Matcha Vertical Roll Cake with Black Sesame Whipped Cream

I first saw a vertical cake on Pinterest a while ago and pinned it. By the way, are you in love with Pinterest? I totally am! It’s inspirational, versatile, informative, well organized and beautiful! When I need an idea, my first source is Pinterest, a really gorgeous website to infinitely scroll through.

One thing about making a vertical cake is to bake the right type of cake that does not break when you roll it. Therefore a sponge cake or a chiffon cake is the best because a regular butter cake might break easily when rolling. The cake flour in a sponge cake helps make the cake more tender. Beating the egg yolks and whites separately also produces an elastic cake that allows it to be rolled without cracking. And it’s important to roll it in a clean towel immediately after it’s done baking.

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You could go ahead to fill and roll the sponge, and turn it into a Swiss roll, which I’ve done before with green tea flavour. And it was divine! But then I remembered the pin on my Pinterest board and thought, “Let’s fancy it up a little!” So I decided to roll the cake vertically into a big circle, and frost it with black sesame whipped cream. Oh if you haven’t heard, matcha and black sesame are such good friends. I learned it last time when I made a matcha black sesame cheesecake. Yet I promise it will taste as good with matcha whipped cream or even plain whipped cream. Seriously!

One more thing, it was a little surprising that the cake still tasted great after two days covered in the fridge. So I would say if you find cake decorating intimidating, you might want to try making this cake. Because technically what you have to do is to roll and frost the cake. No decorating. And it’s pretty safe to make it in advance. So you bring the cake over to your friends, they might not pay attention to it until they cut into it. Da Da! What a beautiful surprise inside!

Ingredients (one 7-inch cake):
Matcha Sponge Cake
3/4 cup cake flour
2 tablespoons matcha powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Black Sesame Whipped Cream
2 cups whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon black sesame powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 x 17 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Sift flour, matcha powder and baking powder.
Use an electric hand mixer to beat egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until colour is lightened. Add the remaining sugar and continue beating until the mixture becomes thick and pale.
Add milk and beat to combine.
Fold in flour mixture until combine.
Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites until incorporated into the green tea batter. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no whites remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the batter evenly. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until springy to touch.
When the pan is cool to handle (but the cake is still warm), invert the cake on a clean dish towel on your working surface. Remove the top parchment paper carefully. Then roll the cake while it’s still warm, starting from the shorter edge. Let it cool (wrapped) completely.
To prepare the whipped cream, beat the cream until soft peaks form, then add the powdered sugar and black sesame powder. Continue beating until firm peaks form.
When the cake is completely cool, unroll the cake, and cut it vertically into 3 stripes, each about 3 inches wide. (Step-by-step pictures above)
Spread whipped cream on top of each stripe.
Re-roll the cake starting with the first stripe until the end of it. Continue rolling by place the cake roll on top of the edge of another stripe. Repeat with the last stripe.
Place the whole cake on a serving plate. Frost it generously with the remaining whipped cream.
Chill until ready to serve.

12 comments

  1. I made this yesterday for a supper club with friends and it was a huge hit! My only issue was the batter was really thick so had a hard time spreading it out in the pan. Is that supposed to happen??

    1. Hi Irene, I am glad that you cake was a hit! My batter was not really thick, but definitely not loose/liquidy.

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