Joy the Baker

Lemon and Matcha Marble Pound Cake

by 156 Comments

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My friend makes one small mention of Rachel Zoe this morning and here I am, shoulders deep into a Rachel Zoe Project marathon.

Shameless.

I keep telling myself that I’ll just watch one more episode… one more… then I’ll think of something to write on my blog.

Five hours later… here I am, alone in my house, wearing heels and my chunky sweater.  I may or may not have just shopped for a furry vest online… and I’m so invested in Rachel getting pregnant, it’s ridiculous.

I need a Rodg… or a psychiatrist… or a bottle of vodka… or just someone to come turn off this program.  I’m not sure.

 

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Swoon.

In other news… I made this really beautiful cake.

I’m so happy with this little darling.  It’s marbled, green, flavorful and delicate.

Dreamboat situation.

Matcha.

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The lemon portion of this pound cake is pretty simple.  Lemon.  Juice and zest.  We all know what that is.  Bright and delicious.

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What’s Matcha?

Matcha is a finely milled green tea.  When combined with hot water, it creates the most beautifully green, super flavorful, luxurious green tea.  It’s the whole tea leaf, ground super fine so you get all the goodness of green tea in a super powerful way.  Fancy.

Matcha is used as a ceremonial tea so there are often fancy whisks and bowls to accompany the tea.  I forgo those items and manage to make myself a beautiful cup of matcha with just the powder almost every morning.

Besides a nice morning cup of matcha (with milk and honey), the green powder is great in ice creams, custards and cakes.

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Matcha is a really lovely ingredient in baking.  Green secret weapon.

But!  Matcha is a tad bit more expensive than regular old green tea.

I use The Art of Tea Matcha… it’s really lovely.

Splurge a little.  I think you’ll really like it.

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But maybe I’m just saying that because I really want you to make this cake.

I mean really… look how pretty this is!

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The brightness of the lemon.  The earthiness of the green tea.  Eggs, butter and sugar.  This cake is delicate and impressive.  See, I just used food words.

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But be prepared to get stray powder on your shoes and your jeans.  And please pay no mind to the gravy stain I also have on my shoes.

That’s just embarrassing… but seriously, who doesn’t love gravy?

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You get the idea, right?

I’m sorry to leave you like this… it’s just that I have a few more episodes of Zoe to go.

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Lemon and Matcha Marble Pound Cake

makes one 9x5x4-inch pound cake, plus 12 mini muffins  (see… I had a little extra batter and I didn’t want to overflow my baking pan)

Print this Recipe!

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

zest of one lemon and juice of half a lemon

1 Tablespoon matcha powder

1 stick plus 7 Tablespoons (15 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the loaf pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Also butter  a mini muffin pan or line a regular muffin tin with cupcakes papers for the small amount of excess batter.  Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk the eggs into the sugar.  You can use a large bowl with a whisk for this.  You don’t really need a big mixer for this recipe.  Beat until the eggs and sugar are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract, then whisk in the sour cream. Continuing with the whisk, or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions.

Divide the batter in half (just eyeball it) into two separate bowls.  In one bowl add the zest and lemon juice.  In the other bowl, fold in the matcha tea powder.

Pour some of the lemon batter into the pan.  Top it with a portion of the green tea batter.  Add more lemon and top with more green tea batter.  Fill the loaf pan, leaving at least 1-inch of room at the top of the pan for the cake to rise.  Swirl gently and minimally with a butter knife to get a good swirl effect.  With the remaining batter, make mini muffins or cupcakes.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. The mini muffins will take about 15 minutes and the cupcakes will take about 18-20 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, allow the loaf to rest in the pan for 20 minutes before running a knife along the edges of the pan and inverting the cake onto a cooling rack.

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Supriya

    Hi Joy! You are an amazing baker. I love all your recipes and have received a lot of compliments for the same. Thank you so much. I just need a clarification on this recipe. I live in India, where I don’t come across Matcha. Is there any other alternative? Can I use fresh peppermint leaves instead?

    Reply

  2. Juliette

    is it supposed to use cake flour? I used plain flour but it does not result in a soft texture like cakes but more of bread?

    Reply

  4. insomnia_in_the_kitchen

    Thanks for sharing this. I just made it and even with my sloppy measuring skills (I’m a metric kinda girl) it turned out great. Matcha and lemon go together really well and the whole house smells amazing.

    Reply

  9. Mita

    made it and loved it–going to take it for my students tomorrow! Honestly, your blog is so amazing. You inspired me to take prettier pictures for mine :-)

    Reply

  11. crazybakr

    hi joy,

    i finally got around to making this cake today, thanks to a lovely friend of mine who GAVE me a whole container of matcha. god i love her to bits!!

    but seriously now, i have a question: I followed the instructions correctly and set my oven to the correct temp (180 degrees C, which is roughly equal to 350 F) but the centre of my cake refused to cook, and i had to put it back in the oven repeatedly, before i decided to just up the temperature to 200 degrees C, and now the centre is kind of cooked.

    what went wrong???

    Reply

  13. Allison

    You have ruined me, woman.

    You lured me onto a tea site with promises of matcha when you KNOW I can’t control myself around full leaf teas. They have a category called desert tea?! I now have 50 dollars of tea coming to me.

    Thanks a lot (for the recipe I’m so excited to make it! Haha…)

    Reply

  14. Christine

    Very yummy! I purchased some matcha but couldn’t find a fine powder. My green wasn’t nearly as pretty but I’ll make this again and look out for the powder :)

    Reply

  15. alexis

    thank you. thank you. thank you for this incredible recipe. as a tea lover who recently started to explore ways in which to infuse food with tea, I couldn’t have been more thrilled to try this recipe. I loved it, and will definitely baking it during the holidays. It’s so green and festive. The bold matcha is the perfect partner for the bright lemon. Move over fruit cake….a new sweet bite is in town!

    I also shared the recipe at culinary/craft tea class that I recently led, and I’m so happy to lead the guests in the direction of your blog. Thanks for inspiring me!

    Reply

  18. Jenny

    This uses so much butter! Any ideas on how to cut back on it a little? And would Greek yogurt would well for sour cream? I’m not a sour cream fan so yogurt is all I have on hand. If there’s no way to cut back on the butter I’m probably still gonna try and make this. It looks way too good!!

    Reply

    • Genivere

      I often use coconut oil to replace some or all of the butter in recipes. Yes coconut oil has saturated fat but it is has a different composition than animal-based saturated fat :) the medium-chain triglycerides even help your body metabolize fat more efficiently. The oil adds a slight coconut flavor which can be enjoyable. Another thing you can do is replace the butter with earth balance or non-hydrogenated shortening. Or you could probably get away with replacing half the butter with yogurt. Also if you want to cut the animal-based saturated fat you could do half yogurt and half earth balance :)

      Reply

  21. Xara

    Hey Joy! Thanks a lot! I made this and it came out DELICIOUS!

    Cheers from Greece ! I love your blog!
    PS. My name means “joy” in greek :)

    Reply

  22. Tina

    Just made this and I’m eating it right this moment. It’s sweet, tangy, and really yummy! Mine didn’t turn out as green and pretty as yours …I used cheap matcha. Just starting to blog myself…no posts yet, but maybe I’ll post my results there :)

    Reply

  23. PeaSoup

    How have I never heard of this stuff – I’m crazy about all things green tea! Just about to buy a load from ebay – thankyou for bringing matcha into my life:)

    Reply

  24. Christina

    Hi Joy, do you think this would keep for a couple of days? I’ve got a work party on Monday afternoon, but no time to bake on Sunday. If I made this Saturday night do you think it would still be yummy and OK to serve on Monday? The recipe looks STUNNING and I would love to make it!

    Reply

  27. Betsy Barron

    Step away from the Rachel.. before she kills anymore of your brain cells!! I am guilty as well, that show is like a train wreck.. you cannot look away!
    Lovely cake, even lovelier photograph of said cake! Love ya PW!

    Reply

  28. Chris

    I made this yesterday, it came out perfect, I used a bundt pan, drizzled with a lemon glaze and topped with crushed pistachios to play up the colors of the cake, it looked great, tasted even better! Thanks Joy, I was never a baker before (the extent of my baking was pillsbury chocolate chip cookies in the package that you cut up and bake, LOL!), but your recipes are simply yet delicious, and your sense of humor, LOVE IT!

    Reply

  30. Max

    Oh Girl!!! Those colours! Those pics!! and that combination!!… If I knew where to get the matcha powder, here in Utrecht, I swear I would spend the whole weekend try out this recipe!! What wonderful shapes and figures can come out of this combination!… Thanks!

    Reply

  31. Gwen

    I love Rachel Zoe and Rodger with a d! Obsessed really. Anyway, can I make this cake without the Matcha? I have everything else on hand and love, love lemon pound cake.

    Reply

  34. Debbie

    This makes me laugh :-) This summer I got stuck watching “marathons” and I found myself staying up till 1am going, “just one more episode”! I have been wondering about matcha, it is new to me, but baking it in a cake makes me feel confident in it! Thanks

    Reply

  35. Carly

    Amazing! Looks delish. And, I just wanted you to know that I have a grease stain on my slippers. Glad to know this happens to other people. (Did you curse like a sailor when you spilled the gravy?)

    Reply

  36. Lezly

    OMG! I love matcha! Anything matcha flavor is a weakness. Matcha lattes, matcha cookies and now a lemon and matcha cake! oooh so glad I stumbled upon your website, because I’m in the mood to bake :)

    Reply

  37. M

    this cake is gorgeous! i wonder how prominent the matcha flavor is in this? i have some matcha powder but it’s sweetened and not the pure stuff…

    Reply

  38. heather @ chiknpastry

    hmm….. this might be a perfect cake for the weekend. my sis and niece are in town, and i just happen to have some matcha in the pantry from a matcha panna cotta i made. aaaaaahhhhh….. but i should wait until friday to bake this or else i might eat it before they show up….;)

    Reply

  39. Tiffany

    i love me some rachael zoe. and brad–dear, darling brad. i want you in my back pocket.

    and i might just have to make that cake for my family when they come for a visit next weekend. they like lighter desserts, something fresh. also, it’s just so darn purrrty…

    Reply

  41. lynne (thetwistedchef)

    love this blog… i have recently gotten sucked into episodes of cupcake wars. and the good wife. i really like the good wife.

    can’t wait to try this recipe – since the last green thing of yours i tried was the avocado cake which was absolutely amazing – i can only imagine how excellent this will be too!

    Reply

  46. Krissypoo

    Ok, this is perhaps the most fantastic thing you’ve ever made. Almost fantastic enough for me to forget that you are wasting your amazing life watching Rachel what’s-her-face. Almost….
    Love you anyway. Sigh….

    Reply

  47. katy

    Um, Rachel Zoe is pretty much my favorite show ever. I totally watched it as “research” while preparing for Fashion Week! (Also — I met Brad outside the tents one day!! Photo on my blog!) :-)

    Reply

  54. Cynthia

    Joy!
    Thanks so much for another great blog!
    Question: Where did you purchase the Matcha powder?
    The bread looks great and I know that my parents and their friends (who are Asian and dig all this Asian-y flavor in their food) are going to love it!

    -Cyn.

    Reply

  56. Lindy

    I love your blog!!! And I love matcha powder! I usually use it in smoothies, sometimes frosting. Never thought to use it in a cake!

    Reply

  59. TJ

    Rachel Zoe needs to worry less about what she’s wearing and more about EATING SOMETHING. My Goddess above, the woman is a walking skeleton. I can see all her upper ribs around her sternum and also her heart beating behind them. Yuck. Rachel, please, please, please make yourself this cake and eat it all by yourself while browsing JoyTheBaker.com for some further ideas. You know, to EAT. No wonder you need a furry vest . . . you’d freeze to death in LA in July if you didn’t.

    TJ

    Reply

      • TJ

        I’m sorry if my former comment was too rude. It just hurts my heart every time I see a “glamorous role model” for young women who is demonstrating conformance to an impossible and unhealthy standard.

        TJ

        Reply

    • Lisa

      I’ve only seen the show once and know what you’re talkin bout – skinny in a scary way. The women on this site are too funny! I’ll never get a job if I keep reading these hilarious comments … uh, yeah … back to craigslist and career builder. Bye!

      Reply

  60. Karen

    Sorry..the green cake is not appealing to my senses. The thought of having tea IN a cake does not appeal either. Drinking something green leaves me wondering why too.

    Reply

  61. kim

    I’m so wild about baking with matcha. Bakerella got me hooked with her dark chocolate and matcha marbled bundt cake. i’ve done cupcakes, blondies, icing… make it stop! I’m going to have to try this….. TONIGHT

    Reply

  63. Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen

    Ooooo…prettiness! A while back I tried making some matcha tea cookies, but thought I could wing it by using green tea instead of matcha…umm…bad idea. They were super gross. If I’m gonna splurge on matcha, I’m thinking I should make this instead of boring cookies.

    Reply

  64. Jessica @ bake me away!

    Wow, that’s gorgeous, and I bet it tastes a great as it looks! I actually bought some matcha last month with the intention of making green tea ice cream (haven’t yet). This might get made first!

    p.s. my sister is obsessed with those shoes. (Toms?)

    Reply

  66. Holly @ the upper oven

    I have always been a bit leery about using matcha. It’s different, it’s green… But your post has convinced me to take the matcha leap. This cake looks absolutely delicious. The perfect thing to eat in between meals.

    I totally ordered a furry vest last night after seeing Rachel on QVC! I have a Zoeddiction.

    Reply

  67. Stephanie

    That cake is SO lovely! I’ve been wanting to use matcha in a bunch of things but the price does put me off some. It sounds really wonderful with the lemon. I think I can say with certainty that this will be the next green cake I make!

    Reply

  68. Kylie @ A Hungry Spoon

    Your cake is beautiful! I’m a huge fan of all things lemon…especially in dessert form. I’ve never used matcha before, but I just might have to look into it now :)

    And about the stains on your shoes–you can usually tell a story about my day based on the small stains I accumulate (“She must have made pancakes for breakfast, baked brownies this afternoon, and she definitely made marinara sauce for dinner.” Awesome.)

    Reply

  71. Monica

    RZ is my secret… like you I’m totally vested in her life.. and cannot pull away. Psst, the same with Flipping Out – he is a total tyrant, but I cannot seem to pull away.

    Oh and the cake looks Yum!

    Reply

  72. Aysha

    JOY! Im watching Say Yes to the Dress (which im obsessed with) and the girl on there looks almost exactly like you. You for serious have a twin on the east coast.

    Reply

  74. Jessica

    I love working with matcha! The beautiful, NATURAL color is amazing, I’m the kind of person who loves color but hates using food coloring. I will definitely have to try this recipe! I usually do chocolate with green tea, but I made green tea macarons and filled them with lemon curd, they were absolutely divine.

    For those trying to find matcha, it was kind of a hard quest for me, and when you go you realize how EXPENSIVE it is. I would go to an asian grocer, preferably Japanese or Korean, and they have tiny tins of it for around $8-11. A tip for dealing with asian grocers, just go to the nutrition facts sticker and read list of ingredients if you find yourself scratching your head. If they just list green tea power, you’re in luck! A lot of matcha powders are enhanced with powdered sugars and after baking with it once I had to throw the cake out, so incredibly sweet… so be wary of that! And try to feel a bag cause most of the time it’s just the tea leaves for instant drinks, not usually powder.

    I bought a 30g bag for $22 at H Mart, they had so many varieties to choose from but I thought bulk is better. And a little goes a long way, only about a teaspoon or two is enough to enhance anything so if you’re worried about price it’s well worth it!

    Reply

  75. Sarah K. F.

    I’ll definitely make this. I love everything green tea. Well, except the green tea I’ve made with matcha that I bought in Korea at the green tea fields – I found the tea to be way too strong tasting. maybe I’ll try it again at a much weaker strength. But I’ve since used it to make cookies and now I’ll make your Lemon and Matcha Pound Cake!

    Reply

  76. Jackie Grosser

    I will definitely be trying this recipe. I’ve never tried matcha! As for Rachel, I’m overjoyed to hear there is someone else watching that show. My friends have no idea what I’m talking about! I loved last night when she was accessorizing her salad! :) I hope she gets pregnant! Her hubby seems a bit blue…they need a boost! :) Can you imagine her (of course she’d have a girl) her little wardrobe?

    Reply

    • Cho

      Danielle,
      I’ve found matcha at tea places like Teavana in the mall. I’m not endorsing them or anything but I couldn’t even find it at Whole Foods last I looked. :(

      Reply

  83. Clara

    Joy- I just recently stumbled upon your blog, your writing is wonderful, as well as your recipes!

    And I feel your pain- I have a very unhealthy obsession with Bethenny Frankel and her Bravo shows. I blame Bravo, these shows they create just do this to us!

    Reply

  85. Dawn

    I have no idea who Rachel Zoe is, but I am glad you took a break to make this. I love Starbuck’s green-tea frappucino, and TJ’s had a green tea pound cake that was awesome, so I must go looking for that matcha powder. Oh, and Japanese green tea ice-cream is also awesome! I hope you get on a green-tea kick and show us more stuff. Maybe mix it with avocados?

    Reply

  88. avril

    Beautiful! I have never heard of “matcha” until just now….what a beautiful beautiful magical tea. I will be on the look out for it from now on. Thank you Joy! And what a gorgeous looking cake too! ;-)

    Reply

  89. Emily

    I’ve wanted to buy matcha for baking for a while now, but I’ve never been able to find it unflavored around here. Thanks for sharing your link! It IS expensive, though… with 20 grams in the tin, how many tablespoons do you suppose you could get out of it?

    Reply

  90. Eleventh Hour Affair

    That Rachel Zoe. She will suck you right in. I’m not even going to tell you how much time I spent watching a RZP marathon this weekend – mainly because I have no idea, but suffice it to say that I, too, am all caught up on her baby-making woes and her escapades in London with Kate Hudson for the Burberry show…

    And the cake – beautiful! I love a good pound cake, and adding matcha is pure genius.

    Reply

  91. The Blue-Eyed Bakers

    We call it the Zoe problem. We can’t help it – she’s SO addictive! And we really want her to have a little Zoe baby – we’re with you. And yummy green pound cake! Matcha is deliciousness but we’ve never baked with it…we love fun colored food – so of course this is a must.

    Reply

  99. Megabite

    Everytime I bake everything I ended up dusted with flour. Sometimes I mistake my skirt or jeans for an apron. Next thing you know powdery handprints are everywhere.

    So, high five for the matcha matchy shoes!
    And high five for the gravy!

    Reply

  101. julie @ rosy + tart

    And here I thought matcha only appeared from the Starbucks gods when I ordered it in my smoothie.

    And yes, RZP is ten kinds of addictive. I don’t have a Rodger or a shrink either… but a bottle of vodka does seem to help. :)

    Reply

  108. Adriana

    Whatever comes out of your hands is amazing!
    Please Joy, can you add the quantities in grams as well? Please, please, please….

    Reply

  119. Jamieanne

    Wow, I’ve been wanting to make a lemon & matcha cake for a long time but haven’t gotten around to it! This is inspiration to stop fooling around and make it! It looks beautiful! :)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  14. […] he really didn’t want me to spend my time baking this delicious cake. I took the recipe from Joy the Baker. My cake didn’t marble very well, but it still came out really pretty. I love the color of […]

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