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Mini matcha cake with coconut glaze.

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Cake recipe adapted from Isa Chandra’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, available here on her blog. As usual, it is egg-less and perfect for two (or one). My favorite part is the glaze, which soaks into the cake (especially through the leveled layers) and turns this into a tres-leches-like confection.

Ingredients

Scale
  • for the cake:
  • 2 tbsp plus 2 tsp yogurt
  • 3 tbsp soy, almond, or rice milk
  • 1 tbsp plus 2 tsp canola oil
  • a few drops vanilla extract
  • a few drops almond extract
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • pinch (1/16 tsp) baking soda
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1 1/4 tsp matcha tea powder (divided into 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, and 1/2 tsp)
  • for the glaze:
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp coconut milk
  • 1/8 tsp almond extract
  • for the topping:
  • sliced or slivered almonds (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three porcelain ramekins with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, and oil until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and 1/4 tsp of the matcha powder. ( Note: To omit the ombre effect, simply add all the matcha powder here into the dry ingredients, mix together the dry and wet ingredients, and divide the batter evenly between the three ramekins, skipping this next step.)
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until incorporated. Pour about a third of the batter into one ramekin (it should be about halfway-filled if you’re using 4-ounce ramekins). Add 1/2 tsp more of the powder to the remaining batter and mix gently again. To avoid over-mixing, I used a spatula to fold the powder in. It takes a little longer, but it’s gentler on the batter. When incorporated, pour another third into the second ramekin. Finally, add the remainder of the matcha powder, fold it gently in again, and fill the final ramekin.
  4. Bake at 350 for about 20-22 minutes, or until domes have set and bounce back when touched, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  5. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze. Whisk together the coconut milk and powdered sugar until smooth, then add the extract and mix again. If the glaze is too thick to pour, add more coconut milk a teaspoon at a time. If too thin, add powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the glaze reaches the consistency that you want.
  6. When the cakes are fully cool, level the tops (you may want to leave the top layer intact) and stack, drizzling glaze between each layer and on top. Top with a few almond slices, if desired.

Notes

Because this is ombre, it requires a bit of finesse in eyeballing how much batter to add to each of your three ramekins. If you’re not sure how much to pour initially, I would recommend being more generous with your first and second layers, since you can always add some of that batter back to the mix for the darkest layer, but not vice versa. The ombre effect also requires a gentle touch to ensure that each addition of matcha powder and subsequent mixing doesn’t lead to a very dense third layer. To avoid overmixing, I folded the matcha in (here’s a great little video on folding technique by Emma at Poires au Chocolat!) and the cake came out just fine.

Find it online: https://tworedbowls.com/2014/04/07/mini-matcha-cake-coconut-glaze/