Matcha Pound Cake

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4.68 from 31 ratings

A yummy pound cake recipe with a matcha swirl.

Prep Time1

Cook Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: matcha pound cake, pound cake recipe

Servings: people

Calories: 339kcal

Author: Becca Du

Equipment

Loaf Pan

Ingredients

14 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
3 eggs room temperature
1 egg yolk room temperature
½ cup sour cream room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp matcha powder
1 tbsp water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
Grease a loaf pan with butter or oil.
Add butter, sugar, salt, and baking powder to a large mixing bowl or to the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream together until light and fluffy. Make sure to scrap down the bowl every once in awhile so everything gets incorporated really well.
Next mix in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time. Make sure to scrape down the sides after you add each egg to ensure it mixes thoroughly.
Mix together your sour cream and vanilla extract in a bowl. Add half the sour cream to the mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Add half the flour. Mix until combined. Repeat this process until you get a soft batter.
Finish mixing the batter with a spatula (about 5-6 more mixes). This helps finish the mixing process and deflates some of the bubbles without overmixing it.
Spoon half the batter into another bowl. Sift matcha powder into 1/2 of the batter. Add the water. Mix until you see a nice uniform green color.
Now it’s time to form your pound cake! Spoon half the vanilla cake batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Leave spaces in between the dollops for the matcha cake batter. Next spoon half the matcha cake batter into the spaces left. Use an offset spatula or knife to swirl the matcha and vanilla cake together. Repeat this process with the other half of both batters.
Once done swirling, tap the loaf pan on a flat surface to get rid of air bubbles and to make sure the batter is evenly distributed throughout the loaf pan.
Lastly, wet your knife and score the batter right down the middle to ensure a nice center crack while the pound cake is baking.
Bake for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. It should be nice golden brown all over.
Let it rest for 10 minutes before removing from the loaf pan.

Notes

Use butter paper to grease your pan - This is a cool tip I picked up from Christina Tosi. There’s always butter left over on the parchment paper used to package butter, so why waste it? Use it to grease your pan.
Why is it important to have room temperature ingredients? - It’s important ingredients are at room temp because all these ingredients don’t want to go together. The best way to get them to mix well or emulsify is to make sure they are all at room temperature.
Why do you scrape so many times? - To make sure all the ingredients mix together thoroughly.
Why do you alternate between your dry and wet ingredients? - Overwhelming the wet ingredients with sour cream will break the emulsion.
Do not over mix the batter - Every time you mix the batter, more gluten forms. Overmixing the batter will produce an excess of gluten and will cause your cake to be tough instead of tender. I play it safe by mixing the flour by hand, so I reduce the likelihood of over mixing.
Why do you score the batter down the middle? - Your pound cake will crack as it bakes and scoring it down the middle ensures it has a nice center crack instead of it cracking in random places.
What if I want to reduce the amount of sugar used? - If you want to reduce the sugar content by 1/4 cup I would recommend using a whole egg instead of just the egg yolk. That way you still get a good balance of wet to dry ingredients.
What if I wanted a straight matcha pound cake instead of just a matcha swirl? - If you just want a straight matcha pound cake, mix the matcha powder with the flour before adding it to the batter.

Nutrition