Fluffy souffle accented with matcha powder, this Matcha Green Tea Souffle is simply irresistible! For a thorough visual guide, I recommend watching the video first.
Making Green Tea souffle has been on my baking bucket list for as long as I remember. Unless you are in Japan, this unique dessert doesn’t normally appear on the dessert menu in your local cafes and restaurants. The only way to taste the incredible warm fluffy texture of souffle accented with the unique bitter matcha flavor is to make your own.
Watch How to Make Green Tea (Matcha) Souffle
Fluffy and heavenly souffle accented with matcha powder and dusted with powder sugar.
Today, unlike my usual posts, I want to talk about the little struggles I had with this recipe.
Now if you have attempted to make souffle at home AND tried to take good pictures of it while the souffle is risen up, you know this is not easy to do (unless you’re an experienced pâtissier). No matter how many times I make this souffle, each souffle at every testing comes differently. The shot of PERFECT souffle? It’s nearly impossible for this novice baker. After my experience with the Chocolate Souffle, I tried taking pictures of the souffle in the kitchen for the first ones I baked, right out of the oven. This shot was taken after a midnight baking session with my new indoor lights.
I struggled to capture that moment. The moment when the souffle reached the highest peak. While the green tea souffle was in the oven, I prepared styling, composition, camera setting… and I thought I was ready. However, when the food gets placed into the location for the camera, there was always something I need to adjust. And every second that goes by, the souffle starts to slowly deflate. This dessert has a mind of its own and doesn’t wait for me.
Next time I baked during the day time and tried with natural light. I had to run to “the studio” in my living room where I get good natural light. Ran as fast as I could, with the souffle in my hand. Hurry, hurry, click, click, click… And here’s the result I ended up with.
Deflated a little bit. But honestly, this is the best I could do with my current baking & photography skills.
We tested the recipe several times and made several more rounds of scuffles in order to shoot for video and photography. Although we love this green tea souffle very much, if Mr. JOC and I had to eat every single one we would have some serious calories to burn off (Didn’t I tell you I work out 5 days a week? Now you know why!). We fed our friends and relative through the recipe development process and the feedback was really awesome. They all loved it! By the way, if you really love matcha flavor, use 2 Tbsp of matcha as the recipe calls for; otherwise, you can decrease to 1 Tbsp.
Lastly, I have one important thing to say about this recipe. Use a kitchen scale (highly recommend for perfect result) and follow the recipe as precisely as you could before adapting. For all the recipes on Just One Cookbook, I tested many times until the result satisfies me. This is a simple recipe, yet I’d say it’s not so easy to make it right.
I hope you will enjoy making this Green Tea Souffle recipe! If you try it, don’t forget to share your picture on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with #JustOneCookbook. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!
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Green Tea souffle
Video
Ingredients
For coating ramekins:
- ½ Tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 4 tsp sugar
For the custard:
- 150 ml milk
- 100 ml heavy (whipping) cream
- 3 large yolks
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1-2 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) (1 Tbsp matcha is 6 g)
For the meringue:
- 3 large egg whites
- 4 Tbsp sugar
For dusting:
- 1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar/powdered sugar
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). You will need 4 4 oz (1/2 cup) ramekins.
- For the ramekins: Brush the ramekins with butter, using upward strokes. Put 1 tsp sugar in each ramekin and rotate the ramekin to dust the insides with sugar. Remove excess sugar from the ramekin and chill in the refrigerator to set (This gives the souffle something to grip on to as the batter climbs up the sides of the ramekins during baking.).
- For the custard: In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together.
- Sift the flour into the egg mixture and mix well.
- Heat the milk and heavy cream in a small saucepan until almost boiling.
- Add a splash of hot milk mixture into the egg mixture and whisk well until the mixture is smooth.
- Then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk mixture.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Whisk the mixture ALL TIMES over a medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes until thickened and smooth. KEEP WHISKING during this process otherwise your custard will overcook and become clumpy.
- When the custard has thickened, immediately transfer to a bowl (otherwise remaining heat from the saucepan will “overcook” the mixture). Cover with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature for about 30 minutes (or you can put it in the fridge to make this process faster).
- Once the custard has cool down, sift matcha green tea powder into the custard.
- For the meringue: Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl till bubbles start to form (Kitchen Aid mixer Level 3 for 2 minutes).
- Start adding sugar gradually a spoonful at a time. Once you add all the sugar, increase the speed to Level 8 and whisk to make a firm, glossy meringue, about 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk ⅓ of the meringue into the custard and mix until homogenous.
- Very carefully fold in the rest of the meringue using a rubber spatula. Do not over mix.
- Divide the souffle mix into 4 ramekins. Tap them on the work surface to level the mixture and run the thumb around the edge.
- Place the ramekins on a baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and slightly golden on top. The souffle should wobble gently in the middle when it’s ready.
- Dust with powder sugar and place on a plate. Serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for 2 days.
I will just stare at the photo for a while….what a thing of beauty! I know how difficult it is to master a soufflé. That is probably on my bucket list! Thank you for sharing the technique and the video!
Hi Donna! Thank you so much for your kind words! Indeed, it is very hard to master it. Hope I can easily make this one day. 😀 Thanks for watching the video too!
Nami,
Thank you so much for your weekend blog posts. I always look forward to it. I especially love the music you use. Where do you find them? They are always so perfect.
Hi Aiko! Thank you so much for following my blog posts! The music is from Audio Network (http://us.audionetwork.com/). We actually spend quite some time to get a good music for each video. 😀
Hi Nami, I have been reading your blog for a few months and have tried some of your recipes. My daughter loved all of them！Every dish is so beautifully presented. Tracking your blog posts becomes one of my daily rountines. Will try the green tea souffle！Great pic！
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for following my blog and trying my recipes. I’m so happy to hear your daughter enjoys them. 🙂 Good luck with green tea souffle – it’s not one of easy recipes but the taste is amazing! Thanks for writing. 🙂 xo
The photo looks gorgeous; the top looks crusty and tempting, like I want to dig right into the soft delicious souffle.
Thank you so much, Julie! I wish I can send you some! 🙂
Hi, I thought it may be of interest to you, seeing that you have a copy right on your photos. I have seen your souffle in somebodies instagram gallery. I have discovered he has many photos he has used and indirectly claims to be his. I have seen many on cooking web sites. I believe this is plagiarism. It may not worry you but I can give you his IG account if you wish. Why am I concerned? I believe he is deceiving a friend of mine.
Hope you reply either way to me thank you
Thank you Graeme! Would you email me with the IG account to nami@justonecookbook.com? Thank you!!
Hey Nami,
thanks for this recipe I cannot wait to try this souffle 🙂
By the way I tried to find some kind of suggestion page on your website, but couldn’t find one, so I`ll just throw it out there: Do you know how to make authentic Yatsuhashi?:) Sorry, I just couldn’t forgive myself to to have asked, just love your recipes 😀
Hi Stefan! I hope you enjoy this recipe! I’ll add Yatsuhashi to my list of recipes to share on JOC. Thank you for your request! I never thought of making Yatsuhashi at home…but living far from Japan, it makes sense to make it at home! 😀
Can I replace double cream with butter?
Hi Caphie! Hmmm I don’t think so… It’s very important to follow the recipe to get the good result in baking. 🙂
Hi Naomi: thank you so much for sharing this beautiful recipe. However, when you say “bake for 12-15 minutes”, can you please tell me the baking temperature of the oven? Sorry I’m totally new to baking…thanks in advance!!
Hi Lumica! I mentioned in Step 1 (preheat oven to 390F) but it doesn’t have a step by step picture for this step so you probably didn’t see the line. I’m sorry my instruction wasn’t clear. 🙂
Thank you for the reply! My bad I missed the first step…Thanks again, and have a great day:)
Hi Nami,
May I know inside should be soft? The whole soufflé should be soft or creamy?
Hi Alice, yes inside of souffle is soft and airy and top is fluffy… it’s hard to describe this heavenly delicious dessert. 🙂
Thank you for reply me, just saw your blog a few days ago, found your recipe is quite nice.. I like your recipe, but some don’t have video on it, its better to with a video on, is easier for those are a new baker. Lastly can I be your friend? Cos I love Japanese food very much, but its difficult to do… You stay at japan now? I stay at Singapore.
Thank you so much Alice! I started my YouTube channel 1.5 years ago (I’ve been blogging for the past 4 years), so my earlier recipes don’t have videos. I live in San Francisco now. 🙂 Feel free to email me if you have any questions, or we can connect via Instagram and twitter. 🙂
Dear Nami,
How can I find you in twitter?
It’s @justonecookbook. 🙂
Thanks, I just saw your handmade udon noodle in twitter.. Is so easy to do, if I use dashi soup to cook the noodle, need to put others ingredients? Have to cook how long then transfer to cold water? U just look so sweet in the video..
You don’t have to include any ingredient (we call it “Kake Udon” for just soup only). I wrote in the Udon Noodle post but you cook for 10-12 minutes for these homemade noodles (depending on thickness of course). 🙂
I was wondering if you know of anything that can replace heavy whipping cream? In Norway we really don’t have that sold anywhere, I do have common whipping cream though? Do you think that would work..?
Hi Lise! Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream here is about 36% fat. In Norway, what’s the fat % for the common whipping cream? If it’s similar, it should work. 🙂
Dear Nami,
Your souffle looks wonderful! But I just tried making this souffle and it was shrinking in seconds after I took it out of the oven. I didn’t really know what the cause probably was. Could it be the mixture was overmix? I baked according to the directions and the inside was still raw I guess.
Thanks before 🙂
Hi Soca! Thank you very much! Mine doesn’t shrink right away (but the height was much taller when I take them out), so my guess was that you could over-beaten the meringue. It shouldn’t be fluffy, but not liquid… each oven is different, so please try adjusting the cooking time or oven temp. A lot of people have tried this recipe already and came out well, so hopefully yours will come out well next time if you try. Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
Hi Celeste! I’m glad yours came out well and it rose nicely too! I get a little bit more than 16 oz of mixture too, so I use smaller ramekins I have to make mini ones. I didn’t want to increase the amount as it’s not significantly a lot of leftover… レシピ作ってくれてありがとう！
Hi, I can’t wait to try the green tea souffle. I just ordered the tea today.
Thank you for the great receipes to try.
Hi Alexandria! Many of my readers really enjoyed this recipe and I hope you will too! 🙂
Hi, Nami-san!
I was just wondering whether this recipe will make the souffle a bit gooey in the middle. I have not made a souffle before but when I searched up images, it showed the inside was a bit gooey and according to some websites, it’s meant to be (?). I’m not really sure but I’m curious to know what the inside will be like. Gooey or not though, I love matcha and anything sweet!
Hi Megumi! If I understand the English word “gooey” correctly, I wouldn’t describe the inside texture of souffle as “gooey”… It’s more like airy, fluffy, soft, silky… along that line. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Thanks and sorry for the confusion :p. As in gooey, I meant like, “undercooked” in a way. Well, I guess it depends on the person who makes it and what ingredients, how much time, etc. Anyways, thanks a lot!
Hello, I’ve made this recipe twice and each time it made a minimum of 50% more in volume than you suggest. For example you said 4 1/2 cup vessels. I easily made 6 with some left over. Don’t know why but the only other comment is WOW, it’s delightful and worthy of serving at the finest of dinners. Also, you could make this several hours ahead of time, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. I did this and then just popped them in the oven as we were cleaning the table preparing for dessert.
Hi David! I think it depends on meringue – and it happened to me too! I made the leftover in smaller ramekins. More the air in the meringue, you get more volume, so that’s why it might end up with different result. But I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for your tip on making several hours ahead of time. It’s good to know it works! 🙂
Hi hi, if I intend to make only 2 soufflés , is it OK if I just divide all ingredients by 2? Thanks!
Hi Maggie! Well, technically you can, but it’s hard to divide this recipe, when it requires 3 egg yolks…. I generally don’t like to “divide” unless it’s easy to cut ingredients in half. How big is your souffle dish? I wrote 4, but you can get extra with this recipe, so you might be able to do by divide by 3. Sugar etc should be easier as it doesn’t have to be super precise… 🙂
Great! Thanks Nami. Can’t wait to try this 🙂
Oh my ramekin is 10×7 cm .. is that the same size as yours?
Hi Maggie! Sorry for my late response.
My ramekin is this: http://amzn.to/1U2XW8t
This looks so good! Are we supposed to double the amount of heaving whipping cream to 200 mL?
Hi Kazue! Do you mean by….
100 ml heavy whipping cream (double cream)
Sorry for confusion. I just omitted “double cream” in the recipe. My readers in UK told me they call “double cream” for heavy whipping cream in the US. 🙂
Hi!
Ohhh i see! Thank you for replying back so soon! I made these yesterday using 100 mL and it was delicious! Thank you for the recipe! Sorry for the misunderstanding!
Glad you tried the recipe with 100ml and enjoyed it. Thank you for letting me know! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Just a quick question, can I substitute green tea with chocolate ?
Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth! Maybe try this Chocolate Souffle recipe instead? 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/chocolate-souffle/
I didn’t realize you have the chocolate souffle. Thank you Nami 🙂
Enjoy! 🙂
My 12yr old niece and I made this and it was so delicious! The video was helpful, especially for my niece is new to baking.
We only had 8oz ramekins so we doubled the recipe since it was intended for 4oz ramekins but in the end we wound up with way more. We’re not complaining but couldn’t explain how that happened unless our meringue was too fluffy?
Hi Wendy! I adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s Raspberry souffle (link in recipe Note), and I did also have some extra. Next time I make this, I’ll check on the exact final amount and update the serving list. Thank you for trying thi srecipe with your niece! So happy to hear yours came out well! 🙂
Do you think you can substitute elderberry powder in for the green tea in this recipe?
Hi Fran! I’ve never tried elderberry powder before so I can’t quite say how it’s like to be in souffle… sorry! The portion of matcha may not work well with elderberry powder too… too little too much.. i can’t tell without testing the recipe…. Sorry I can’t answer to your question.
Dear Nami,
I would like to ask, what if I replace the granulated sugar with cane sugar, would you know if it would affect the texture of meringue or soufflé in any way?
Thanks and can’t wait to try!
PS would u consider making cheese Souffle and chocolate molten lava in the future! I trust and love following your recipes!
Cheers and have a great day!
Hi Amanda! To make meringue, it’s recommended to use fine granulated sugar so that sugar is dissolved fast and well. Well that’s kind of a common knowledge so I had never attempted to try…. but you never know until you give it a try. It may work without any issues (or it may fail) but you just have to try once! 😀
Thank you for your request! I’ll put them down in my to do. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thanks for your prompt reply. Yes I know it’s common knowledge, just trying my luck to see if anyone knows the effect of cane sugar on meringue. I think it’ll probably not work ????
Thank you once again and look forward to your upcoming recipes!
Lots of love, Amanda
This was my first time making souffles, and I was so happy with how they turned out! The matcha flavor was too strong though, but that’s my fault. I used up the rest of my matcha in the recipe and it was a bit more than the suggested amount. This made the taste a bit too bitter. But otherwise, yum!
Hi Colleen! Thank you for your feedback. I also want to mention that the quality of matcha affects the bitterness and color. Higher grade it is, it’s nice green color and less bitter taste. 🙂 Glad your souffle came out well. Thank you again for trying this recipe!
Hi! It’s so yummy! Thank you so much! Is it ok to premix the souffle mix a day or few hours ahead of time? Will it rise properly? Thanks a lot for this wonderful recipe again!!!
Hi Katie! Sorry about my previous comment. I was responding to many souffle cheesecake questions one after another that I thought you were also asking about souffle cheesecake I apologize it didn’t make sense.
Souffle – you have to make on the same day (obviously) and ideally you want to prepare everything at one go, but if you really need some time away from making, then I would make batter first. Then beat and add egg white before baking. I’ve never done it myself, and I hope that will work. 🙂
Thank you for taking time to reply, Nami! You’re awesome 🙂
I just made this and it turned out so great, especially since it was my first time ever making ever souffle!! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
Hi Alanna! I’m so glad to hear yours came out well! Thanks for trying my recipe and for your kind feedback. xoxo
Hi Nami,
Love your cookbook!
Can I use this matcha souffle recipe but substitute cocoa powder for the matcha powder?
I know you have a chocolate souffle recipe, but I want to use up my whipping cream at home and also I only want to make 4 ramekin servings.
Thanks!
Wendy
Hi Wendy! Thank you so much! I think so – if you decide to try, let us know! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe! I’ve made it several times for my family and every time it comes out beautifully and delicious. Definitely have the same problem as others with consistency in amount made, but having a little extra is no problem!
Hi Will! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I’m happy to hear you and your family enjoyed it. I’ll double-check the amount next time I make – I remember I had excess but not enough for one more…
Hi Nami,
I tried making this souffle. The texture and taste were right and my boyfriend and I really liked it!
I’m hoping to make it again for other people but the souffle didn’t look too pretty. It deflated a lot when I took it out of the oven and there are cracks along the top of the souffle. Do you know how to address this issue? I only have a hand mixer that’s set from 0 – 6.
What type of milk am I supposed to use for this souffle? I used 1% earlier.
Thanks for the recipe!
Kris
Hi Kris! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! A hand mixer is totally okay, but it takes a much longer time to whip egg whites. Since you said it deflated fast, I think 1) meringue was over/under whipped. 2) maybe it wasn’t baked enough (undercooked?) so the structure collapsed immediately after the temperature change. As for milk, I typically use whole milk for making desserts. I hope the next one will be perfect! 🙂
Hi Nami! This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it! My only question is, can I make the mixture the day before? I was hoping I could have all of the ramekins prepared ahead of time, then bake them when I need them! If you don’t think this will work, can you recommend a traditional Japanese dessert that can be prepared ahead of time? (I’ve made your mochi ice cream many times and absolutely love it, but I wanted to try something different!). Thank you!
Hi Jaime! Unfortunately, souffle batter needs to go into the oven immediately while the air bubbles are incorporated in the egg whites. So you can’t leave it out in the fridge overnight. That air is necessary for the souffle to rise.
How about these? They are relatively easy and you can make ahead:
Dorayaki: https://www.justonecookbook.com/dorayaki-japanese-red-bean-pancake/
Castella: https://www.justonecookbook.com/castella/
Matcha Marble Pound Cake: https://www.justonecookbook.com/matcha-marble-pound-cake/
Sweet Potato Pie: https://www.justonecookbook.com/sweet-potato-pie/
Souffle Cheesecake: https://www.justonecookbook.com/souffle-japanese-cheesecake/
Purin: https://www.justonecookbook.com/no-bake-creme-caramel/
Matcha Madeleines: https://www.justonecookbook.com/green-tea-madeleine/
Thanks for making my mochi ice cream so many times! 🙂
Thanks, Nami! I might tackle the Dorayaki (or even the Purin Dora!)… I also found your green tea pudding which looks delicious!
Great! Hope you enjoy making them! 🙂
I’ve never made a soufflé, but have always wanted to try. This week I was trying to make Matcha desserts, I made my own matcha cheesecake with a chocolate crust, along with a few others when I saw your recipe for the soufflé. So for the first time I decided to not only make a soufflé but to try a matcha soufflé lol. Thank you so much, you made it look so easy. I was a little nervous, but it turned out amazing.
Hi Michelle, We are glad to hear it turned out amazing! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!