Matcha & Strawberry Shortcake – Karlin Patisserie

Japanese strawberry shortcake is made of soft fluffy vanilla sponge cake, layered with lightly sweet whipped cream and fresh strawberries. It is a cake so popular in Japan, and it is a must-have-in-the-menu in most, if not all, Japanese patisseries even in Singapore. Strawberry shortcake in your country might look and taste entirely different from the Japanese one. In America or in the UK, shortcakes are crumbly biscuits, nothing close to a cake in both texture and appearance. I bet it is a non-existence in French patisserie. Perhaps this is a Japanese interpretation of the classic Fraisier Cake, I guess.

As a matcha lover, tweaking the recipe and making a matcha green tea version for strawberry shortcake is just a natural move to me. In fact, the vibrant contrasting red and green colour combination renders more festive vibes to this popular Japanese Christmas cake. The recipe here makes a large rectangle cake, measuring about 10-inch by 12-inch in size. We could either serve the entire cake for our celebrations and special gatherings with family and friends, or we could slice it into individual serving portions for a relaxing afternoon tea.

Follow the steps in my YouTube video and let’s BAKE!

Ingredients:

(A) Matcha sheet cake (for one 10-inch X 12-inch sheet)

• Egg yolks 4 no.
• Vegetable oil 20g
• Milk 40g
• Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp
• Cake flour 47g
• Matcha powder 8g
• Egg white 160g (about 4 large eggs)
• Sugar 50g

(B) Cream for filling

• Whipping cream 400g
• Sugar 70g
• Mascarpone cheese 250g
• Strawberries 4 punnets of 250g each

(C) Cream for frosting and piping

• Whipping cream 200g – 300g (or as needed)
• Sugar 20g – 30g (or as needed)

Method:

1. To make the cream filling: Beat whipping cream and sugar for about one minute, so that the consistency is not too watery. Add mascarpone cheese and continue to whip the cream to a very stiff peak. Keep chilled in refrigerator for later use.
2. To make cream for frosting and piping: Beat whipping cream and sugar to medium peak. The consistency is softer than the cream filling, so that it will be easier to spread on top of cake and for piping later on. Keep chilled in refrigerator until needed.
3. To make matcha sheet cakes: Preheat oven at 200 degree Celsius. Prepare two 10-inch X 12-inch sheet cake pans, and line with baking parchment paper. (Note: The recipe above makes one sheet cake only. If your oven allows you to bake two sheet cakes at one go, feel free to double the recipes and then divide cake batter between two pans)
4. In a mixing bowl, mix egg yolks, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla essence together.
5. Sift cake flour and matcha powder together, then add to the egg yolk mixture. Mix until there is no visible dry powder, but do not overmix. Set aside.
6. In another clean grease-free mixing bowl, whip the egg white until frothy. Add 1/3 of the sugar and continue to whip until soft peak forms. Add the remaining sugar in two additions, and whip the meringue to medium stiff peak.
7. Gently fold in 1/3 of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture. Then, fold in the rest of the meringue in two additions.
8. Pour cake batter into a sheet pan prepared earlier. Use a spatula or the straight side of a scrapper to evenly smooth out the batter. Tap sheet pan on countertop once or twice to release large trapped air bubbles.
9. Bake in preheated oven at 200 degree Celsius for about 10 – 12 minutes, until the top of cake is golden brown, dry to touch, and centre of the sheet cake bounces back when gently pressed.
10. Once taken out from oven, immediately remove sheet cake from cake pan and let it cool down completely on a cooling rack. Repeat steps 3 to 10 above to make another sheet of matcha cake.
11. While waiting for sheet cakes to cool down, rinse strawberries and pat dry with kitchen towel. Slice strawberries to about 5mm thick.
12. To assemble: Once sheet cakes have cooled down completely, take one sheet cake and peel baking parchment paper off. Place the brown “burned” side of the cake facing upwards. Use a pairing knife to score just the top of cake, DO NOT score too deep or cut all the way through.
13. Spread an even layer of whipped cream filling (the one with mascarpone cheese). The thickness of this layer is about 5mm. Place slices of strawberries all over the whipped cream layer. Try to place slices of strawberries as close to each other as possible, minimising gaps between slices.
14. Next, spread just enough whipped cream filling on top of strawberries, in order to fill up all the gaps between the strawberries first. Only then, top with more whipped cream filling and spread out the layer evenly to a thickness of about 5mm.
15. Take the second sheet cake, and score just the top of cake as well. Do not peel off the parchment paper for now yet. Place the second sheet cake over the bottom sheet, with the brown “burned” side facing down.
16. Ensure the top and bottom sheets align with each other. Then, gently press down the cake, and now you may now peel off the parchment paper.
17. Cover and let the cake chill for about an hour before frosting and decorating.
18. Take the whipped cream specially prepared for frosting and piping out from refrigerator. Spread a thin even layer of whipped cream on top.
19. Using a serrated knife, trim a tiny bit away all four sides of the cake. Clean the knife after each cut.
20. Transfer some whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe shells or rosettes to decorate the cake, and top with more strawberries as desired.
21. Serve chilled. Best consumed within 2 -3 days.