Matcha Green Tea Pound Cake
This Matcha Pound Cake is flavored with green tea and easy to make. It’s dense like a classic pound cake with just the right amount of sweetness.
I found a matcha pound cake recipe from Sarah The Baker Yoon on milk and honey cafe. The beautiful green color of her cakes really caught my eye. I also loved her clever entry title “It’s not easy being sweet.” I tried coming up with clever blog post titles when I first start blogging but have since given up.
Given my obsession with baking matcha green tea desserts, I had to try it out. I made a chocolate matcha cake that I enjoyed, so a cake with just matcha sounded good, too.
I was especially excited to try out the recipe since she mentioned in her post that her family really enjoyed the cake and are usually complaining about her cakes being too sweet. This is a story I’m quite familiar with. My parents are always saying stuff I make is too sweet.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Matcha green tea powder
- Baking powder
- Softened unsalted butter
- Confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
- Large eggs
- Salt
Matcha powder: I like to use ceremonial quality matcha powder* for baking. I find that the color turns out much better. You can learn more in my post about baking with matcha.
*Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Eggs: For this pound cake, you will need to separate the eggs. The egg whites are whipped and then folded into the batter. The yolks are mixed into the batter separately.
The recipe was easy to follow, and I followed it almost exactly as written. The only slightly time-consuming part was the separating of the egg whites.
Recipe Tips
- Line the loaf pan with parchment paper or foil.
- You will mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and then cream the butter in a separate bowl with egg yolks. Then you combine the dry and wet ingredients.
- You will whip the egg whites in a separate bowl until they hold soft peaks. Be sure the bowl is clean and dry – even one drop of water or spec of a crumb can make it so your egg whites don’t whip.
- I like to use a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to whip the egg whites. You can also use a handheld mixer.
- The whipped egg whites are folded into the batter. Do this carefully so you don’t deflate the whites. It’s easier to do this in a few smaller batches – add a little at a time and fold carefully until there are no more white streaks.
- The cake takes about 45 minutes to bake at 325°F, but it may take more or less time depending on your oven. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake and then wrap it in plastic wrap if not serving it right away. It will keep for a few days at room temperature.
This matcha pound cake came out a beautiful shade of light green. The texture is dense, just like a pound cake should be. It tastes sweet but not too sweet and has a nice green tea flavor.
More Pound Cake Recipes
- 4 Ingredient Lemon Pound Cake
- Condensed Milk Pound Cake
- Irish Cream Pound Cake
- Keto Pound Cake
- Chocolate Pound Cake
Matcha Green Tea Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp Matcha green tea
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 pinch of salt
Instructions
- Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with foil. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Combine the flour, green tea and baking powder and stir well to mix.
- Cream butter and confectioners’ sugar in bowl of mixer with paddle attachment and beat for about 3 minutes or until light. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl and beater occasionally with a rubber spatula. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the flour mixture by hand, with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the egg whites and salt into a clean, dry mixer bowl. Place on mixer with whisk attachment and whip whites on medium speed until white and opaque and just beginning to hold their shape. Increase speed slightly and continue whipping egg whites until they hold a soft peak.
- Remove bowl from mixer and quickly scrape whites from bowl onto batter in other bowl. Use a large rubber spatula to fold the egg whites into the batter, folding just until no streaks of white remain.
- Scrape the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for about 45 minutes or until it is well risen and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges dry. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then un-mold and cool it completely.
Why has no one asked the obvious. I guess I’ll find out on my own,. The directions say line a pan with foil but scrape batter into pans. Does this make one or two loaves?
Sorry, but not sure about your question? In Step 5 of the recipe card it says “Scrape the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.” So, yes, you only need one pan.
hi Kirbie, I searched up somewhere along the lines of matcha green tea dessert recipes and came across your blog! What brand of matcha powder do you use?
maeda-en, gold canister. I found it turns out the best color for baked goods.
Nice recipe! Would love to try it out.. how many grams are they in a cup of sugar and in a cup of flour?
Sorry I didn’t measure it out in grams. If you use google search, I’m sure someone has helpfully provided a conversion.
very easy to make and not too sweet. It’s a nice change of pace from regular deserts!
Thanks for the advice. I’ve always kind of liked the cracking on top as it is so crispy where it’s cracked. But I’ll try this next time to see if my cakes will come out prettier.
Yum. Looks delicious.
By the way, I can’t help but notice that most of your cakes crack. You could easily prevent that by covering the pan with aluminium foil at the first two thirds of the cooking time, not only preventing cracking but also resulting in a much more moist and richer texture.
I’m so happy you liked it! I need to come up with some more recipes. I haven’t baked in a few weeks.
This tastes delicious…
I tried it today at home and everybody liked it and appreciated me. Thanks for your nice recipes I am trying them all.
I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi…
Thank you for the nice recipe. I would love green tea pound cake. I am having a small tea party at my farmhouse this weekend. I was wondering about something special to serve my friends with. This one would be a nice treat for all my friends. I will try this and tell you.
You’re welcome! I love finding/sharing green tea desserts.
I know what you mean! I’ve seen it used so many different ways.
I love making green tea desserts too – thanks for the inspiration!
Green tea is proving to be a very versitile ingredient. I love when it pops up in unexpected places. GREG