To the Gold Mine

Black Sesame Matcha Cake | La Pêche Fraîche

“You have no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.
What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the ocean. Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
So I’ve brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.”

―Jalaluddin Rumi

Black Sesame Matcha Cake | La Pêche Fraîche

I am trying to luxuriate in my last few weeks here at the University of Chicago; I get extremely choked up when I think about graduating. I have often struggled with feeling too deeply and getting lost in my emotions. I hate goodbyes more than anything.

My dad used to commute to Dartmouth to teach at the business school; he had to leave home at 5 in the morning to make his flight on Monday mornings. I would often wake up when he was leaving and pad downstairs, crying, behind him. I never wanted him to leave.

It’s similar now, only I am padding around campus, feeling lost and lonely. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the jumble of emotions that come with goodbye. I’m nostalgic, introspective, frightened, excited, dragging my feet while trying to lean in, etc., etc.
I am clinging to anything, right now, just like I used to cling to my dad.
(Truth: I still cling to him. I will always be his remora, can’t change that. I can feel my mom and dad shaking their heads and rolling their eyes at that, and that makes me smile.)

What a strange, out-of-body experience growing up is turning out to be. I wonder at how quickly time passes. It brings me to tears, frequently, and shakes me to my core. I am a confident, stubborn, perseverant person, but I am oft reduced to a puddle of quivering jelly when I realize that I can never get back what’s gone.
Not only the boundless energy and carefree schedule of a child, not only people and pets, but also emotions, like the sheer, unbridled joy I used to feel when the seasons were changing—each one felt brand new and just as exciting, with no jaded cynic inside me to put a damper on those feelings, yet.
How many wistful words have been written by those who come face to face with time’s fleet feet? I rarely feel that it would be of much use to anyone for me to write my own, infinitesimal terror out on this page.
But here is where I repeatedly find myself, cursor blinking, as these thoughts storm in my mind.

Black Sesame Matcha Cake | La Pêche Fraîche

Other things (other than self-indulgent moping, that is) with which I’ve been occupying myself:

Nati got a Nintendo Switch! And Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to go along with it. Oh my goodness, y’all, it is the most gorgeous game. I could watch him play for hours. It is 100% absorbing. So fun!

I (finally) read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. A quick read, but chilling, and a classic. Maybe I’ll watch the Hulu series now, who knows.

Speaking of T.V., Nati finally watched Game of Thrones with me (this is now my 5th? 6th? time watching the show); he enjoyed it, although is not as obsessed as I am. Then again, is anyone? It just made me even more excited for season 7! I can hardly wait!

Catch me in UChicago’s newspaper, The Maroon, in a style feature (whaaat). Big thanks to MJ Chen, Chris D’Angelo, and Christian Hill for making me seem like a cohesive human being. It takes a village, people. But seriously, they were a dream to work with and I’m so flattered and grateful! So go check it out, heh.

Also, I’ve been baking more dairy-free treats lately. But more on that soon!

Black Sesame Matcha Cake | La Pêche Fraîche

This matcha and black sesame cake had been on my to-make list/I’ve been dreaming of the combination of these flavors for a while now.

The cake itself is a close-textured, moist butter cake, sweet and rich with grassy, bright notes from the matcha. The cake is brushed with a honey syrup to keep it moist, then topped with black sesame Italian meringue buttercream, which is silky soft and nutty in a delightfully unexpected way; it was almost like a peanut-butter frosting, with a little more depth and bitterness from the sesame. I finished the cake up with some gold leaf, which is, like, the biggest pain in the ass to work with, and is most certainly not necessary to make this cake a showstopper.
Seriously, all you have to do is breathe and the stuff goes everywhere. Next time any of you see me pinning or liking photos of gold leaf, knock me upside the head. I always get suckered in.

It’s actually quite a simple cake, but the decoration + the surprisingly beautiful and vibrant interior make it gorgeous.

Black Sesame Matcha Cake | La Pêche Fraîche

The matcha for this cake was kindly sent to me from Happy Matcha, which is a small Australian start up selling organic matcha powder.
The tea is a lovely green and finely milled; it maintained its bright, strong flavor even when baked, which was what I was hoping for. I think it’s a bonus that it’s organic; honestly, when buying this type of powdered tea (and face masks, for that matter), I like to be able to completely trust it to be safe and from a good distributor.
If you haven’t tried good matcha before (i.e. not Starbucks, which is mixed with sugar, I think), I do recommend Happy Matcha. At this point, they only ship within Australia (but they do it in a carbon-neutral fashion, which is dooope), but we can all hope for worldwide shipping in the future!

As for the black sesame paste, I used this paste. Note that it isn’t black sesame tahini, which is made with raw sesame seeds and has a different flavor profile.

Black Sesame Matcha Cake | La Pêche Fraîche

Black Sesame and Matcha Cake
makes 1 3×6-inch layer cake, or 1 2×8-inch layer cake

ingredients:
for the matcha cake:
225 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter
400 grams (2 cups) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
300 grams (1 1/4 cups) buttermilk (or milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar)
360 grams (3 cups) flour
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons matcha powder

for the salted and black sesame Italian meringue buttercream:
3 egg whites
150 grams (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, to taste
45 grams (45 mL, 3 tablespoons) water
336 grams (1 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons roasted black sesame paste

to assemble:
25 grams (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons honey
20 grams (1 1/2 tablespoons) water
gold leaf, if desired

directions:
Make the cake: grease and flour 3 6-inch cake pans; set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat butter on high speed for 3 full minutes, until light in color and fluffy.
Add in the sugar and salt and beat on high for 2 more minutes; scrape the bowl.
Add in the eggs and egg yolks and beat on high for a full 3 minutes.
Stir in the buttermilk or curdled milk.
Add the flour, baking powder, and matcha powder and beat until combined, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Portion out evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Allow to cool completely.
Make the honey syrup: place sugar, honey and water in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, or until the sugar is just dissolved.
Meanwhile, make the buttercream: place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Place sugar, salt, and water in a small pot.
Begin to heat the sugar mixture on high as you whip the whites on medium speed.
When the syrup reaches 245 degrees F, your egg whites should be at firm soft peaks (almost hard peaks, but not dry).
Drizzle the syrup into the meringue with the mixer running; whip on high until cooled to body temperature.
Beat in butter one or two tablespoons at a time.
Beat buttercream on high speed until thick, glossy, and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Divide buttercream into two portions (about 60-40), leaving the larger portion in the bowl of the stand mixer.
Add in the black sesame paste to the larger portion and whip on high until completely homogeneous.
To decorate, first level the cakes and cut off the brown cooked portions; brush with the honey syrup.
Pipe a border of white buttercream around the edge of the cakes, then fill with the black sesame buttercream.
Frost the bottom (plain) half first, keeping an approximate line in the middle of the cake, then stick in the fridge until completely hardened.
Frost the top half with the black sesame buttercream, being careful not to go too much over the white buttercream edge.
Cover the edge with gold leaf and decorate the top with piping as desired!

Disclaimer: I was provided with a product in this post for free, in exchange for my honest and fair review. All opinions are my own. Bisous!

32 comments

  1. Rachel!! This cake (and your writing) is completely breathtaking. I look forward to every post and slice from you <3

    1. Amy!!! Thank you so much. It means a lot coming from you! hugs <3

  2. Oh this cake is just too beautiful. drop dead gorgeous. Wow! : D
    I am in love!! hehe

    1. Thank you for your kind words Daniela! xoxo

  3. this cake looks absolutely amazing!! xoxo

    1. Thank you so much Fatimah! xoxo <3

  4. This cake is soooo beautiful ♥ un grand bravo

  5. Such a gorgeous cake – I love the two tone effect – it’s so neat too.

    Well done on the feature – I’ve just started watching The Handmaid’s Tale – do you recommend the book?

    1. Thanks Angela! I do recommend the book, but I really like the show too 🙂 The book is fairly quick to read—it was a good one to have on my phone while traveling!

  6. Nice. The cake looks so pretty.

    1. Thanks so much Adrienne! x

  7. Re: graduation–have you read the essay “The Opposite of Loneliness”? It very accurately captured all my graduation feels and made me feel a tiny bit better about saying goodbye.

    1. Molly! Thank you so much for the recommendation. I’m off to read it now. I really appreciate the suggestion! xo

  8. Congrats on your upcoming graduation!! I’m a UC alum and it still feels like just yesterday I was in college… That cake is gorgeous, and any blog post featuring a Rumi quote is a good blog post. 🙂

    1. Alice, time has really gone by so quickly here at UC. I still can’t believe it! Thank you for your kind words! 🙂

  9. This cake immediately caught my eye! The grey icing is so on-trend with the design world.

    I definitely recommend watching Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. It is extremely well-done (though, it makes sleeping at night difficult as it seems all too real).

    Congratulations on your graduation!

    1. Thank you so much Shauna! I’ve fallen behind a few episodes because I’ve been so busy, but I’m itching to get back to it!

  10. I love it!!! What pipping tip did you use??

    1. Khadijah, thank you so much! The piping tip is a mini french star tip. Hope that helps, sorry for the late response!

  11. I love the color of the black sesame gray and the matcha and gold. Looks incredible.

  12. Wonderful cake!! Can I ask how you get the buttercream so white when adding butter? I just can not get rid of the yellow tint?

    1. Jo, I use a white food coloring! I get it off of Amazon, it’s by Americolor and works very well. xo

  13. Hello Rachel!
    I like a lot your recipes and your photos, are gorgeous! And this cake is simple and yet so elegant!!
    I have a question. What is the difference in flavour between raw and roasted black sesame tahini? Which do you recommend?

  14. How long does this cake last in the fridge?

    1. Lisa, probably around 3 days well covered and sealed. Hope that helps. Let me know how it goes! x

  15. Hello Rachel- I made this cake today and it’s sooooo delicious. The cake is moist and silky! The only problem i had was, the batter was completely wet at 20min mark. I had to bake total 35-40 min. Is there a reason why my cake needs longer time? I followed the recipe exactly.

    1. Hi Cindy! I am so so glad you liked the recipe! The most likely reason that your cake took longer to bake is either that my oven runs hot or yours runs a little cool (or both!). I need to install a thermometer in my oven as it is not super reliable, but I’m glad you checked and kept baking it! xoxo

  16. Hello, thank you for the recipe, the cake looks lovely and can’t wait to try it!
    I’d like to make a smaller cake and wondered if you ever tried cutting the recipe in half?
    thanks in advance!

    1. Hi Marlene! Thanks for your kind words. I think the recipe would be fine to cut in half, especially since the eggs are easy to divide by two. I would suggest using 2 6-inch pans, and going for thinner layers. Hope it goes well! xoxo

  17. […] previously: Black Sesame and Matcha Cake Apple Sesame Paris-Brest Toasted Black Sesame […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.