This light and airy strawberry matcha roll cake is an easy but elegant spring treat! Delicate sponge cake is flavored with Japanese green tea powder, then filled with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe:
Doesn’t this beautiful matcha roll cake just scream spring?
- Light and fluffy matcha cake
- Ready in just 30 minutes
- Gorgeous but quick and easy
This matcha swiss roll is divine! Whipped egg whites create a soft and fluffy sponge cake similar to a chiffon cake. It’s rolled up with homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries, then dusted with powdered sugar.
What is matcha?
Matcha is an earthy, grassy, and sweet green tea powder with a vibrant green hue. It’s made from high-quality shade-grown green tea leaves.
You can make a mean latte with it, but don’t stop there! Matcha tastes amazing in smoothies, sponge cake, muffins, and this matcha strawberry cake!
Grades of Matcha:
There are two main grades of matcha on the market.
- Ceremonial grade: made from highest quality green tea, this grade of matcha is used for tea ceremonies. And it has a nice smooth taste to it.
- Culinary grade: This grade of green tea powder isn’t the brightest in color and taste a little on the bitter side.
Besides these grades, you can find something in the mid-range. Not as pricy as ceremonial grade matcha, mid-range everyday matcha powders have pretty decent quality when it comes to taste and color!
I don’t recommend culinary grade matcha for baking, because they produce cakes with a dull color and bitter taste.
Key Ingredient Notes:
This matcha swiss roll requires simple ingredients!
- Matcha powder – Avoid culinary grade matcha powder. You want a good quality matcha powder as it has a delicate, subtly sweet, and earthy taste with a bright green color! Lower-quality matcha powders have a dull, brownish-green hue.
- Cake flour – Skip all-purpose flour this time! Cake flour has a lower protein content, which means less gluten formation, and ultimately, a lighter textured cake!
How to make this recipe:
This matcha swiss roll recipe is a breeze to make!
First, mix the matcha powder with one tablespoon of water to create a smooth paste. This will prevent little lumps of matcha powder in your batter.
To make green tea cake batter:
Separate the egg yolks and the whites. Take your time so you don’t break the yolk. Even a small amount of fat can prevent the egg whites from whipping properly.
- Whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of the sugar until it’s pale yellow and doubled in size. Then mix in the prepared matcha paste.
- Whip the egg whites, gradually adding the remaining sugar, until stiff peaks form. Be sure to add the sugar gradually, one tablespoon at a time. This will prevent it from deflating the egg whites. Stiff peaks will be shiny, smooth, and stand straight up without collapsing. Then fold the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.
- Sift in the cake flour and salt. Sifting the flour aerates it and removes any lumps of flour which makes it easier to incorporate.
- Be gentle when mixing the batter. Use a turning and cutting motion, instead of a whisking motion.
Tip
Whipping egg whites force air into them, creating tiny air bubbles that create a thick, foamy mixture. This lightens the cake without the need for a chemical leavening agent like baking powder.
To bake and shape the roll cake:
- Pour the matcha cake batter into the pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula.
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. This won’t be long at all, since the cake is thin and light – about 8 minutes.
- Lay a clean kitchen towel flat on the counter and dust generously with powdered sugar.
- Carefully invert the cake onto the kitchen towel and peel off the parchment paper. Roll the cake up in the towel and let it cool. This will ensure the cake doesn’t crack later when you fill it with whipped cream.
To make the whipped cream:
- In a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream until frothy.
- Add the sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overwhip it or it will curdle, then turn into butter.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
To assemble the matcha roll cake:
- Once the cake is no longer warm, unroll it and spread half of the whipped cream evenly over top.
- Sprinkle the strawberries on top and cover them with the remaining whipped cream.
- Carefully roll the cake into a log and dust with more powdered sugar. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Tips for Success:
- Use good quality green tea for the best taste and color. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive one, but it should be of good quality.
- Matcha powder is sensitive to heat, light, and air and loses its quality quickly. Once opened, green tea powder is best when used within a couple of months for optimum taste and color.
- Sponge cake doesn’t use a chemical leavening agent. It rises due to all the air in the whipped egg yolks and egg whites. That’s why it’s important to properly whip the egg yolks and egg whites separately.
- Make sure there’s absolutely no trace of oil or egg yolk in the egg whites, or they won’t whip into fluffy white stiff peaks.
- It’s essential to mix the batter gently to keep it airy and fluffy.
- Do not grease the pan! It can prevent the light batter from rising up the sides of the pan if it’s greased and slippery.
Make-Ahead Tips:
- This matcha cake roll is easier to slice and serve after it’s chilled for a few hours! Make it 2-3 hours ahead of when you plan to serve it for best results.
- You can prep the whipped cream up to a day ahead. Store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
- The refrigerator causes cake to dry out faster, so it’s best to enjoy this cake within 2 days of making it.
Storing Tips:
- This green tea roll cake needs to be refrigerated due to the filling. Store in a large airtight container if possible, otherwise wrap in plastic wrap.
- It will keep for 4 days in the refrigerator, but it’s best enjoyed within 2 days!
FAQs:
Japanese roll cake is a type of lightly sweetened sponge cake filled with whipped cream or custard cream, then rolled into a spiral. It is often less sweet than the American version of a swiss roll.
Matcha green tea powder infuses a cake with its earthy, sweet, and slightly bitter flavor. This matcha roll cake isn’t very sweet, which makes it a great dessert for those who appreciate less sweet treats.
If you don’t have cake flour, you can make it yourself! You’ll need to measure 1 cup of all-purpose flour, then remove 2 tablespoons of flour, and replace it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift it and voila!
If you overmix the cake batter, the aerated cake batter will deflate, resulting in a dense and chewy cake. Be sure to fold the batter instead of folding it and stop right when everything is incorporated.
Strawberry Matcha Roll Cake
Ingredients
For cake:
- 6 eggs
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar divided
- 1 tablespoon (5g) matcha powder Note 1
- 1 cup (125g) cake flour Note 2
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar for dusting
For filling:
- ½ cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream chilled
- 2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 7 oz (200g) fresh strawberries hulled and chopped
Instructions
To make the sponge cake:
- Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C). Line baker's half baking sheet (about 16.5 x 11.5 inches) with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix matcha powder with 1 tablespoon hot water until smooth.
- Separate egg yolks and egg whites. (Tip: Make sure there's absolutely no trace of egg yolk in egg whites, or it won't whip into fluffy white stiff peaks.)
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and ¼ cup of sugar until pale and tripled in size, about 2 minutes.
- Mix in the matcha paste.
- In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Add remaining ¼ cup of sugar one tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to medium high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Add half of whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Gently fold the batter with a spatula until almost smooth, and then add the remaining whipped egg whites. Carefully fold the batter until smooth.
- Sift in the cake flour and salt. Gently fold it until the flour is fully incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter evenly and smooth the surface.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, lay a clean kitchen towel on the counter and generously dust with powdered sugar.
- Once the cake is out of oven, immediately invert it on the prepared kitchen towel. Peel off the parchment paper and roll it with the towel and all. (This helps the cake roll without cracking by creating a muscle memory.) Set the rolled cake on a cooling rack and cool completely.
To make whipped cream:
- In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, beat heavy cream on low speed until frothy.
- Add sugar and continue to whip on medium speed until hard peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To assemble the roll cake:
- Once cooled completely, unroll the cake and spread half of the whipped cream over the cake and sprinkle chopped strawberries.
- Then spread the remaining whipped cream over the strawberries and roll the cake into a log.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve! Refrigerate the cake, covered, if not serving right away.
Tips & Notes
– This green tea roll cake needs to be refrigerated due to the filling. Store in a large airtight container if possible, otherwise wrap in plastic wrap.
– It will keep for 4 days in the refrigerator, but it’s best enjoyed within 2 days!
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on May 13, 2015.
Very nice! I scale the recipe down my 1/8 because my Swiss roll pan was smaller than the pan recommended in the recipe, but it worked out just fine. One question though: do you roll the cake up from the long side or the short side? I rolled up from the short side it seemed fine, but I wasn’t sure which was the appropriate way
Perfect recipe. It tasted like something from a Paris Patisserie.
How can I tell if the matcha powder is high quality or not?
Hi, Nina. So, 1st of all, check if the matcha grade. If it’s says culinary grade, it’s not great, even for baking. Choose ceremonial grade matcha. 2. High quality matcha has smooth, earthy yet sweet taste. 3. High quality matcha has bright green color. And finally, it’s best to use freshly opened matcha, as it loses its quality quickly. Hope this helps!
Hi I used 120ml of whipping cream as mentioned but it turned out to be so little I can’t spread the whole cake with it. Did I make a mistake somewhere?
If your baking sheet was the same size as mine (about 16.5 x 11.5 inches), it should have been just enough. And you don’t want too thick layer of whipped cream either.
Made this and it tastes great, but I had trouble with rolling it (it cracked then broke apart) and the filling also tends to smush out. Any tips?
Mine wasn’t the best. Followed everything except for the pan since I used a silicon mat for rolls. The batter was thicker than the usual sponge and chiffon batters I have done in the past. I guess, it still needs the oil and water as in my other recipes. At 10 minutes, it turned out to be a chewy sheet. The Heavy whipped cream I use in France turned out as more liquid than I hoped and i tried to save it by stabilizing with gelatin. Still didn’t work out so I rolled it and placed it in the freezer hoping it can be a frozen cake. I think im having a bad cake day.
Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear about your bad cake day! Don’t we all have one of those days? I know I have! Hope the cake was still enjoyable after freezing. Thanks for trying my recipe and sharing your experience though!
Hi Shinee! Thanks for this delicious recipe 🙏🏻 (thanks the grams equivalent – I am in London). I just made your cake for my son’s birthday and he was so happy, thanks for saving the day! I only swapped the matcha powder for pandan extract…Just one dumb question, when you roll you cake, do you roll it on the smallest side side to be able to roll it more? Thanks!
Hi, Mathilde. Yay, so happy your birthday boy loved it!! Thank you for your feedback! Yes, I roll it from the short end for thicker roll cake.
Just made it today! Great, clear easy to follow instructions. My cake turned out great, a little off colour just because I only had old matcha powder.
Awesome!! So happy you tried and loved this roll cake, Stephanie! And I totally know what you mean about the color with old matcha powder. I’ve been there too!
That looks amaaazing! Is there an alternative to eggs to make the sponge vegan??
Hi, Avgi! Unfortunately I have zero knowledge on vegan baking and can’t offer any advice on substitution.
I’m a little late, but the next time you cook chickpeas, save the extra water. It can be whipped into a meringue.