Ever since I started baking home-made cakes for friends' birthday, matching the right cake with the right person is getting more challenging these days as I have started to running out of ideas. For my friend Eliz's birthday last month, we decided to throw her a surprise party with a Japanese sashimi theme. Going along that theme, I wanted to bake a Japanese flavor cake with Japanese ingredients. And usually the first cake came to mind is my favorite matcha red bean mousse cake! In the past years, I made this cake so many times that I kind of bored myself from making. So this time I wanted to make something new. I surfed the web a bit and found this VERY Japanese cake - Matcha Black Sesame Mousse Cake combining 2 of my favorite flavors together. I knew right away this is the cake I wanted to bake and perfect.
This cake reminds me of my trips to Japan and my love for Japanese pastries. I can't wait to share!
Black sesame cake
Ingredients
• 1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
• 2 table spoons back sesame paste
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup, plus 2 tablespoons canned unsweetened coconut milk
Procedures
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350F.
2. Grease one 8-inch round cake pan, line bottom with parchment paper, duct cake pan with flour, and tap out excess.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
4. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until they are fragrant, about two minutes. Grind (or pound) the toasted black sesame seeds in a spice grinder until they are the texture of damp sand. Combine grounded sesame seeds, sesame paste, eggs and vanilla in a 1 cup measuring cup, stir to combine, set aside.
5. In a bowl of standing mixture (or use a hand-mixer), beat butter and sugar on medium-low speed until sugar is moistened, about 30 sec. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, add sesame mixture (from step 4) in two additions, beat until combined.
6. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with coconut milk (in 2 additions), beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Remove bowl from mixture, stir batter by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure there are no streak of flour left on the bottom of the bowl. Pour batter and spread evenly in the prepared cake pan.
7. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes. Cool cake and slice cake horizontally in half into 2 even layers.
Matcha Mousse
Ingredients
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup (2 oz) granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup coconut milk, plus 2 tablespoon
• 2 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon matcha powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ cup (14 oz) heavy cream, divided
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
Procedures
1. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt until smooth and fully combined, set aside.
2. Combine 2 tablespoons coconut milk and water in a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over top and let bloom for 5 minutes, then steam it over boiling water (about 2 minutes). Combine water with matcha powder in a separate small bowl, stir to combine, set aside.
3. Add ½ cup of coconut milk and ¾ cup heavy cream to a medium saucepan and bring to simmer. Remove from heat, in a steady stream, pour into yolk mixture; whisk constantly to prevent curdling. Pour mixture back into saucepan, and cook over medium heat until mixture has thicken and coasts the back of a spoon, stirring constantly.
4. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved. Stir in matcha mixture and vanilla until incorporated. Pour matcha cream through fine-mesh strainer into nonreactive bowl. Cover surface directly with plastic wrap and let cool (refrigerate if making ahead).
5. With a hand-mixture, whish remaining 1 cup heavy cream and superfine sugar to soft peak. Gently fold whipped cream into matcha cream until incorporated with no white streaks.
White sesame mousse
Ingredients
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup (2oz) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons sesame paste or tahini (I used tahini)
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¾ cup whole milk (I used 2% milk)
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ (14 oz) heavy cream, divided
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
Procedures
1. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, sesame paste (or tahini) and salt until smooth and fully combined.
2. Combine 2 tablespoons coconut milk and water in a small bowl, sprinkle with gelatin over top and let bloom for 5 minutes, then steam it over boiling water (about 2 minutes).
3. Add ¾ cup of milk and ¾ heavy cream to a medium saucepan and bring to simmer. Remove from heat, in a steady stream, pour into egg yolk mixture in step 2; whisk constantly to prevent curdling. Pour mixture back into a saucepan, and cook over medium heat until mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly.
4. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved. Stir in vanilla until incorporated. Pour sesame cream through fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Cover surface directly with plastic wrap and let cool (refrigerate if making ahead).
5. With a hand-mixture, whish remaining 1 cup heavy cream and superfine sugar to soft peak. Gently fold whipped cream into matcha cream until incorporated with no white streaks.
Assembly
This cake has 4 layers and should be assembled in the following order:
Bottom layer – Black sesame cake
2nd layer – matcha mousse
3rd layer – black sesame cake
4th layer – white sesame mousse
Top – garnish with matcha powder (~2 tablespoons)
Procedures:
1. Using the 9 inch pan, place one black sesame cake layer on the bottom-center, spread matcha mousse evenly on top and side of cake layer. Smooth top with small spatula, cove and refrigerate for 30 min.
2. Remove cake from fridge, center remaining cake layer on top of firm matcha mousse and spread sesame mousse evenly on top and side of cake. Smooth top and refrigerate for 30 min.
3. Remove cake from fridge, decorate cake with matcha powder, black sesame seed (optional) as desired.
