This cake version of my favourite boba order uses egg pudding and pearls to really bring on the meaning of a boba cake (see original boba cake 1.0 here). Being a big fan of tea-inspired desserts, I used both matcha in the cake and layered it with hojicha mascarpone cream for a deeper roasted tea flavour.
I prepared the egg pudding the night before using this instant mix. Pour it into the 8″ cake pans you’ll be using so it’s the same size of the cake. Since I wanted two layers of pudding, I used two 8″ cake pans. Just remember to line it with baking paper to ensure it glides off easily once set!
This is the egg pudding mix I use. You can find it at most Asian supermarkets!
Being in a temperamental climate, I used mascarpone whipped cream to minimise kitchen stress when piping. A trick I’ve started doing is using a fork to make criss cross patterns on the sides of the cake. Not only is this much faster than trying to achieve razor sharp edges, it also creates more of a style! Check out the video to see what I mean.
For this cake I saved a bit of mascarpone whipped cream (sans hojicha) and added matcha to it, using it to pipe dollops on top. I got my partner to go on a Gongcha run so I could use their pearls. Because let’s admit..making store bought boba takes a long time just standing at the stove stirring, let alone trying to make it completely from scratch!
Finish the cake by dusting it with more matcha powder and top with boba. Voila! Enjoy the recipe.
Matcha Boba Pudding Cake
Ingredients
Matcha cake
- 6 eggs
- 30 g castor sugar
- 90 ml milk
- 60 ml vegetable oil
- 120 g cake flour
- 30 g cornflour
- 2 tbsp matcha powder
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 100 g castor sugar
Hojicha mascarpone cream
- 300 ml heavy cream (cold)
- 70 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp hojicha powder
- 225 g mascarpone cheese (softened)
Toppings
- Pudding layers
- Boba pearls
Instructions
Matcha cake
- Whisk the egg yolks with 30g of castor sugar.
- Mix in oil and milk.
- Sift in the cake flour, cornflour and matcha to combine.
- Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar and gradually add in rest of the castor sugar. Beat until it reaches soft peaks, not stiff peaks. This ensures a moist crumb.
- Gently fold the egg white into the yolk mixture until well-combined.
- Pour into a 8" pan.
- Bake for 50min at 170°C in a hot water bath. This is the key to a moist and spongy texture!
- The cake is done when a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Drop the cake on the kitchen bench to prevent shrinkage. Put a tea towel underneath to protect it.
- Rest the cake for 10min in the pan. After that, invert to fully cool on a rack.
Hojicha mascarpone cream
- Whip the heavy cream, icing sugar, vanilla extract and hojicha powder together until soft peaks form.
- Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and whip until stiff peaks form. (Note: use mascarpone cream when it is cold but still soft so it'll incorporate into the whipped cream nicely)
To decorate
- Add your prepared pudding layers.
- Top with as much boba as you like on top.
