Okay, so today I decided to try something a little different in the kitchen. I’ve been on a bit of a matcha kick lately, putting it in lattes and whatnot, and I always love a good coffee cake with that crumbly topping. Got me thinking, why not mash ’em together? So, I rolled up my sleeves and decided to make a matcha coffee cake. Here’s how it went down.
Getting Started
First thing I did was pull out all the usual suspects for baking. You know, flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, salt. And of course, the star of the show – my tin of matcha powder. I also needed milk. I grabbed a square baking pan, I think it’s an 8×8 inch one, and got it ready by greasing it up and dusting it with a bit of flour.
Making the Crumb Topping
I always start with the topping for coffee cake. Seems right. So, in a small bowl, I dumped in some flour, brown sugar (I like the flavor it gives), and a little bit of matcha powder for that green tint and subtle taste. Then I took some cold butter, chopped it up into small pieces, and tossed it in. Using my fingertips, I just worked that butter into the dry stuff until it looked like coarse crumbs. You gotta work kinda quick so the butter doesn’t get too warm. Once it looked right, I popped that bowl into the fridge to stay cool while I made the cake batter.
Mixing the Cake Batter
Alright, onto the main event. I grabbed a bigger bowl. Dumped in the softened butter and regular white sugar. Used my hand mixer to cream them together until they were light and fluffy. Took a couple of minutes. Then I cracked in two eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
In a separate bowl, I whisked together the flour, a good amount of matcha powder (more than the topping, obviously), baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Got that combined nicely.
Then it was time to bring it all together. I added about a third of the dry flour mixture to the butter and egg mix, blended it in gently. Then poured in about half the milk, mixed again. Repeated this – another third of the flour mix, the rest of the milk, and finally the last bit of flour mix. The key here, I always find, is not to overmix. Just mix until you don’t see any more dry flour streaks. The batter was this lovely pale green color.
Putting It All Together & Baking
Okay, assembly time. I scooped about half of the green batter into the pan I prepared earlier, spreading it out as evenly as I could. Then I grabbed the crumb topping from the fridge and sprinkled about half of it over the batter.
Next, I carefully spooned the remaining matcha batter over the crumb layer. Tried my best to spread it gently without messing up the crumbs underneath too much. Finally, I sprinkled all the rest of the crumb topping evenly over the very top.
My oven was already preheated – forgot to mention I did that earlier, around 350 degrees F (that’s about 175 C). I carefully put the pan into the oven. Now, the waiting game. I set my timer for 30 minutes initially, but I knew it would likely take longer.
The Result
After about 35-40 minutes, the top was looking golden brown (well, brownish-green because of the matcha crumbs!) and a toothpick inserted into the center came out clean. The smell filling the kitchen was really interesting – buttery, sweet, with that distinct grassy note of matcha.
I pulled it out and let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for maybe 15-20 minutes before I even thought about cutting into it. It’s important to let it set up a bit.
- Sliced it into squares.
- The cake itself was moist and tender.
- The matcha flavor was definitely there, but not overpowering. It balanced nicely with the sweetness.
- That crumb topping gave it a lovely texture contrast.
Honestly, it turned out pretty darn good! Had a piece with my afternoon tea (skipped the coffee this time to really taste the matcha). It was a successful experiment, I’d say. Definitely something I’d make again when I want a coffee cake that’s a little out of the ordinary. Simple process, really, just swapping in some matcha. Give it a go if you’re curious!
