Craving hit me for something a little different, and I ended up making a matcha strawberry cake from scratch over the weekend. My partner has been on a huge matcha kick lately and kept hinting about wanting something with it, so I figured I'd actually try combining it with strawberries since I had a ton of jam already in the fridge. Honestly I was a little nervous the flavors would fight each other but they really didn't, the earthy matcha and the sweet fruity strawberry ended up being genuinely good together. Wrote everything down here if anyone wants to follow along: [https://www.platosinolvidables.com/matcha-strawberry-cake](https://www.platosinolvidables.com/matcha-strawberry-cake)  
  
Here's what I used:  
  
Matcha Cake Recipe  
2 3/4 cups cake flour 330g  
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar 500g  
3 Tbsp matcha powder 18g  
2 1/2 tsp baking powder 10g  
1 tsp fine salt 6g  
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 226g  
1 cup carton egg whites or 7 large egg whites, room temperature 240g  
1 1/2 cups full-fat sour cream, room temperature 370g  
2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil 28g  
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4g  
electric green gel food coloring, optional  
  
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting  
8 large egg whites, room temperature 240g  
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar 500g  
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 454g  
1/2 cup strawberry jam 150g  
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 1/2 small lemon 15g  
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4g  
1/2 tsp fine salt 3g  
1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberry powder 55g  
Red gel food coloring, optional  
  
Cake Filling  
1 1/2 cups strawberry jam 450g  
  
Here's how it went:  
  
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line and grease three 8-inch cake pans with parchment rounds and non-stick spray.  
  
2. Whisk together the cake flour, sugar, matcha powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl until everything is combined.  
  
3. Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and mix into the dry ingredients with a paddle attachment or hand mixer on low until the mixture looks like moist sand with no big butter chunks left.  
  
4. Mix in the egg whites on medium speed until incorporated, the batter will be pretty thick at this point which is normal.  
  
5. Add the sour cream, oil, and vanilla and mix on low until combined. Add a drop of electric green food coloring here if you want a brighter green color in the layers.  
  
6. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat on medium for about 30 seconds, this is the reverse creaming method and that last mix matters for texture.  
  
7. Divide the batter evenly between your prepared pans and bake for 33 to 36 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack to cool completely and level with a serrated knife.  
  
8. While the layers cool, make the frosting. Clean your mixing bowl really well, any grease will mess with the meringue.  
  
9. Bring about an inch of water to a simmer in a pot. Add the egg whites and sugar to a metal bowl and set it over the simmering water, making sure the bowl isn't touching the water. Whisk constantly for about 3 minutes until the mixture hits 160 F and feels smooth with no sugar granules.  
  
10. Pour the mixture into a stand mixer and whip on medium-high with a whisk attachment for about 10 minutes until you get stiff glossy peaks.  
  
11. Add the butter one stick at a time on medium speed. If it looks broken or lumpy just keep mixing, it'll come back together.  
  
12. Mix in the strawberry jam, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt on medium until fully incorporated, then mix in the freeze-dried strawberry powder. Add red gel food coloring if you want a brighter pink.  
  
13. Swap to the paddle attachment and mix on low for a couple minutes to smooth it all out. Put half the frosting into a piping bag with a 1-inch opening.  
  
14. Stack the cake layers on your board using a bit of frosting to anchor the first layer. Spread a thin layer of buttercream on each layer, pipe a ring around the edge, and fill the center with about half a cup of strawberry jam per layer. Flip the top layer upside down for cleaner edges.  
  
15. Freeze the assembled cake for 5 to 10 minutes, then add a crumb coat and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or freezer for 10 until firm.  
  
16. Add the final layer of frosting with a textured look using an offset spatula. Mix the reserved frosting with a tablespoon of matcha powder and a drop of green food coloring and swipe it around the sides to blend into the strawberry frosting.  
  
A few things I noticed:  
  
The swiss meringue frosting step sounds scarier than it is, just keep an eye on the temperature and don't let the bowl touch the water, that was my biggest worry going into it and it turned out fine.  
  
Chilling the cake layers before assembling made a huge difference, I skipped this step the first time I made a layered cake years ago and deeply regretted it. Don't rush that part.  
  
The freeze-dried strawberry powder in the frosting is what gives it that real strawberry flavor rather than just a vague sweetness, it's worth hunting down at the store.  
  
Leftovers kept really well in the fridge for a few days with the cut side covered in frosting, honestly might have tasted even better on day two.  
  
Has anyone tried swapping in a different fruit jam for the filling or the frosting on something like this? Curious if raspberry or mango would work just as well with the matcha.

Fluffy Matcha Strawberry Cake That Wows Every Birthday