A vibrant matcha sponge cake or quatre-quarts, served in fingers. Matcha gives this simple sponge cake a bright colour and not-too-sweet flavour; beaten egg whites make it extra light. Easy to make and simple to serve, matcha sponge cake makes an elegant but unfussy afternoon treat.

I’m not a fancy home baker. I can’t be bothered with motte-and-bailey castles of chocolate fingers and buttercream. That’s why I’m drawn to the French word for sponge cake: quatre-quarts, or ‘four quarters’, which shows just how simple cake can be. Sponge cake is indeed nothing more than flour, eggs, butter and sugar in equal proportions (by weight). The classic French method, which I use here, differs slightly from most British sponge cake recipes in that the egg whites are beaten separately.

but what is ‘sponge cake’ in Japanese?

I thought you’d ask. In Japan, this food is known by the American loanword パウンドケーキ (paundokēki), which you may recognise phonetically as ‘pound cake’. This also alludes to the equal-parts-by-weight idea.

before we start

• To make this matcha sponge cake (or quatre-quarts au matcha if you prefer), you will need measuring scales, two mixing bowls and a loaf tin.
• Two tablespoons of precious matcha may seem like a lot. Unfortunately, using less than this will result in a very faint flavour. If possible, use a cheaper ‘kitchen grade’ matcha intended for food use.
• This 2-egg recipe makes a 2″ deep loaf (once cooled) in a 9×5″ loaf tin. Since this is quite shallow, I recommend slicing it into six large finger-shaped servings.
• To serve as a dessert, combine with fresh fruit and/or whipped cream and/or icing sugar.
• You may see a dense streak in your cake here and there. It happens for a lot of reasons, but don’t worry – it tastes the same. (For the record, when this happened to me I don’t think I had mixed the butter in evenly enough.)