Hojicha Butter Cream Cake (Printable View)

Delicate sponge cake with hojicha buttercream and dark chocolate ganache, ideal for tea lovers and celebrations.

# What You'll Need:

→ Sponge Cake

01 - 1 cup (120 g) cake flour, sifted
02 - 4 large eggs, room temperature
03 - 1/2 cup (120 g) granulated sugar
04 - 3 tablespoons (40 ml) whole milk, room temperature
05 - 3 tablespoons (40 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
06 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
07 - Pinch of salt

→ Hojicha Buttercream

08 - 3 tablespoons hojicha loose leaf tea or 3 tea bags
09 - 1/2 cup (100 ml) whole milk
10 - 7 ounces (200 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
11 - 1 3/4 cups (200 g) powdered sugar, sifted
12 - Pinch of salt

→ Dark Chocolate Ganache

13 - 3.5 ounces (100 g) dark chocolate 60-70% cocoa, chopped
14 - 1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream

# How To Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of two 7-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
02 - In a large bowl, beat eggs and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for 5-7 minutes until thick and pale.
03 - Gently fold in the sifted cake flour and salt in three additions, maintaining airiness.
04 - Combine milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Add a few spoonfuls of batter into this mixture, then fold back into the main batter to avoid deflating.
05 - Divide batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
06 - Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
07 - Heat milk in a small saucepan until just below boiling. Add hojicha and steep for 10 minutes, then strain and cool completely.
08 - Beat butter with powdered sugar and salt until light and fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes. Gradually beat in the cooled hojicha-infused milk until smooth and creamy.
09 - Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Pour over chopped chocolate in a bowl, let sit for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth and glossy. Cool to room temperature.
10 - Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread half the hojicha buttercream evenly over the top.
11 - Place the second cake layer on top. Spread remaining buttercream over the top and sides using an offset spatula.
12 - Pour the cooled ganache over the cake, allowing it to drip naturally down the sides.
13 - Chill for 30 minutes before slicing to set the ganache and stabilize the layers.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The hojicha buttercream tastes like a sophisticated secret—earthy and refined without being pretentious or hard to pull off.
  • It's the kind of cake that looks far more impressive than the effort it actually demands, perfect for when you want to feel like a pastry chef without spending your whole day in the kitchen.
  • Tea lovers finally get their moment; this isn't a chocolate cake that happens to have tea in it, but a genuine celebration of hojicha's toasted, almost caramel-like character.
02 -
  • Room temperature is everything in this recipe—cold eggs won't whip properly, cold butter won't cream smoothly, and cold milk won't blend into your buttercream without breaking it, so pull your ingredients out early.
  • The hojicha milk must be completely cool before you add it to your buttercream, or the heat will cause the butter to break and separate into greasy, grainy bits instead of silky frosting.
  • Don't be tempted to skip the 10-minute rest in the pan; it's the difference between a cake that slides out gracefully and one that tears apart before you even get to frost it.
03 -
  • If you want a stronger hojicha flavor without it becoming bitter, increase the steeping time to 12–15 minutes instead of adding more tea leaves, which can sometimes turn astringent and harsh.
  • A secret that changed everything for me was adding just a tiny pinch of salt to both the buttercream and the ganache; it doesn't make the cake taste salty at all, but it sharpens the hojicha and chocolate so they taste more like themselves.
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