Our matcha cheesecake recipe makes a sweet, creamy dessert with a mellow earthiness from green tea. With just the right amount of green tea powder and cream cheese, this Japanese green tea dessert is light, fluffy, and screams luxury.
We experimented with different cream bases to perfect our recipe with the right creamy texture without tasting overly decadent or overpowering.
Jump to:
Matcha Cheesecake Ingredients
To make our Japanese green tea cheesecake recipe, you will need:
- Graham crackers or Digestive Biscuits
- salt
- unsalted butter, melted
- matcha powder, culinary grade
- heavy cream
- cream cheese
- plain greek yoghurt
- icing sugar
- vanilla extract
Graham Crackers
If you don't have graham crackers, you can use digestive biscuits to make the crust. You can also use crumbled biscuits, wafer cookies, ice cream cones, or cornflakes as a base for the matcha cheesecake. For a gluten-free option, you can use any gluten-free biscuits. Feel free to try out different crusts.
Matcha
Ceremonial-grade matcha powder will taste amazing in our matcha cheesecake recipe. However, using a large amount in one go can get quite expensive. So, we usually use culinary-grade matcha in our dessert recipes, which is more affordable and still provides that earthy umami flavour.
Culinary-grade is typically less expensive and intended for lattes, smoothies, baked goods, and other recipes. It has a more robust, less subtle flavour meant to stand up to other ingredients. We recommend using high-quality culinary-grade matcha powder for a vibrant green colour and the best results.
Cream Cheese
Although cream cheese is the main ingredient for our matcha cheesecake recipe, you can still try out different alternatives. For example, if you want a lower-calorie option, you can substitute cream cheese with cottage cheese, ricotta, Greek yoghurt, and Mascarpone cheese.
Vanilla Extract
Vanilla extract adds a delicious fragrance and sweetness that complements both matcha and cream cheese.
Icing Sugar
We recommend using icing sugar so that it would easily dissolve in the cheesecake mixture and there will be no lumps. However, you can opt for granulated sugar if you don't have any icing sugar, but the texture may not be as smooth.
Heavy cream
For heavy cream, we used fresh double cream because we like its thicker texture. You can use single cream or fresh whipping cream, too, but we recommend increasing the amount to about 150 g instead.
Easy Matcha Cheesecake Recipe No Bake
Ingredients
Base
- 150 g Graham crackers digestive biscuits
- 75 g unsalted butter melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Matcha cheesecake filling
- 4 teaspoon matcha powder
- 125 g heavy cream
- 250 g cream cheese
- 50 g plain greek yoghurt
- 75 g icing sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Equipment
Cooking Instructions
- Using a rolling pin and vacuum-sealed bag, crush the graham crackers or biscuits in the bag until they become fine. You can also use a food processor if you prefer.
- Add the crushed biscuits in a mixing bowl and stir in salt and melted butter. Mix well until well combined. The final texture should resemble wet sand. If it's too dry, add more melted butter and mix again.
- Transfer the base to a parchment-lined cake pan. Then, firmly press the base to form an even layer.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream until medium to stiff peaks form. You can use a hand whisk or mixer.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cream cheese, Greek yoghurt, icing sugar, and vanilla extract using a spatula until well combined and consistent. Then, add the matcha powder to the cream cheese mixture. Make sure to use a fine mesh sieve when adding the green tea powder to ensure there are no lumps. Then, using a spatula, thoroughly mix them until well combined.
- Gently fold the whipped heavy cream into the green cream cheese mixture using a spatula until no streaks remain.
- Transfer the matcha cheesecake batter to the cake pan and smooth the top of the batter with a spatula. Place the cheesecake in the freezer for at least for 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove it from the freezer when ready to eat, and let it thaw for about 10 minutes. It will then be soft and nice to eat with a fork.
Recipe Notes
- If you're using sweetened Greek yoghurt, then consider reducing the amount of sugar you add.
- If you use ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese, substitute one 8-ounce block with 1 cup of soaked and well-drained ricotta cheese. Since our recipe calls for 17.6 oz of cream cheese, you will need 2 to 3 cups of ricotta cheese.
- The amount of sugar we used was adjusted for a cheesecake that was not very sweet. We like ours to be mildly sweet so that we can taste more of the matcha flavour. If you want it sweeter, add more sugar, but we suggest adding more matcha so that it balances well.
- If you want to cut them into slices, pour hot water over a sharp knife and use it to cut through the cheesecake about 5 minutes after you remove it from the freezer. At that time, it will not be ice hard anymore, but still hard enough that it'll be easy to cut through.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimate.
Cooking Tips
Remember a few tips for making a perfectly smooth matcha cheesecake.
Don't Overwhip Your Cream
Don't overwhip your heavy cream, as it will deflate and won't be airy.
We've seen some recipes call for adding matcha powder to heavy cream and whipping it. From our experience, this results in heavy cream that becomes too thick and hard to incorporate. So, we recommend combining the matcha powder with the cream cheese mixture first.
Sift The Matcha Powder
The green tea powder must be sifted! It is critical to sift the powder during mixing so it does not clump up in the cheesecake batter.
Can I Freeze Matcha Cheesecake?
Yes, you can freeze matcha cheesecake. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight before freezing.
Then freeze it whole or in slices for up to a few months. We recommend freezing the entire or sliced matcha cheesecake uncovered for a few hours before covering it tightly in plastic wrap and then foil to keep it smooth and attractive. If the slices are small enough, place them in an airtight container.
When ready to eat it again, let the green tea dessert thaw at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours. It would be best not to thaw it overnight at room temperature as this will make the dessert too soft and runny. Alternatively, you can thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
2 to 3 months is the safest choice for freezing homemade matcha cheesecakes. After three months, the likelihood of freezer burn or a loss in flavour or texture increases.
With just a few tweaks in the ingredients, you can turn this cake into your evening tea in no time. To make a sweet and delectable matcha cheesecake milk tea, leave off the crackers, butter, eggs, cornflour, and lemon juice. Combine all the other ingredients in a cup and top it with milk tea. Enjoy.
No-Bake Matcha Cheesecake (Vegan)
One of the best parts about our recipe is that you can swap out some ingredients for vegan choices if you're worried about matcha cheesecake calories. However, depending on your ingredients, the smoothness and mouse-like texture may differ from a non-vegan cake.
You can use coconut cream instead of heavy cream. However, it will give the cake a coconut flavour. You can replace cream cheese with tofu, but the only downside is that it provides bulk, which tofu lacks but absorbs water effectively. Add extra flour or cornflour to compensate when using tofu instead of cream cheese in our recipe.
You can substitute cream cheese with vegan cream cheese, and since this is a no-bake vegan matcha cheesecake, you can completely omit eggs.
Instead of baking it in the oven, cover the baking pan loosely with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 3-4 hours, or until firm.
How To Make a Baked Matcha Cheesecake
The main difference between our no-bake and baked matcha cheesecake is its texture. The baked green tea cake is often silkier and firmer.
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- 150 g Graham crackers
- 75g unsalted butter (melted)
- 250 g softened cream cheese
- 75 g icing sugar
- 50 g sour cream
- 125 g heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tsps matcha powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Prepare The Base
Now, let's look at how to make the cake. First, before preparing the base, you must preheat the oven to about 170°C (338°F).
For the base, you need to pulverise the graham crackers into crumbs by processing them in a food processor. Or, you can put the graham crackers in a sizable ziplock bag and crush it with a rolling pin as an alternative.
Then, microwave the butter for around 15-30 seconds to melt it. Add the butter to the graham cracker crumbs and mix until well blended.
Transfer the batter to an 8-inch buttered cake pan. Firmly press the crumbs into a flat, even layer. Use a smooth-bottomed tool like flat glass or measuring cup to create an even flatter layer. This ensures that the matcha cheesecake's base is tight and bumps-free.
Prepare The Cheese Batter
Now, it is time to prepare the matcha cheesecake batter. First, cream the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Then, reduce the mixer speed to low. While the mixer is on, add the sugar in three portions until mixed. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure that all the ingredients are evenly blended. Combine the sour cream, heavy cream, cornstarch vanilla extract, lemon juice, and salt when the mixer is on low speed.
Lightly beat the eggs in a measuring cup until just combined. When the mixer is on low speed, gradually add the lightly whisked eggs, ensuring each is thoroughly mixed before adding the next. Keep scraping the bowl's sides to ensure everything is thoroughly combined. The mixture should be smooth and silky. Avoid over-mixing the matcha cheesecake batter. When you overmix the batter, the emulsion can break and separate the ingredients, particularly the fat and liquid ones.
Using a fine mesh strainer, sift the green tea powder into the bowl. Then blend everything until it's smooth. At this point, there should not be any lumps in the batter.
Transfer the matcha cheesecake batter to the cake pan and smooth the top of the batter with a spatula. Please give it a few taps on your countertop to expel any air bubbles.
Bake The Cake
Put your cake pan in a large roasting pan or sheet cake pan. Fill the pan with hot water until it reaches about 2 cm on each side of the cake pan, and place the cake on the oven's centre rack. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off the heat and leave the oven for 30 minutes.
When it is done baking, turn the oven off. Then, run a small knife all around the edge of the cake to prevent it from sticking to the sides and cracking when it cools. After that, take the matcha cheesecake out of the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool fully.
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight, to allow the cheese to set before slicing and serving. Enjoy it by itself or with a cup of strawberry matcha latte.
Other Variations
You can make many variations of our matcha cheesecake with a few tweaks and substitutions.
Matcha White Chocolate Cheesecake
This variation of the green tea dessert is wonderfully creamy and rich, with a delicious, delicate white chocolate flavour that complements the green tea powder in the cheesecake filling perfectly. It has two layers: a white chocolate layer on top and a green tea layer on the bottom.
We love how this brings the typical bitter flavour of green tea and the sweetness of white chocolate, which balances out the flavours rather well.
Matcha Oreo Cheesecake
One of the most well-known variations, green tea and Oreos, complement each other surprisingly well. All you need to do is follow our Japanese matcha cheesecake recipe and use Oreos instead of graham crackers.
Green tea's bitterness tempers the richness of the Oreos and the cake. Furthermore, the Oreos provide a pleasant crunch to balance the creamy cheesecake filling.
Cream Cheese
Many recipes out there use Greek yoghurt or ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese. Greek yoghurt has a thicker and smoother texture, but remember to add more sugar because it contains no added sugars. When you use ricotta cheese, the texture of the matcha cheesecake will be lighter and the flavour richer, making it ideal for people looking for something different yet still tasty.
Are you wondering which of our recipes to try next? Subscribe to our Honest Food Talks YouTube channel for more inspiration.
Leave a Reply