A roll cake made with a hojicha tea flavored filling! The roasted, nutty hojicha flavor is nestled inside a light and fluffy lemon cake.
I love cake, I love cheesecake, and I love hojicha. This Hojicha Cheesecake Roll Cake is all that rolled (yes, I’m aware I’m hilarious) into one. It’s all caps GOOD. And you MUST pair this roll cake with…drum roll please…hojicha tea.
I’m a big fan of matcha but before I was drinking that green tea on a regular basis, I was all about another green tea — hojicha. It’s one of my favorite teas of ALL TIME.
I started with the gateway green tea, genmaicha, then discovered hojicha soon after and it became the only tea I drank for years.
I love roasted tea and that’s exactly what hojicha is. Most Japanese green teas are steamed and have that vibrant green color, but hojicha is roasted which creates that reddish brown hue.
The roasting process means there’s less caffeine and there’s hardly any bitterness. It tastes toasty, nutty, and caramel-y. Hojicha is really versatile since it works well with sweets and savories, and great hot or cold.
RELATED: Hojicha Hot Chocolate
Queenie, who created the recipe, brightened and lightened it up by encasing the rich hojicha cheesecake filling with lemon cake. We then gave it a generous sprinkle of powered sugar. Delicious and pretty.
I love everything mini, so Queenie made it smaller than a normal sized roll cake. Each slice is about 2 inches across.
RELATED: Matchamisu = Matcha + Tiramisu
By the way, did you know January is National Hot Tea Month and January 12th is National Hot Tea Day? Well, now you do.
The Tea Council of the USA (Did you know such a council existed? Well, now you do.) is celebrating by giving tea lovers an opportunity to win $500 and a year’s supply of tea (YES) through their #IndividualiTEA Photo Sharing Sweepstakes. (UPDATE: Sweepstakes has ended.)
Hojicha Roll Cake
INGREDIENTS
Lemon Roll Cake
- 70 grams sugar
- 50 grams cake flour
- 15 grams whole milk
- 5 grams vegetable oil
- 4 large egg whites
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon lemon powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Optional: powered sugar for dusting
Hojicha Cheesecake Filling
- 127 grams cream cheese 1 package
- 110 grams whole milk
- 50 grams mascarpone
- 30 grams sugar
- 4 grams gelatin
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon hojicha loose tea
INSTRUCTIONS
MAKE LEMON ROLL CAKE
- Set oven at 350°F and place the rack in the middle. Line a 1/2 sheet tray with parchment paper, with extra hanging on all four sides.
- In a small bowl, sift and mix cake flour, salt, and lemon powder. Set aside. Mix whole milk and oil in another bowl and set aside.
- Whisk 4 egg whites until foamy. Slowly add sugar into the egg whites and whisked till medium peak. Using a rubber spatula, fold in egg yolk one at a time. Then, fold in the flour mixture and once that's done, fold in the milk and oil mixture.
- Pour the batter into the sheet tray and bake for 12 minutes. Once out of the oven, remove cake from sheet tray and leave it to cool on a cooling rack.
MAKE HOJICHA CHEESECAKE FILLING
- In a bowl, bloom gelatin in 3 tablespoons of water and set aside. Bring whole milk to a simmer and remove from heat. Steep hojicha in the milk for 5 minutes and strain out and discard the hojicha leaves.
- In a mixer, combine the cream cheese, mascarpone, and sugar until smooth.
- Melt gelatin (in microwave or a double boiler) until completely dissolved and mix into hojicha milk. Take a few spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture and temper into the gelatin mixture. Mix well before incorporating into the rest of the cream cheese.
ASSEMBLE THE ROLL CAKE
- Remove paper off the cake. Cut the cake in half, widthwise.
- Place one half of the cake on a piece of plastic wrap. Spread the cream on the cake, covering all four sides.
- Roll the cake and use the plastic wrap to keep the the cake in shape. Wrap the roll cake with plastic wrap a couple of more times to hold its shape.
- Repeat with the other half of the cake. Keep in the fridge for minimum of 4 hours before serving. Dust roll cake with sifted powered sugar if you want to add a sweeter touch.
Hi, do you have the measurements In US metrics? Is 50g of flour equivalent to 1/3 cup of flour? That doesn’t seem like much flour. Thank u!
Hi Ngoc, unfortunately, I only have the recipe as is.
What size is your Jelly Roll // Half Sheet Pan ?
Hi Lynn, it’s a 1/4 sheet tray.
Incredible..!really these hojicha cheesecake roll cake looks sooooo yummy & delicious, i will trying to making this cake in upcoming weekend. Thanks for sharing and keep shared new tasty recipes…..!
Hi Samantha, thanks for the recipe love! There’s more hojicha recipes to come….