Matcha Black Sesame Petit-Gateaux
Matcha Black Sesame Petit-Gateaux was not an easy cake to come up with. I had a hard time at first pairing matcha with other flavors, so I started looking for inspiration. Eventually I found Sadaharu Aoki who is a Japanese pastry chef living in France. His shop is known for the mix of Japanese flavors and French techniques. You can check out his work here (click the link). You will notice matcha is an ingredient that he uses quite a lot and black sesame is one of the most used pairings as well. Mind you, just look at the color contrast these two ingredients create! It’s stunning! And to me, colors play an important role because usually they indicate a flavor mix that works as well. Sure, it may not be a rule altogether, but it is surely something I noticed in my work.
These Matcha Black Sesame Petit-Gateaux are quite simple in their structure, but the final taste really impressed me. I do think matcha works better with more neutral ingredients. I feel that when combined with very acidic ingredients for instance, it tends to be a bit more harsh on the taste buds. But when paired with milky, sweet or earthy flavors it shines best! So matcha and black sesame is from that point of view a winner mix of flavors!
Matcha Black Sesame Petit-Gateaux
Ingredients
Matcha sponge cake:
- 25 g hot water
- 10 g matcha powder
- 40 g egg yolk
- 10 g white sugar A
- 60 g egg whites
- 40 g white sugar B
- 50 g all-purpose flour
- 35 g butter (melted)
Black sesame croustillant:
- 45 g paillete feuilletine
- 45 g milk chocolate
- 30 g black sesame paste
- 45 g praline paste
Black sesame ganache:
- 90 g heavy cream
- 10 g glucose syrup
- 125 g white chocolate
- 15 g butter
- 15 g black sesame paste
Mousse matcha:
- 320 g milk
- 5 g lemon zest
- 8 g matcha powder
- 80 g white sugar
- 12 g gelatin + 72g water
- 360 g heavy cream (whipped)
Extra:
- Black velvet Silikomart spray
- Fresh raspberries
- Chocolate decor (optional)
Instructions
Matcha sponge cake:
- Mix the water and matcha powder in a bowl until a paste forms.
- Combine the egg yolk and sugar A and mix well until pale and light. Stir in the matcha paste.
- In a different bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy then add the sugar B and mix until medium peaks form.
- Begin folding the meringue into the matcha base, alternating it with the flour.
- In the end, gradually stir in the melted butter.
- Spread the sponge cake on a tray lined with baking paper until it has about 1cm thickness.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes.
- Cool down.
Croustillant:
- Melt the chocolate and mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
- Spread this mixture evenly over the sponge cake, pressing well.
- Place in the fridge for 10 minutes then cut small discs of sponge, just slightly smaller than your final petit gateaux mold.
- Keep in the freezer.
Black sesame ganache:
- Heat up the cream and glucose.
- Pour it over the chocolate and blend well with a hand blender.
- Add the butter and sesame paste and blend well.
- Pour into small insert molds that are smaller than your final cakes.
- Freeze for a few hours until set.
Mousse matcha:
- Bloom the gelatin in water.
- Heat up the milk, sugar and lemon zest and infuse for 10 minutes then strain and reheat slightly the cream, adding the matcha powder.
- Add the gelatin and mix well then allow to cool down to 25C.
- Fold in the whipped cream.
- If the mousse is too liquid, place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to begin to set.
- Fill each of your molds halfway with mousse, then place and insert in the centre, followed by more mousse and in the end a disc of sponge and croustillant.
- Freeze the cake at least 8 hours.
To finish the cakes:
- Unmold them then carefully spray them with velvet spray.
- Decorate with chocolate strips and fresh raspberries.
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