'Enchanted Garden' Matcha Azuki Bean Chiffon Sponge & Pudding Cake (with 3D macaron decorations!)

Adventurous me is out to try something new again! And this time it's for my mum's birthday cake. Presenting my first Charlotte cake in Matcha Azuki bean flavour!

Decorated with 3D macaron shells!

I was so thrilled to see the cut cross section of the cake. Yums!

Actually this bake came about because I had some ladyfingers at home and I thought better use it and not waste it. I made this sponge and pudding cake Charlotte cake style for a change. As usual, the cake was light, tasty and not too sweet. Even hubby who doesn't normally eat cake gave a thumbs up. I made this flavour of cake before but tweaked the sponge cake recipe. You may have a look at my first attempt here.

Recipe for Matcha chiffon sponge cake
Ingredients (makes one 10x12" and one 7x7"sheet cake):
3 egg yolks
5g caster sugar
42g canola/vegetable oil
6g (1tbs) Matcha powder
34g hot water
10g honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g cake flour
A pinch of salt

4 egg whites
50g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Steps:
1. Line the baking trays with baking sheet. Set oven rack to second lowest position and preheat to 170℃.

2. Dissolve Matcha powder and honey in hot water. Strain mixture through fine sieve to remove large lumps. Set aside to cool.

3. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Add oil and whisk until well combined. Add Matcha mixture and vanilla, and whisk until well combined. Gradually sift in flour and salt. Whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

4. Prepare meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar using an electric mixer until firm peaks form, gradually adding in sugar once the egg whites appear foamy.

5. Quickly but gently fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in three batches. Scoop the batter into the prepared baking trays. Tap the trays on the table to release trapped air bubbles.

6. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Remove from tray immediately and cool with another baking sheet covering the cake.

Freshly baked Matcha chiffon cake

You may bake the cakes in advance and freeze it after wrapping with two layers of cling wrap. If you are assembling straight away, cut the cakes according to the size of your springform pan/ mould for assembly. My springform pan is about 7.5". I cut 6" round cakes as I had to account for the thickness of the ladyfingers. You may omit the ladyfingers if you would like to enjoy the sponge and pudding cake as it is.

Recipe for Matcha Azuki bean pudding
Ingredients:
A)
180g evaporated milk
375g water
3.5 tsp Matcha powder (Use premium type for best taste. Use bakeable type if you want to retain a more vibrant green colour)
40g hot water
2.5 tsp vanilla extract
85g caster sugar (you may add more if you prefer sweeter cake. My family prefers less sweet)
1/8 tsp salt
3 tsp agar powder
150-200g canned Azuki beans (I used less as my mum prefers a less sweet cake)

B)
60g custard powder (do not use the instant types)
350g water

Steps:
1. Combine all ingredients in B) in a jug. Stir until custard powder dissolves. Set aside.

2. Dissolve Matcha powder in hot water to form a paste. Put all ingredients in A) (except Azuki beans) into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring continuously.

3. When the mixture in A) is boiling, stir B) again and slowly pour into A). Continue to stir until mixture boils. Continue to stir while boiling for a couple of minutes more. Sieve the mixture.

Note that a skin will form quickly when the pudding is exposed to air. You may place a piece of cling wrap touching the surface of the pudding if you wish to prevent the skin from forming.

Assembly
Line the base of the springform pan with clingwrap if you wish to transfer the cake to cakeboard in an upright manner. There is no hard and fast rule in assembling the cake. You may start/end with cake or pudding, depending on how you want to display the cake. I will just show the steps for how I did it.

1. Pour a thin layer of pudding such that it covers the base of the springform pan. Place a ring of ladyfingers as shown in the first picture below. Place a layer of chiffon cake on the pudding. Press the cake down firmly to make sure no air bubbles trapped.

2. Pour more pudding to cover the sponge cake. Add some Azuki beans (second picture below).

3. Pour a little pudding to partially cover the beans (third picture).

4. Place a sponge cake over and press down firmly (fourth picture).

5. Repeat for as many layers as you wish. Chill the assembled cake in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.

To transfer the whole assembly to cakeboard, release the catch of the springform pan and carefully remove the ring. Lift the whole cake up with the help of the clingwrap at the base of the cake. Place the cake on the cakeboard. Carefully remove the clingwrap by rolling it under the cake.

Tie the cake with a pretty ribbon and add deco as you wish :)

Assembled cake!

I decided to make some simple 3D macaron deco for the cake. I had the idea of mushroom macarons some time back but never had the chance to try it out. Now I finally can :). You may refer to this post for making 3D hedgehog macarons.

I made some modelling white chocolate for the mushroom stems. The ratio of light corn syrup:white chocolate that I used was 32g:100g. I added a bit of white powder food colouring to lighten up the colour. You may refer to this post on how to prepare the modelling chocolate. I filled the hedgehog with a combination of dark chocolate and whipped Pandan white chocolate ganache.

Modelling white chocolate

Cute mushrooms and hog!

I have to thank hubby for taking quite a few nice pictures of the cake when we were eating it at a restaurant.

Looking cute!

Hedgehog looks like it is peeking over the fence.. :p

Gorgeous cross section!

Another view of a slice of cake

Mmmm!

We really enjoyed the cake. My kids had the macarons of course because mummy can't take too much sugar. As always, there is always room for sponge and pudding cakes after a sumptuous meal because it is light and refreshing :).

With lots of love,
Phay Shing