SEE BELOW IN DEPTH INSTRUCTIONS (AND PHOTOS) FOR EACH ELEMENT

MATCHA SPONGE

Scale every ingredient accurately.

Warm up eggs with shells in running warm water.  (This is to make the sponge incorporate more air when it is being whipped.)

Start whipping eggs with sugar in a mixer bowl at high speed.

Keep whipping until the sponge gets enough volume (the shape of whip will stay if the sponge is airy enough).

Turn down the mixer and add water and honey and mix for 5 seconds. (Adding honey and a small amount of water makes the sponge more soft and moist.)

Take off the whip and put sifted flour and matcha in the bowl as you mix the sponge by HAND (it is better to be done by two people).

Keep mixing the sponge by HAND to get the right texture for a few minutes. If the sponge is falling down straight and slowly when you grab some, the sponge is ready to go.

Pour the sponge into a tray (47cm by 33cm) and flatten with a card or spatula.

Bake at 160 degrees Celcius for 13 min.

MATCHA CREAM

Scale every ingredient accurately.

Melt white chocolate with matcha lamington.

Boil milk and pour it into white choco-matcha mix, mix it well and cool it down in a tray (matcha ganache).

Whip cream and milk.

Add this whipped cream and milk into matcha ganache and mix well.

BUILDING THE MATCHA LAMINGTON

Cut the sponge into 4.

Put the matcha cream on each sponge
(4 layers of sponge and 3 layers of matcha cream).

Put a small amount of matcha cream on top and sprinkle matcha coconut on it. (Matcha coconut can be made by mixing desired amount of coconut and matcha.)

Cut the cake as you want.

Decorate the cake with cooked red beans and whipped cream.

ONE: Mixing the batter

The most important thing at this stage is the temperature of the eggs and the consistency of the batter. We put the eggs into warm water and mix them. If the eggs are not warm enough, they don’t get enough air and won’t rise. After you add the sugar, add the honey and water. It’s only a small amount but it makes a big difference; it makes the sponge softer and moist.

Wait for about ten minutes to get enough rise, then add the flour and matcha. Then keep mixing until you get the right consistency. You need experience to get this right. Grab some batter with your hand and pour it; you will see how slowly the batter is falling and how airy the batter is. It shouldn’t be too runny but it shouldn’t be too airy.

TWO: Baking the sponge

Pour the batter into the tray and make sure it’s even. Tap the tray before you put it in the oven so you don’t end up with any big holes inside. Once it’s cooked, tap it again so the sponge sets.

THREE: Making the ganache

Our cream is made of green tea ganache and whipped cream. To make the ganache, heat the cream in a pan and pour in white chocolate. Take a small amount of that mixture to mix with green tea powder. (If you just add the green tea into the mixture you will have small lumps of green tea powder throughout the ganache.) Mix the removed amount of the liquid with the green tea powder until it’s a thick green tea mixture. Then put it back into the cream and white chocolate mixture and mix well.

FOUR: Whipping the cream

While the ganache cools down, whip the cream. Don’t add the whipped cream to the ganache until the ganache is cool. If you add it while it’s still hot, the cream will fall. Once the whipped cream and ganache are mixed well together, it’s ready for spreading.

FIVE: Constructing the layers

This process is similar to a layer cake. Spread the cream on your layers one by one. You can use a cutting board sandwich to keep it level. Put one cutting board on the bottom and another on the top and press down after constructing each layer.

To keep the cream layers even, weigh the cake as you go. You can either put the whole thing—chopping board, layer of cake and layer of cream—on the scales to keep track of the weight, or you can put the cream in a cup before spreading, and weigh that to ensure the same amount of cream goes on to each layer.

SIX: The top layer

After you finish the top layer, sprinkle a mixture of matcha and coconut over the top.

SEVEN: Cutting the pieces

Use a ruler to keep the pieces even and always cut with a hot knife. We normally cut the cake next to the stove. We keep the stove on and put the knife on the heat for a few seconds and then cut the cake. And we keep doing this until it’s all cut.

EIGHT: Decorating the cake

We cover the pieces in plastic wrap for decoration and pipe whipped cream onto the top. We also use white chocolate buttons and boiled red beans. We boil the beans until they are soft enough and then let them cool before placing them.