Cake is a symbol of celebration. Five summers ago, I started Yummy Workshop to share my baking experiences and recipes. Frankly, I can’t believe that it has been five years. It has been quite the ride. In these few years I took up a second career as a baker while I continue blogging on the side. Of course a cake is mandatory to celebrate the fifth birthday of Yummy Workshop! This recipe has both of my favourite flavours: chocolate and matcha. Chocolate cake with whipped matcha ganache – a match made in heaven.
Ingredients
- 120 g / 1/2 cup hot brewed coffee
- 28 g / 1 oz dark chocolate
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g / 1 cup sugar
- 35 g / 1/3 cup cake flour
- 70 g / 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 65 g / 3/4 cup + 1-1/2 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder
- 1-1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 55 g / 2 oz canola oil
- 120 g / 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 125 g / 125 ml whipping cream, for heating
- 125 g / 4.4 oz white chocolate (the best quality you can find)
- 125 g / 125 ml whipping cream, for whipping
- 1-1/2 tsp matcha powder (good quality)
- matcha powder for dusting
- cocoa nibs, optional
- matcha KitKat, optional
Method
- Preheat oven to 325 F / 170 C. Grease and line a 6 inch round X 3 inch high cake pan with parchment.
- Place chocolate in a small bowl, pour in hot coffee and vanilla extract, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until ready to use. Make sure the chocolate is melted but cooled before using. Sift together sugar, flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk attachment, beat egg until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium high speed. Pour in chocolate mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Add in sifted dry ingredients, oil, and buttermilk, and mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes until batter is smooth and shiny.
- Pour in the prepared cake pan, lightly tap out any large air pockets. Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted and cake bounces back when lightly pressed in the middle.
- Cool cake for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The cake must be completely cooled before assembly.
- Place chocolate in a small bowl, heat up whipping cream in the microwave oven for about 40 seconds on high heat. Pour hot cream over chocolate, cover bowl in plastic wrap to keep it warm. Let it stand for a 2 minutes, stir with a spatula until it is smooth. Blend in matcha powder with an immersion blender until it is dissolved. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and chill in fridge until ready use.
- Whip remaining whipping cream in a stand mixer until it starts to thicken but not yet at soft peaks, add in the chilled ganache, whip at medium speed until it is a smooth consistency. Do not over-whip.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a plain tip, and chill until ready to assemble.
- Slice off the cake top if you want a more level cake. I sliced off just the very top "dome" to give it a more level surface. Slice into three slices across.
- Place a slice of cake on a plate or base, pipe ganache teardrops in a ring, about 1/2 inch away from the edge. Place the second slice of cake on top, press down the layer gently, repeat piping. Finish the third slice with the same piping technique.
- Dust the top with matcha powder, sprinkle with cocoa nibs, and garnish with matcha KitKat bars. Chill cake for about an hour before slicing.
Words can’t describe how much I love this cake. I don’t recall the last time I baked a decadent chocolate cake like this one. The light velvety whipped matcha white chocolate ganache stood up perfectly to the moist and fudgy dark chocolate cake. The mild bitterness of the matcha balances the sweetness of the white chocolate ever so delicately, and the grassy notes of matcha is surprisingly delicious with the smokiness of the dark chocolate. I would definitely make this recipe again! If you like green tea, you have to try the Japanese matcha KitKat bars. They are even better than the original version (in biased opinion), with tender wafers coated with a delectable chocolate with just the right amount of matcha flavour – they are not your average candy bars!
This post is a little shoutout to one of my most experimented recipes: Matcha Green Tea Macarons with Chocolate Ganache. I still remember baking them relentlessly until they had their “feet”. That was where my love for matcha and chocolate originated. This is what I love about blogging: creating the things I love and sharing them with bits and pieces of my stories. Yummy Workshop means so much to me, it is a platform to express my creativity through recipes and photography. My biggest wish is that the blog is able to inspire others to bake creatively. Happy birthday, Yummy Workshop!
congrats on 5 years! it’s definitely a milestone worthy of cake. the chocolate cake sounds so moist and flavorful; have you tried out ina garten’s chocolate cake? your recipe reminds me a little bit of her’s (just in that you both add brewed coffee!).
Thank you, Heather! I have not tried the recipe but I love how coffee enhances the chocolate in the recipe here!
Wow!!! This cake is absolutely gorgeous!! Also, congrats on 5 years -time passes so fast doesn’t it?
Thank you, Anne! It is beyond my imagination that I’ve going at this for five years 😀
happy blog birthday! 5 years of beautiful pastries, keep it up!!
i gotta say, i’ve never tried your way of making ganache. i’d be so worried of overwhipping and making butter instead of ganache!
Thank you, Connie! I am sure a baking guru like you can make whipped ganache with no problem, it is so delicious!