Matcha Ice-Cream Cake with Dan Heng & March 7th Marshmallow Toppers

 My elder kid wanted matcha ice-cream cake for his birthday and requested for Honkai Star Rail theme with Dan Heng and March 7th as the characters of choice. It's a challenge because anime type characters have tonnes of details and I have not made ice-cream cakes before and wondered if photography would be a challenge in tropical Singapore. 

Fortunately, I managed to pull it off with this delicious number!

I used my default basic marshmallow recipe and shared the ingredient list along with the piping video in this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1UItrxSC4x/?igsh=bHpndWh3ODZsdGg5

Here's a photo of all four of the marshmallows I piped. It took me many hours to complete this due to the sheer number of details! I made duplicates in case of accidental uglification or butter fingers.

Here are the completed marshmallows!

As it's my first attempt at ice-cream cakes, I needed a reference and found one I really liked. Although I used my own matcha honey chiffon sponge recipe which is really moist and soft, I followed the matcha ice-cream recipe and loved it! It is no-churn, creamy and not icy rock hard when frozen but doesn't melt into a puddle that quickly (so I had time to take photos and videos). Do choose ceremonial grade matcha powder for the best taste. I only had culinary grade on hand so it still tastes good but it would have been even better with a higher grade tea powder. I added vanilla bean paste to the whipped cream and used a combination of non-dairy and dairy whipping cream due to Singapore's perennially hot weather.

I used this blog post as my reference with some tweaks.

Matcha honey chiffon sponge
Egg yolk batter

3 egg yolks
40g oil
6g (1 tbs) matcha powder
34g warm water
10g honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g cake flour
pinch of salt

Meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
45g caster sugar

Steps:

1. Line 10 x 12" tray with Teflon sheet or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 170C.

2. Egg yolk batter. Dissolve matcha powder, salt and honey in warm water. Add vanilla. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks until thick. Add oil and whisk smooth. Add matcha mix and whisk until combined. Gradually sift in flour and whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

3. Meringue. In s clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peaks form, adding in sugar once egg whites are foamy.

4. Fold meringue into yolk batter in 3 additions. Pour into prepared tray. Bake for 15 min or until done.

5. Immediately flip onto fresh sheet of parchment. Cool completely. Cut circles out with the cake rings you are using for assembling the cake(s). I used 8cm and 10cm diameter cake rings.

Matcha ice-cream 
2 egg yolks
20g caster sugar
1/16 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
50g white chocolate
120g whipping cream (I used 40g Whip topping and 80g heavy cream)
6g (1 tbs) matcha powder
2 tbs warm water

Steps:
1. Whisk matcha powder in warm water. Set aside.

2. Melt white chocolate and keep warm. Set aside.

3. Whip whipping cream to soft peaks.

4. Set a saucepan with 1" water to simmer. In a heatproof mixing bowl, whisk together sugar and xanthan gum (if using). Add egg yolks and whisk together. Continue whisking over the saucepan until sugar is completely dissolved. The bottom of bowl should not touch the water. Temperature of egg yolks reached about 60C for me.

5. Add matcha paste and melted chocolate. Whisk until combined.

6. Gradually add mixture to whipped cream and fold gently after each addition. 

7. Transfer into piping bag and pipe onto sponge when ready to assemble.

Vanilla bean whipped cream
45g heavy cream*
40g whip topping*
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

* Use whipping cream of choice. Do not overwhip if using only dairy cream and add sugar according to taste.

Steps:

1. Begin whipping only when matcha ice-cream layer is frozen. Put all ingredients in a bowl and whip till firm peaks (not too stiff, peak with a curl).

2. Transfer into piping bag when ready to assemble.

Assembly

1. Line cake rings with acetate sheet cut to the height of cake that you want. Place the cake rings on lined tray.

2. Place a layer of sponge in the ring.

3. Pipe matcha ice-cream until the top of the ice-cream layer is about 2cm from the top rim of the acetate sheet.

4. Place another layer of sponge on top and gently press it in. Freeze for 1h.

5. Prepare vanilla whipped cream and pipe on top of the sponge. Slightly over-fill such that cream is a little higher than the rim.

6. Level the whipped cream with a spatula. Freeze for at least 1h or overnight before unmolding.

7. After unmolding, sift a little matcha powder and add matcha white chocolate decorations if you wish.

Here's the reel for making and assembling the ice-cream cake:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1apDvcSE48/?igsh=cTNqcWd5aDFkN2Zp

with lots of love,

Phay Shing