Matcha Sponge Strawberry Shortcake

I make strawberry shortcake every. single. year. It is my go-to summer cake because it is so amazingly simple and delicious. I wanted to try and change it up this year and create a strawberry shortcake that was slightly different from all of my previous years, while still keeping the beautiful simplicity of it. So I switched out my vanilla sponge for a matcha sponge and the end result was better than I could have imagined. I could eat this for every meal for every day for the rest of my life. I love making strawberry shortcake during the summer because strawberries are in season, it is light and refreshing, with the cool whipped cream being a perfect pairing for some slightly tart, fragrant, juicy strawberries. This cake may be my favourite cake of all time.

You may be wondering what makes this cake so different from your regular layering cake. A sponge cake is leavened only with eggs, without the addition of baking powder or baking soda and an acid like most cakes are. This leaves you with a super fluffy and spongy cake that soaks up liquid and flavours very easily. This cake gets its volume from all the tiny air bubbles created by warming the eggs with sugar, and whipping it up until it becomes pale and fluffy — this is called ribbon stage. The cake also rises further when the air bubbles expand when it gets exposed to the high heat of the oven. A magical type of cake in my opinion. It can go wrong if you over-fold the cake, or even use the wrong type of utensil to fold. So be sure to use a medium-sized spatula for the best results, and be sure to only fold until there are no visible dry bits of flour left over in the batter.

I sincerely hope you give this a try and end up recreating this — I’m sure it will become your favourite summer cake after you try it. Here is the recipe and video tutorial below!

Matcha Sponge Strawberry Shortcake

Time: prep 25 min, bake 12 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients
For the Matcha Sponge

160g (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) sugar
5 large eggs
2g (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract

155g (1-1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
3g (1 tbsp) matcha powder
2g (1/2 tsp) salt

14 g (1 tbsp) vegetable oil

For the Green Tea Syrup

200g (1 cup) sugar
250g (1 cup) steeped green tea
5g (1 tsp) lemon juice

For the Toppings

400g (1-3/4) heavy 35% whipping cream
5g (1 tsp) vanilla bean paste or extract
20g (2 tbsp) sugar

1 lb strawberries cut into slivers or quarters

Method
For the sponge

Preheat your oven to 375F. Line an 13″x18″ baking tray with parchment paper.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, matcha, and salt. Sift the mixture and set aside.
In a stand mixer bowl or a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. Place over a bain marie or small saucepan of 1-2 inches of simmering water, whisking constantly, until the temperature of the eggs reaches 38C or 100F.
Take off heat, add the vanilla extract, and place into a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or using a hand mixer, whisk the egg sugar mixture on medium high speed until it reaches ribbon stage. The eggs will fall of the whisk in a “ribbon” that does not dissolve back into the batter right away. About 3-5 min.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold it, until there is no remaining flour left in the batter. Be careful not to over mix it.
In a separate small bowl, mix together the vegetable oil and the batter with a spatula until emulsified, and then add to the rest of the batter, giving it a few folds to incorporate.
Dump the batter onto the lined baking tray, and spread it in an even layer with an offset spatula.
Place into the oven to bake for 12-14 min or until lightly golden and matte on the top, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
let it cool.

For the syrup

Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil to dissolve the sugar. Set it aside to cool before using.

For the whipped cream

Place the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer or medium mixing bowl. Whip on medium/high speed until it reaches stiff peaks. About 3-5 min. Be careful not to over-mix to avoid curdling.

Feel free to watch the video tutorial on the assembly here: