Matcha sponge cake with black sesame mousse

My friends have always thought that it was strange of me to say “bornday” instead of birthday or anniversary…but I continue to do it anyways because it’s what makes me unique 🙂 Anyways, I was thinking about what to make for such a wonderful day and I came up with this deliciously moist matcha sponge cake with black sesame mousse!

I don’t make cake very often because I rarely have an occasion to make one for but this celebration seemed like the perfect opportunity to whip one up!

I’ve made a sponge cake before and loved the recipe so I based this matcha sponge off of it. The last time I made this cake, I filled it with a green tea and adzuki bean custard cream, so this time I decided to do something new and different by filling it with black sesame mousse!

And what I ended up with was an amazingly light, fluffy and airy matcha sponge cake with layers of velvety black sesame mousse in between. The matcha gave the cake an earthy texture and the nuttiness of the black sesame balanced everything out.

I know that cakes like these take many hours to make and that’s one of the main reasons as to why I don’t make them very often but after making this one, I think I’m hooked! Just like making bread, layered cakes like this are definitely worth the effort because they make my tummy very very happy. And I hope that it will make yours happy too 🙂

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Matcha sponge cake recipe (8″)

3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar (separated into 2 tablespoon portions)
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon green tea powder

Method

1. Beat the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl until it’s thick and pale.  
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until foamy. Add in the cream of tartar. Continue to beat the egg whites until it reaches soft peaks.
3. Beat in the sugar and mix until it becomes glossy and reaches stiff peaks. This means that you should be able to hold the bowl upside down and nothing should fall out.
4. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites. Sift and fold in the flour 1/4 cup at a time. Fold in the oil and matcha powder.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 400F for 20 – 30 minutes until golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Black sesame mousse

3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground black sesame
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons water
3/4 tablespoon powdered gelatin
3/4 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup heavy cream

Method

1. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, ground black sesame and salt until combined.  
2. Add the whole milk and 3/4 cup of heavy cream to a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Remove from heat and pour in the yolk mixture. Make sure you stir quickly or you may end up with scrambled eggs. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens.
3. Remove pan from heat. Mix the water and powdered gelatin together until dissolved. Add the mixture into the black sesame mixture. Stir in the vanilla until incorporated.
4. Pour sesame cream through strainer to remove any clumps. Set aside in the fridge to cool.
5. Beat the remaining heavy cream until it reaches stiff peaks.
6. Gently fold the chilled black sesame mixture into the whipped cream until incorporated

Assembly

1. Slice the cake layer in half with a serrated knife. Remove the top layer of the cake and set aside.

1. Smooth 1/3 of the black sesame mousse mixture on top and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  
2. Remove cake from refrigerator. Place the top layer of the cake on top of the mousse layer. Spread the remaining sesame mousse evenly on top and side of cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.
3. Remove cake from refrigerator, decorate cake with fruit.
4. Slice and munch!

Love matcha? Try my matcha chocolate chip cookie recipe!