This Flourless Matcha Cake with no added sugar is rich, smooth, and super easy to make! Only 5 ingredients are needed - vegetable oil, white chocolate, matcha green tea, eggs, and milk! It is good for those who don't like desserts that are too sweet, or those who are seeking a healthier option. With increasing focus on health, this will certainly be well received at parties as there's no additional sugar incorporated this recipe (as the sweetness comes from the white chocolate). 

I am happy to work with founder of JapaneseGreenTeaIn, Kei Nishida-san, who has generously sponsored the matcha powder for this recipe. All their tea comes directly from Arahataen Green Tea Farms and undergoes stringent quality controls.

In addition, their teas contain better flavor because of the Deep Steaming Technology used. Baking with their premium Japanese matcha, I can testify that the taste does come out stronger than others you purchase from the baking store/supermarket in Singapore. You don't need to use as much matcha for the flavour to come out in the desserts 👍🏻

FLOURLESS MATCHA CAKE RECIPE 
(NO ADDED SUGAR)
by Sumopocky

Equipment
7 inch silicon donut cake mould

Ingredients
160ml of Vegetable oil
400g of White Chocolate
20g of Matcha Powder
6 Eggs

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F).
2. In a heat-proof bowl, melt the white chocolate in the vegetable oil over a water bath. Stir till smooth.
3. Add the matcha powder, and mix well.
4. Add the eggs gradually, stirring well between each addition.
5. Stir in the milk.
6. Pour the mixture into the silicon mould and transfer to a baking tray. Pour water in the baking tray to create a water bath. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. The cake will still be slightly wobbly when you remove it from the oven. When it's cooled to room temperature, wrap the cake in the mould with cling wrap, and leave it in the freezer overnight.
8.  Gently remove the cake from the silicon mould, and dust with matcha powder. I decorated the cake with some Sakura macarons, but it is totally optional if you choose to leave it out ☺️ Cut the cake with a sharp, warm knife. Enjoy!

 

This Black Sesame Matcha cake is inspired by the flavours of Japan. 3 layers of Black Sesame sponge filled with rich Matcha cream. I went for the "naked cake" decoration style, as the contrast of black sponge against the green matcha filling is beautiful. Then, I decorated it to look like Totoro using the cake trimmings, no fondant needed! 😄

I was pleasantly surprised with how moist the cake turned out. Was afraid the sesame paste would affect the texture, but I'm glad it didn't! For those who prefer matcha buttercream instead of matcha cream, you can refer to my matcha swiss meringue buttercream recipe here.

BLACK SESAME MATCHA CAKE RECIPE
by Sumopocky

Equipment
3 x 7 inch cake pans
Electric mixer

Ingredients
[For Black Sesame Sponge Cake]
8 Egg yolks
60g of Caster sugar
100ml of Soy Milk
4 tbsp of Vegetable Oil
30g of Honey
55g of Black Sesame Paste
160g of Cake flour
8 Egg whites
80g of Caster sugar

[For Matcha Cream] or Matcha Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe
230ml of Heavy cream/Whipping cream
2 tbsp of Matcha Powder (adjust according to your preference)

2 Chocolate Chips for Totoro's eyes

Directions
[For Black Sesame Sponge Cake]

While there are many characters in this series, a customer specifically requested for 3 of them: Shirokuma, Penguin and Ebifurai no Shippo. In the recipe and video tutorial below, you will see how to make Ebifurai no Shippo macarons!

Who is Ebifurai no Shippo?

This character is actually the tail of a fried tempura shrimp! He is the tiny left over portion that often goes uneaten, because it's too hard to eat. Aww... such a cute character. How do the Japanese come up with such adorableness?

SUMIKKO GURASHI MACARON TUTORIAL
(EBIFURAI NO SHIPPO)
by Sumopocky

Yield
Approximately 10 macarons

Ingredients
[For Macaron Shells]
Meringue: 35g of Egg whites + 45g of Castor sugar
40g of Almond flour
40g of Powdered/icing sugar
Food colouring: Black, Red, Yellow

[For Filling]
Click here to fill with your desired flavour!

Directions
[For Macaron Shells]
1. Make the meringue. In a bowl, beat the egg whites on low speed using an electric mixer until it is white and frothy (approximately 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar 1/4 at a time. When the first addition of sugar has completely dissolved (approximately 1 minute later), increase the mixer speed to medium and add until all the sugar has been incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. [Basic Macaron Tutorial Video]
2. Sift the almond flour and icing sugar to the meringue.
3. Begin macaronage. Using a spatula, start the macaronage process by folding and lightly scraping the top of the batter. Add yellow food colouring, and continue to macaronage until you get a molten-like mixture and drips down like a ribbon when lifted. Before transferring the yellow batter to a piping bag to a round tip (approx 5mm diameter), scoop some portions out for drawing the details, as shown in the table below.

Colour of Batter	Portion	Piping Tip
Red Black Yellow	2 tbsp 1 tbsp 2 tbsp	Small Small Small

4. Pipe out batter onto parchment paper. Please refer to video above for demonstration.
5. Let the shells dry in a non humid place or in an air conditioned room. You should be able to touch it gently with the tip of your finger without it sticking.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C (302°F) for approximately 15 minutes.
7. Let shells cool before piping with filling. Enjoy!

"BAKE’s freshly baked cheese tarts have their origins in Kinotoya, a long-established Western confectionery store in Sapporo, Hokkaido. We pour our heart and soul into creating delectable cheese tarts. We have created a style where our customers can enjoy freshly baked cheese tarts at their freshest right until the last order—each and every day, without ever selling out."

Thanks to the lovely Meg from Dreamersloft, I am now able to bake a cheese tart that tastes similar to the ones from BAKE #NoMoreQueueing. (Thank you Meg!) I modified the recipe slightly, using my own tart crust recipe, and also substituted the mascarpone cheese with other kinds of cheese (as they were not available in my nearest grocery store).


Feeling greedier and more adventurous than normal, I toyed with the idea of baking a GIANT CHEESE TART... and I did it. If you're wondering if there's a different in taste between the my mini cheese tart and giant cheese tart, there isn't.
In fact, BAKE created mini cheese tarts opposed to a large one because they discovered that their tarts taste the best when eaten warm. Thus, for one to enjoy a tart on the spot, they created a single portion serving.

Either way, their cheese tart is truly unique. While I cannot create the exact same thing, this is the closest I can get... and that's enough goodness to be thankful about.

HOKKAIDO BAKE CHEESE TART RECIPE

Yield:
1 x 5.5" Tart and 6 Mini tarts
or 2 x 5.5" Tart

Ingredients
[For Tart Crust]
Click here for recipe

[For Cheese Custard]
Adapted from Dreamersloft's original recipe
Directions
[For Tart Crust]

Apart from the most commonly recognised large grey Totoro, I've also made the medium and small totoro. If you're not too familiar about the differences between Totoros, here's the breakdown:

Big Totoro 
Big Totoro is thought to be King of the Forest. He often sleeps, and is the main Totoro, also being the logo for Studio Ghibli.

Medium Totoro 
Medium Totoro is featured much less. He is small and coloured a mixture of blue and grey with a white belly. Otherwise, he is physically the same as Big Totoro.

Small Totoro 
Small Totoro is the smallest. He is white and his features are a lot simpler, being limited to ears and eyes.

Source

Apparently, My Neighbour Totoro 2 is expected to be released in 2018. Fingers crossed that it's not just a rumour. In the meantime, try satiating your Studio Ghibli cravings with this bombe cheesecake!

TOTORO BOMBE CHEESECAKE 
By Sumopocky

Servings: 6

Equipment:
Silicon dome mat
Baking pan
Cookie cutter (same diameter as your domes)

Ingredients
[For Sponge]
2 Eggs at room temperature
60g of Caster Sugar
60g of Cake Flour
20g of Melted Unsalted Butter

[For Cheesecake]
125g of Cream Cheese, room temperature
100ml of Fresh Heavy Cream, room temperature
100g of Yoghurt
30g of Caster sugar
1/2 tbsp of Lemon juice
5g of Gelatin powder
1 tbsp of Hot water

210g of White chocolate chips
Blue food colouring
Black food colouring

[For Decoration]
50ml of Heavy cream
Black royal icing
Directions
[For Sponge]
1. Over a water bath, beat the egg and sugar in a metal bowl till all sugar has dissolved.
2. Remove from the water bath and beat the batter on high speed with an high speed with an electric mixer until white and fluffy. Then on low speed, beat for about a minute to set the texture.
3. Sift in flour little by little and gently cut through the mixture with wire whisk until somewhat combined.
4. Add melted butter, and use a spatula to quickly lift up the batter to mix.
5. Line the baking pan with parchment paper and pour the batter in. Drop the pan lightly on the counter to raise the air bubbles out of the batter and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 20-25 minutes. Chill in fridge.

[For Cheesecake]
1. Melt the chocolate in a microwave (20 seconds burst) or over a water bath. Divide into 3 portions, adding black and blue food colouring to 2 batters respectively. You should have white, grey, and light blue chocolate.
2. Pour chocolate into silicon dome moulds, spreading the chocolate out to ensure the entire dome is covered. Put it in the freezer to set for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Leave some chocolate aside.
3. With the remaining chocolate, draw thin triangles on parchment paper. This forms Totoro's ears. You can spread the chocolate with a small spoon, or use a piping bag to pipe ears. Put it in the freezer to set. Do not throw away the leftover chocolate, because you will need this to adhere the ears.
4. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture is white and fluffy.
5. In another bowl, beat heavy cream till soft peaks form. Add to Step 4.
5. Add in the yoghurt, lemon juice, and heavy cream to the mixture.
6. Mix hot water with gelatin. If it doesn't dissolve, heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Pour the gelatin to the cheesecake batter and mix well.
7. Remove the silicon mould from freezer and spoon in cheesecake batter.
8. With a cookie cutter (same diameter as your dome), cut out circles from sponge cake. Place it gently on top of cheesecake.
9. Let it harden in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Once set, carefully remove cheesecakes from mould.
10. Melt the leftover chocolate from Step 3 to use it as "glue" to adhere the ears on the cheesecake. Remove chocolate ears from freezer, gently peel from parchment paper and stick on domes.

[For Decoration]

ALPACA JAPANESE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE 
Recipe by Sumopocky

9 inch cake pan

Ingredients
[For Sponge Cake]
9 Eggs
360g of Caster sugar
27ml of Condensed milk
315g of Cake flour
90ml of Unsalted Butter (melted)
90ml of Milk

[For Cake Syrup]
150ml of Hot Water
120g of Sugar

[For Cream]
680ml of Heavy cream
4 tbsp of Caster sugar
1.5 tsp of Vanilla essence

Red food colouring
Black food colouring

400g of Strawberries
1.5 cup of Mini marshmallows

Directions
[For Sponge Cake]
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Then, in a metal/heatable bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and condensed milk over a pot of simmering water until the sugar has completed dissolved.
2. Remove the bowl from heat and use an electric mixer. Beat till the mixture becomes whitish and foamy.
3. Sieve in the cake flour and fold in with a spatula.
4. Pour in the melted butter and milk, and fold till combined.
5. Line the baking pan with parchment paper and pour in batter. Drop the cake pan to remove air bubbles.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for around 40 - 45 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if it's done (it should come out clean after piercing the cake). Once baked, remove from oven and tap against the table a few times to prevent shrinking. Let it cool before frosting.
[For Syrup]
1. Mix the sugar in hot water until everything has dissolved. Set aside for use later.

[For Cream]

Dipping ebi prawn macaron in chocolate syrup

Hope you enjoyed this post and have fun baking your own sushi macarons! You can also bake other kinds of sushi macarons like tuna, unagi, and ebiko. These will be great for a "sushi" buffet party table too, and you can order them from sumopockymail@gmail.com. 

#FeastsOnSushi

#NeverSickofJapaneseFood

#Omnomnom

SUSHI MACARONS
by Sumopocky

Yield: ~18 macarons, 6 per sushi type

Ingredients
[For Basic Macaron Shells] 
Meringue: 70g of Egg whites + 90g of Castor sugar
80g of Almond flour
80g of Powdered/icing sugar
Black food colouring
Yellow food colouring
Red food colouring

[For Cream Cheese Filling] 
80g of Cream Cheese
2 tbsp of Caster Sugar
60ml of Heavy Cream

Directions
[For Basic Macaron Shells] 
1. Make the meringue. In a bowl, beat the egg whites on low speed using an electric mixer until it is white and frothy (approximately 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar 1/4 at a time. When the first addition of sugar has completely dissolved (approximately 1 minute later), increase the mixer speed to medium and add until all the sugar has been incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
2. Sift the almond flour and icing sugar to the meringue.
3. Begin macaronage. Using a spatula, start the macaronage process by folding and lightly scraping the top of the batter. Continue until the wet and dry ingredients just start to combine.
4. Scoop out 2 tablespoon of batter and add black food colouring. Mix well and transfer the black batter to a piping bag with a small tip.
5. Split the remaining batter as stated below, and continue the macaronage process. To each batter, macaronage until you get a molten-like mixture and drips down like a ribbon when lifted.
6. Pipe out batter onto baking trays lined with parchment paper. Please refer to video above for demonstration.
7. Let the shells dry in a non-humid place. You should be able to touch it gently with the tip of your finger without it sticking.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 150°C for approximately 10 - 13 minutes.
9. Let shells cool before filling. 

[For Cream Cheese Filling] 

This Pokeball Chiffon Cake fits nicely in the palm of your hand, like an actual Pokeball! Made from classic chiffon cake batter and baked in dome-shaped moulds to achieve the roundness. When baked, chiffon cakes are easy to handle for decoration.

These Pokeballs will be great for a Pokemon themed party too. I baked some pokemon macarons to accompany them. The recipe for the macarons will be up soon!



The most important thing about this recipe is the dome-shaped baking mould. I purchased mine from Qoo10 at a pretty affordable price. This mould is a good investment as it is also useful for making mini dome cakes or chocolate dome balls.

Pokemon trainers, do try this recipe out! 

POKEBALL CHIFFON CAKE
by Sumopocky

Equipment:
Dome-shaped baking mould
Baking sheet
Electric mixer

Yield:
4 Pokeballs

Ingredients
3 Egg Whites
32g of Caster sugar

3 Egg Yolks
32g of Caster sugar
1g of Salt
22ml of Vegetable Oil
33ml of Warm water (~ 40C)

54g of Cake flour
1g of Baking powder

Red food colouring
Black food colouring

Directions
1. Prepare meringue. Beat the egg whites and caster sugar on an electric mixer till stiff peaks form.
2. Beat egg yolks, caster sugar, and salt in a separate bowl over a water bath. Beat till the egg yolks lighten in colour and looks creamy.
3. Whisk in 1/3 of meringue to the egg yolk batter.
4. Sift in cake flour and baking powder.
5. Pour in vegetable oil and warm water to the batter.
6. Split the batter and remaining meringue into 3 portions:
2/5 for white batter, 2/5 for red batter, and 1/5 for black batter.
Then, to each bowl, gently fold in the meringue. Add food colouring to achieve red and black batter.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for about 20 minutes.

On another note, my life has reached another cross road, and along with it comes anticipation and anxiety. Decisions are overwhelming, almost like a tide waiting to wash me deep into the ocean. 

At times like these, it's important to reassure myself that it's fine if I make a "bad" decision. Because whenever I think back on all the "wrong life choices" I've made, I realised the good things in my life wouldn't have been possible without them too. 

“For what it’s worth: It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Matcha Berries Naked Cake
7" cake pan

Ingredients
[For Sponge Cake]
5 Eggs
150g of Caster sugar
150g of Cake flour
18g of Matcha (Green tea powder)
50g of Unsalted butter
50g of Fresh milk

[For Matcha Swiss Meringue Buttercream]

Directions
[For Sponge Cake]