Dark Chocolate & Matcha Cream Cake

This Dark Chocolate & Matcha Cream Cake is a match made in Heaven! A delicious recipe full of antioxidants and healthy ingredients

A moist dark chocolate sponge cake layered and covered with matcha cream. Matcha powder makes a beautifully green whipped cream with an aftertaste of green tea. It goes very well with dark chocolate.

What is ‘Matcha’? 

Read here…

People are baking more during the lockdown

It has been about a month since we went on lockdown in the UK. I live with my partner in London. We have our daily routines, our own workspaces in our flat, and our kitchen has become the kitchen/gym 😉

I’ve read that people are baking more during the lockdown. I see more cakes and bread on social media, and I’ve noticed that nowadays, baking ingredients are hard to find, at least in London.

Tips to stay well mentally during the lockdown

In order to flow through times of radical lifestyle change and uncertainty, I am doing the following, which is helping me cope with the current situation. I hope my tips help you or inspire you.

Moving well

• Exercise every day at the same time. I like to do live-streaming classes because they force me to respect a schedule and there is interaction with other people. These live-streaming classes are keeping me fit and happy:
  • Hugo Diez FULL BODY WORKOUTS HugoDiez@aol.com (request info) https://www.instagram.com/hugodiez2/ Hugo does a combination of high and low-intensity full-body workouts. His classes and exercises change so they never get boring. His live-streaming classes are fun, tough and with people from all over the world.
  • James Rafael YOGA AND MEDITATION  Online classes https://www.instagram.com/jamesyoga/ I love James’ energy and good mood. His 2-hour Super Sunday live-streaming classes (Qigong, Yoga and Meditation) are amazing and he stays online after class to chat or answer any questions, always with a big smile.
  • Cathy Medina ZUMBA Website  https://www.instagram.com/catmedinaa/ Cathy is a from Latin America and based in Miami. She has the right moves, great music and the energy to get the party going. Her live-streaming Zumba classes are a great workout and leave me full of endorphins. I haven’t done Strong by Zumba yet, but it’s on my bucket list.

Eating well

• Healthy food made from scratch; I batch cook to have the fridge full of healthy, ready-made things to create a quick lunch. For dinner, I like to take more time and cook a fresh meal over a drink and good conversation – this gives my partner and me something to look forward to during the day. Follow my Facebook Page and my Instagram account if you are looking for food and recipe inspiration 🙂 or subscribe to my blog and/or newsletter to receive recipes and travel tips by email as soon as they are published.

Staying well

• Read novels. I believe that reading has many benefits; from improving your grammar and vocabulary to developing your creativity and imagination. Imagining the characters and places described by the author is a great exercise. Literature takes my mind to other places and times. Some authors I’ve been reading to keep me entertained are:
  • Escapist reading: Sophie Kinsella and Sophia Money-Coutts
  • Latin American novels with strong women as main characters and good historical insights: Isabel Allende

• For my own mental health, I read the news only once a day.

Hosting well

• I stay in touch with friends and family via Zoom, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Facebook, Instagram, email, etc. It’s interesting to hear how other people in different countries have different social distancing rules and how they cope with the situation according to culture, personality, age and personal situation.

Thinking well

• I love to attend webinars. There are webinars about all kinds of topics. I learn from them and they give me food for thought.

• And of course, there is TV, Netflix, etc. for entertainment.

Sleeping well

• Since life has slowed down, I am sleeping an extra hour, daily, on average. This is something that I hadn’t been able to achieve in years 🙂 I feel more rested physically and mentally.

About this recipe for Dark Chocolate and Matcha Creme Cake

With more time in my hands, I find myself experimenting more often with food and creating new recipes.

Easter weekend for us in the UK was the first long weekend since Christmas. The weather was warm and sunny and most importantly, it was my partner’s birthday. We decided to spend the whole long weekend grilling in the sunshine, on our terrace, and celebrating his birthday.

For the birthday cake, I mixed two sweet recipes that I had already. A Peruvian dark chocolate sponge cake; the same one that I use as a base for my Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake, and the matcha whipped cream that I use for the Matcha Mille Crepe Cake. The outcome was nice to look at and delicious. Since this cake is not extremely sweet, we both ate the whole cake during the long weekend, without too much guilt 😉

Recipe

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Dark Chocolate Sponge Cake

Use a 30 cm diameter round mould

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup of cow milk

1 ½ tablespoon of white vinegar

2 cups of brown sugar

2 ¼ cups flour, I used wholewheat

¾ tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

¾ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup + 1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil. I used Natural Grapeseed oil

¾ tablespoon vanilla essence

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 C or 350 F degrees.
2. Grease a round mould of 30 cm diameter and cover the bottom with baking paper.
3. Sift the flour 3 to 4 times. This will add air to the mix and will result in a lighter sponge cake.
4. Pour the white vinegar and milk into a bowl, gently stir and let sit.
5. Sift the other dry ingredients (brown sugar, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda and salt) into the bowl with the sifted flour and mix well.
6. Add the vegetable oil to the sifted dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula until it becomes a uniform batter.
7. Then, add the milk with vinegar (buttermilk) and mix.
8. Add the eggs, one by one and mix.
9. Finally, add the vanilla extract and mix well.
10. Pour the mixture in the round cake mould and place it in the middle of the preheated oven at 180 C degrees or 350 F degrees.
11. Bake for 45 minutes. Start checking after 30 minutes.
12. Let cool in the mould for 10 minutes.
13. Carefully unmould and put on a rack to cool down.

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Matcha Cream

Ingredients:

1-litre cold whipping cream (I use non-lactose cream to make it easy to digest for lactose-intolerant people like me)

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar

6 tablespoons matcha powder

Instructions:

1. Whisk cold whipping cream, sugar and matcha powder until the mixture is thick and stiff.

TIPS:

• If you whisk the cream by hand, make sure the cream is cold so it mounts faster.
• If you have a food processor or any small appliance to make whipped cream use it. It saves time and effort. I used the whipping blade of my food processor and made the cream with perfect consistency in a few minutes.

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Directions to assemble the cake:

Making this recipe was a test for patience on my end. Once I had the sponge cake, I was eager to make the matcha cream and assemble the cake. However, it is VERY important to let the sponge cake cool down until cold, otherwise, the cream will get soft and will affect the decoration process.

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1. I recommend to make the sponge cake, let it cool at room temperature and when cold, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. 
2. Make the matcha cream when the sponge cake is COLD.
3. Carefully, cut the cake in three equal layers.
4. Use the top layer which tends to have a dome, as the bottom layer. If necessary, cut the dome to make it as flat as possible. Cover it evenly with a thick layer of cold matcha cream. Use an angled spatula to even out the cream.
5. Place the second sponge cake layer on top of the matcha cream and repeat the process with the matcha cream.
6. Place the third and last layer of sponge cake on top and cover the sides and the top with matcha cream.
7. Depending on your style or the kind of presentation you are aiming for, use an angled spatula or a piping bag. The decoration is up to you. I went for a semi-naked cake with a rustic coverage.
8. Sift matcha powder on top of the cake for added flavour, texture and colour.

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Tasting tip:

• Keep the cake in the fridge, covered.
• Before slicing it and serving it, leave it at room temperature for ten minutes. The texture and flavour of the matcha cream and the sponge cake will be optimal.

Enjoy!

How are you coping with the lockdown? Share your thoughts, ideas and experience in the comment section!

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