The beautiful combination of lemon and matcha in a rolled log, slightly modernized, especially fragrant and melt-in-the-mouth. It's one of my favorite creations for the 2019 holiday season. Truly delicious.

Here, I have replaced the classic rolled biscuit found in most Yule logs with a choux pastry biscuit (also known as Japanese biscuit), which has an incomparable melt-in-the-mouth texture. It is also very flexible, which makes rolling the log much easier. Impossible to break the biscuit!

And to accompany it, I made a lemon zest mousseline cream. Easy to make and light. Finally, to dress up the beautiful rolled log and accentuate the flavour of the matcha, I topped it with a ganache made with organic premium matcha.

The recipe is for a lemon matcha roll cake measuring approximately 30 cm.

The recipe for lemon matcha rolled log cake

Japanese matcha choux pastry

• 45g of organic milk
• 45g of water
• 40g of organic smooth unsalted butter
• a pinch of organic salt and sugar
• 25g organic flour
• 25g organic cornstarch
• 100g organic whole eggs
• 12g of organic culinary matcha
• +
• 35g of neutral organic vegetable oil (sunflower, grapeseed, etc.)
• 100g organic egg whites
• 40g organic powdered sugar

Lemon mousseline cream

• 250g of organic whole milk
• 40g organic egg yolks
• 50g organic powdered sugar
• 35g organic cornstarch
• Zest of two organic lemons
• +
• 130g organic softened butter

Matcha ganache

• 150g of organic white chocolate
• 200g of very cold organic whole liquid cream
• 9g of organic premium matcha

+ sufficient quantity of organic premium matcha for finishing / sufficient quantity of candied lemon strips

Method for making lemon matcha rolled log cake

Matcha ganache

Heat the whole cream in a small saucepan with the organic premium matcha. When it starts to boil, gradually pour it over the melted white chocolate, mixing well to obtain a smooth ganache. Mix if necessary, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Pastry cream for lemon mousseline

Bring the milk to a boil with the zest of two lemons. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and add the cornstarch. Gradually pour the boiling milk into the egg yolk-sugar-cornstarch mixture while whisking. Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook for one to two minutes at a boil.

Remove the cream, cover with plastic wrap in contact with the surface and let cool before placing in the refrigerator.

Japanese matcha choux pastry

First, bring the milk to a boil with the water, butter cut into small pieces, salt, sugar, and culinary matcha. When it starts to boil and the butter has melted, remove from heat, add the flour and cornstarch, and mix vigorously.

This produces a paste called panade. Transfer it to the bowl of a food processor (or a large mixing bowl) and leave to cool slightly. Then gradually stir in the beaten whole eggs and neutral oil.

At the same time, beat the egg whites until stiff, adding the sugar when they start to froth.

Gently fold the two mixtures together (start by adding only 1/4 of the egg whites to loosen the batter) so as not to deflate the mixture, then pour the batter onto a 30×40 cm baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread evenly with an offset spatula.

Bake the Japanese matcha choux pastry for 8 minutes at 180°C. Remove from the baking sheet as soon as it comes out of the oven and leave to cool. Then turn it over to remove it from the baking paper, then turn it over again onto another clean baking sheet. Trim the edges of the biscuit (only those on the 30 cm sides).

Lemon mousseline cream and matcha rolled log assembly

Beat the softened butter (soft) a little with a mixer, then add the lemon pastry cream and whisk at medium speed. Scrape the bottom of the bowl several times to thoroughly incorporate the butter. Let the cream whisk for 5 minutes at medium speed until it turns white and appears light.

Let's move on to rolling the log: Place the lemon mousse on the biscuit and spread it evenly using an offset spatula to help. Help the biscuit to roll up gently using the baking paper. Wrap the rolled log in cling film, pressing down lightly (keeping the baking paper in place to protect the biscuit), and place the log in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Finishes for the lemon matcha rolled log

Remove the plastic wrap/baking paper from the rolled log and sprinkle with premium matcha using a sieve/small strainer. Trim the edges and place the log on a serving dish.

Remove the matcha ganache from the refrigerator (it must be very cold) and beat with a mixer until it has the texture of whipped cream.

Place it in a piping bag fitted with a Saint-Honoré nozzle and realise the piping along the entire length of the lemon matcha log. Then decorate with strips of candied lemon and gold leaf.

Good luck and realise a wonderful holiday season!

Find our other matcha log recipes:

• Organic matcha tea and raspberry ice cream log
• Mini ice cream logs with Okumidori matcha tea and mango/passion fruit filling
• Matcha, raspberry, and grapefruit Yule log
• Matcha tea and cherry Yule log
• Matcha tea and raspberry Yule log

=> Get a 10% discount on your first purchase of organic matcha with the code KUMIKO10!