Matcha-Almond Genoise Layer Cake is a very delicately flavored green-tea sponge cake, filled with fresh whipped cream and topped with matcha ganache.

A sweet opportunity!
About a month ago I received an email from a California based green-tea company. In the letter I was very kindly asked if I would share my Matcha Biscottirecipe and photos for their monthly newsletter. Of course I said “heck yeah!” with Napoleonic (Dynamite) enthusiasm. First of all, I was just so happy to be asked (you’d be surprised at those who take without giving credit). Secondly, after reading the newsletter, I was so inspired by the other recipes I saw!
If you’d like to see the newsletter, it is HERE. Check out the Matcha Rice Krispie Treats recipe. How cool is that? After receiving a very nice follow-up thank you letter, I received a sample of their baking grade Shiki Matcha.
Uhmm, baking grade matcha? That exists? I can’t say I’m the most educated person on green tea varieties, I just know that I like it. Upon reading their green tea guides, I feel more informed. What a great resource! I decided to whip up a very special treat – this Matcha-Almond Genoise Layer Cake.

What a beautiful color, baking with this Matcha. That’s 100% natural green tea pigment!


A good variation to this recipe would be to add 6 oz. of sweetened red beans to the whipped filling. You can find them, canned, at your local Asian grocery store. Not everyone likes red beans in a dessert (the hubs) so I left it out. I love them! I’m always the person at the end of a nice Teppanyaki dinner to order the red-bean ice cream. But of course, I love everything.
That’s part of my problem. I don’t think they have 12-step programs for people who love everything. Do they?

Finishing touches.
For a garnish, yogurt covered almonds pair well with the almond flavor in the cake. You could also use the chocolate-covered and candy-coated Jordan almonds. Apply them to the top of the cake before the ganache sets. I didn’t do this, so I had to stick them on with some extra chocolate.
Although I did enjoy putting this cake together, ONE thing drove me slightly crazy during this whole process. I lost the lid to the sample Matcha container. After looking everywhere, I was about to give up when I pulled the camera lens cover from my jacket pocket and found…


…at least I didn’t do this!
This cake is delicious. It is light, delicate, and the almond flour really gives the cake a great flavor. If you are one of those people who are wary about the bitterness of green-tea, let me tell you, this cake has none of that. The flavor is very mild, and the color is stunning!

Special thanks to Maeda-en. If you are interested in reading up on green tea (health benefits, how it’s made, etc.) I’d suggest reading the Green Tea 101 provided on their website.
Happy Baking! xxoo

Matcha-Almond Genoise Layer Cake
Ingredients
GREEN TEA GENOISE:
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons matcha powder
- 1/8 cup all purpose flour
- 2 egg whites room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 tablespoon white granulated sugar
CREME FILLING:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
MATCHA TOPPING
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/4 teaspoon matcha powder
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
GARNISH:
- 6 to 8 white Jordan almonds or yogurt covered almonds
- Extra matcha powder for sprinkling
Instructions
Genoise
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease an 11×17(or 12×16)sheet pan with shortening. Line with parchment and grease parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine the 2 whole eggs, confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a bowl. Combine with a hand-held mixer until batter has lightened considerably in color.(Should be a pale yellow.) Add the 1 1/2 teaspoons matcha powder and mix on low speed until combined. Set aside.
- Whip the egg whites in a clean bowl on low speed until they start to froth. Add the cream of tartar and increase mixer speed, whipping until stiff peaks form. Add the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and whip for a few seconds longer to incorporate.
- Sift the flour over the pale yellow egg mixture, then scoop about 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg mixture and fold together gently with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in until uniformly mixed.
- Pour the batter into the sheet pan and distribute it evenly with an offset spatula, making the layer as level and smooth as possible. Your batter will be spread very THIN.
- Bake for about 5 to 8 minutes until the cake is just firm. Keep an eye on the cake as it bakes! It will burn easily! Mine baked completely in 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and turn out cake onto a cooling rack. Remove parchment. Allow to cool slightly. Cut cake into four even pieces. (For more info visit sprinklebakes.com)
Filling
- For filling, whip heavy cream until slightly thickened. Gradually add the 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and whip until stiff peaks are formed.
- Spread three cake layers with whipped creme mixture and stack. Top with plain layer. Chill for 1 hour.
Matcha topping
- For topping, melt white chocolate and heavy cream together(either in a sauce pan over low heat or in the microwave for about 30 seconds.) Add matcha and stir until combined.
Garnish
- Remove cake from refrigerator and slice into 6-8 fingers. Frost fingers with ganache with an offset spatula. Top with almond garnish and sprinkle with extra matcha powder.
Wow, this is truly beautiful! Thank you for posting such an awesome post. Do you mind if I added this post on next week's Friday link round up?
wow it looks yummy. The colors are great. Last year I bought matcha powder to do 1 drink. And then I did nothing with it. It's expensive for a drink lol
Absolutely gorgeous! I've never tried Matcha – can you believe that?
🙂
ButterYum
OMG, this looks sooo delicious! I might just be making this (or some of your other green tea treats) for an upcoming Chinese New Year party next weekend! Wow, you are an awesome baker. Thanks for sharing!!
That's such a gorgeous cake!
Stunning color and I bet the flavor wasn't far behind!
It's beautiful!!!
Omg, wows!! This looks gorgeous. It's my first time to your blog and I have to say you're really an impressive baker! 😀 Adding your site to my favourites!
Take care.
So stunning! The color is spectacular, especially since it's natural! Maybe for St. Patty's Day? I LOVE almond and this sounds delicious!
Heather you stun me with your beautiful creations – if you need a place to live and somewhere to cook – maybe consider NZ? I'm sure we could find you a corner 🙂
I made a salad with green tea noodles this week, but sadly they did not retain such a gorgeous green.
Love your blog!! I'm your new follower!! Come check me out when you have time.
Thanks~Diana
That cake is out of this world gorgeous with that color… perfect presentation… I love your blog!!
Seriously stunning cake. Looks like a work of art.
This is an awesome post! The cake looks so good, and i can't believe that the green is the real color of the tea. The first thing I did was scan for food coloring, but didn't find it. Nice!
This is simply gorgeous!
So pretty! I adore matcha and had no idea there was a baking grade!
So nice! I love green anything and this looks so unique! Great blog.
Gorgeous!
What a beautiful cake- I'm always looking for new ways to use matcha. It's so good to drink just on its own, but when you start adding sugar and butter to the mix…heavenly!
This is absolutely beautiful. I think I might just look at it instead of eating what. I love green tea and I have the powder to make my own green tea frapps at home but I have never baked with it. I am going to have to try now!!
ooh wow this is beautiful your layers are so perfect!
just found your blog, looks so amazing! I want to try! I am lol about the lid!
Kim
http://frostmeblog.blogspot.com
Hello! I just found your blog and I must say that I adore it! Your treats look divine!
Hi,
This is my 1st time reading your blog and it's fantastic!
Seems like you have alot to offer. I might just have to follow 😀
Would be great if you could follow me too
http://www.brisbanebaker.blogspot.com
P.s LOL at the camera lense 😀
I've not had green tea in dessert form. Your cake sounds interesting and looks gorgeous! You know I haven't had sweet red bean anything either. I'm deprived.
~ingrid
I would love to try this! Your pictures makes me want to lick off my computer screen…lol
*drools* this cake looks delicious! just one question, does the almond flavour taste strong in this recipe? 'cause I am not a big fan of almond…thanks:)
Thanks for this read. Well, this is my first visit to your blog! But I admire the precious time and effort you put into it, especially into interesting articles you share here!
I absolutely adore anything Matcha related.
It's just the taste of that tea.
Not that I would drink it by itself,however,as a desert is perfect!
Not so suffocatingly sweetening like most,it has a hint of bitterness that relates me to the tea.
It looks so tasty:)
I'm trying to make this recipe, but I'm running into some issues. First, it took almost 20 minutes to bake the cake… I know the recipe says 5-8, but after 5 minutes, it was barely set, and after 10, the texture was just starting to kind of resemble that which I seen in your pictures. I know different ovens have different baking times, but 4 times as long? Do you have any suggestions or tips, something I might have done wrong?
Second, the cream is really having trouble supporting the cake, so you have any suggestions for making it stiffer?
SO many times I read stupid post but this time I must say i'm impressed! Well done! Cheers!
Hello, I wanted to ask how do you remove the brown top of the matcha cake? I've always had that problem when baking it.
Absolutely beautiful. I plan on making this for the boyfriend's sister who just got promoted but I'm worried about transporting the cake. Should I cut it at the arrived destination or should I cut into fingers and then do the transport?
Thanks!
One of the most gorgeous desserts I have ever come across!
looks pretty but the recipe won't load 🙁
I absolutely adore anything Matcha related. And the colors here are great.
Hi Heather – just wanted to mention I made this cake twice. First time, the cake was extremely thin so I ended up stacking and stacking to make something like a 15-layer torte out of it (the pieces were still very small). That said, it was ultra delicious. For Father's Day, my husband actually requested it again…so I made it again and baked the cake in a 9×13 pan instead of a sheet pan. It gave me a thicker cake that was much easier for me to work with. I layered the cake with cocoa cream. So very delicious! Thank… Read more »
Hey ! Is it possible to substitue the almond flour for all purpose flour ? My bf has a nut allergy and I'd like to cook something like this for him !
Hi Heather! I would love to try this recipe, but it doesn't load at all. Do you think you could edit this post so that it shows up? Thank you! 🙂
I searched on google and found the recipe at "theteacupoflife.com" Made it last night and made two batches of the genoise and baked it in a 9 inch round. The cake was fantastic and I made the second batch with vanilla bean and left out the green tea. Baked it for about 14 minutes and the trick is to not over-bake it. As soon as it cools for a minute the cake pulls away from the pan and easily pops out. The only thing I found was it was a bit too sweet. Thinking to reduce the sugar in the… Read more »