This Doughnut Cake with Matcha Glaze from Melissa Ben-Ishay is a rich but tender confection, with plenty of butter and vanilla, plus fragrant mace (the lacy outer covering of the nutmeg seed). Topped with a creamy matcha green tea glaze with a little tang from lemon juice, it makes a perfect nibble with a pot of tea. You can make this recipe in whatever pans you prefer (donut pans, cupcake pans, two 8-inch round pans), so no specific bake time is given, but if you start checking at 25 minutes, you’ll look for the cake to feel springy under your fingertip; when it does, it’s done. For more delicious desserts from Melissa, try her Vanilla Cupcakes with Peanut Butter and Jelly recipe and her Chocolate Chip Pancake Ice Cream Sandwiches recipe.

And for more green tea goodies, get our Matcha Hong Kong Egg Waffles recipe, and our Raspberry Matcha Muffins recipe.

  • Yield: Easy
  • Total: 1 hr
  • Active: 25 min

Ingredients (14)

For the doughnut cake:

  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground mace
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 3/4 cups whole milk

For the matcha glaze:

  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature, plus more as needed
  • 2 teaspoons matcha green tea powder
  • 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the doughnut cake:

  1. Have all your ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the pan of your choice or line the pan with wax paper or parchment and butter the paper.
  2. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter for 1 minute on high speed, then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
  3. Add the sugar to the butter and beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
  4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the vanilla; then add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl midway through.
  5. Combine the flour, baking powder, mace, and sea salt in a separate bowl.
  6. With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture. When it’s mostly incorporated, add half the milk. Add the remainder of the dry and wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Stop mixing as soon as you have a smooth batter.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the middle of the cake feels springy when you gently press your finger against it. All ovens are different, so it’s important to do the fingerprint test to see if the cake is done. [Start checking at around 25 minutes.]
  8. Let the cake cool completely before icing.

Make the matcha glaze:

  1. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the confectioners’ sugar, milk, matcha powder, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more milk to thin it to the desired consistency.
  2. If not using within 10 minutes of mixing, cover the bowl with plastic wrap to keep the glaze from drying out. Store it at room temperature.

Recipe from CAKES BY MELISSA by Melissa Ben-Ishay. Copyright © 2017 by Baked by Melissa. Used with permission by William Morrow. Image courtesy of Ashley Sears. All rights reserved.