocolate or sweets so i’m looking for something neutral/rich/bitter).
I love your blog and will tag you in the end result! Thanks again for the lovely recipe, can’t wait to see how it comes out!
Awesome! I hope they love it! Im excited to see your results!! (:
I happen to drink Green tea with honey. So, naturally your beautiful cake caught my eye. May I ask where I might purchase macha tea powder?
I like buying mine on amazon. There are a lot of choices!
Hey, Tieghan: I’ve made this cake a couple of times now and am in love with it! Could you recommend appropriate timing if I wanted to make cupcakes, instead? Thanks!!
Hi Leigh!
That is so awesome!! I would say about 16-18 minutes for the cupcakes. You will just have to check them and see, but that’s the times I would think would work! Let me know and thanks again for the kind words! ๐
Also, could you convert the cream cheese frosting into buttercream somehow or stabilize it enough to make roses for decorating?
First off, I have made a ton of your recipes now and I am a huge fan (butter chicken and naan was my favorite so far)! However, I was wondering if it was possible to make this in three layers and what I would do to achieve so?
Hey Sarah!!
Thanks so much for the kind words! So flattered!! You can make this in 3 layers, just do 1 1/2 (so the full recipe and then 1/2 of the full recipes ingredients) of the recipe. Does that make sense?? If not just let me know and I will email you.
Also, for the frosting, you can just replace the cream cheese with equal amounts of butter or use your favorite buttercream. I have never made roses…you must be good!! Send photos! ๐
Thank you ,I will try to do it.
I have never tried vanilla cake , These vanilla cake looks awesome!
OMG, I can’t believe I neglected to take a photo! It was beautiful AND delicious!!
Perfect! Thanks so much for the prompt reply! Really looking forward to impressing dinner guests this evening!!
Hi! I’d like to make this cake this afternoon. The instructions don’t mention the baking soda; just want to be sure that it’s not listed accidentally? Thanks!
Hey Leigh, there is no baking soda in this recipe. Sorry about that. Enjoy the cake!
Hi again, Leigh! Sorry, there is baking soda in the recipe. Just fixed it! So to confuse you!