Kasutera: Japanese Green Tea pound Cake

Kasutera is a traditional Japanese pound cake or sponge cake which has a subtle green tea flavor. And since green tea has several health benefits, I like to think so does the cake.

Traditionally the cake is made with matcha (maccha) or green tea powder. But it has a short shelf life and honestly is rather expensive. So you can simply infuse the butter with the green tea! It adds a little extra time to the cake but saves a lot of money! If you have matcha (maccha) on hand I have included the substitute for it.

Full time: 1 1/2 hr (using green tea) or 1 hr (using matcha)
Serves 6-8

You will need:

2 eggs
1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, (plus 1 tsp if using leaves)
1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp green tea leaves or 1 tbsp matcha

Let us begin:

Preheat oven to 340 and lightly butter or grease a loaf pan.

In a small sauce pan place tea and melt butter over medium heat.

Allow butter to fully melt and infuse with tea for 5 minutes.

Pour butter thru a fine strainer and dispose of leaves.

Allow butter to reform in refrigerator.

If using matcha start here: Once butter is reformed.

Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl.

Add in eggs and mix.

Add in baking powder and mix.

Sift flour into mixture and mix.

Pour into loaf pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until interred toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes in pan.

Turn out of pan and let cool on wire rack and enjoy!