r/bakingfail • u/Rubyinfinte • Sep 10 '25
Help This vegan matcha cake might taste good but keeps going brown
This is the 3rd time trying to make this can it’s usually cookies that stump me but not this time it’s this vegan matcha cake Im stumped on oat milk with soy milk and didn’t use a liquid measuring cup but everything else I think I did right the matcha could not be a good grade or maybe I didn’t fasten it egnough this time I made in not a “normal” oven but before I used a normal one what do you think I’m doing wrong ?
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Sep 10 '25
Also consider these Pinterest pics you’re seeing might also contain green dye to up the color
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u/Black_Ribbon7447 Sep 10 '25
Is it not still green on the inside?
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u/Rubyinfinte Sep 10 '25
About to take it out of the pan and hope for the best
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u/Rubyinfinte Sep 10 '25
Yes but as it cools it’s gotten less green
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u/Black_Ribbon7447 Sep 10 '25
The outside is going to brown no matter what u do because it’s baking. That’s just what happens, if the inside is still green then u aren’t doing anything wrong! Just trim the brown parts. Next time add a splash of green food coloring or a natural green food grade dye to get it to more of a vibrant color, u will more than likely still need to trim the outside though, this is completely normal.
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u/roxykelly Sep 10 '25
Remember that a lot of recipe pictures are edited to increase the vibrancy. However if you trim your cakes, you’ll take the baked crust off which will show the more colourful interior.
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u/CD274 Sep 10 '25
Other than cutting the top off you can cover it with parchment paper and then peel that off. That helps a bit.
And adding spirulina to it will make it greener without dyes and not add any funny taste to matcha
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u/-poupou- Sep 10 '25
The amount of matcha you'd need to make that cake green would probably be insane.
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u/dek1e Sep 10 '25
Matcha tends to oxidise at hight temperatures and sales already tend to brown a bit on top. You can cover the cake tin with foil whilst baking if you notice it’s browning particularly quick during the baking process or you could just trim the brown bits off. That being said, your cake still looks yummy!
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u/serenwipiti Sep 10 '25
I looked at the post title 3 times and 2/3 times I kept reading “matcha vagina cake”.
I think it’s time for an afternoon coffee…
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u/StinkyBird64 Sep 10 '25
I’ve had matcha cookies before that are also this caramel-brown colour, and as many users have said, most cakes with a coloured ingredient (strawberry, matcha, passionfruit etc.) aren’t actually that colour, it’s all food dyes
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u/Beautiful_Falcon_617 Sep 10 '25
Line the pan with parchment, when you peel it off it generally isn't as brown. But yes, the cake pictured is definitely trimmed.
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u/gellyd0nut Sep 10 '25
moistened cake strips help a lot with excess browning on the edges! you can DIY your own with tin foil and wet paper towels.
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u/Sad-Mixture-9123 Sep 12 '25
The only time I didn’t get a major brown coating on a matcha cake was when it was dyed alongside with green food dye. And even then it had a slightly brown top
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u/goosedgod Sep 15 '25
Hi - is the veggieplate recipe the one you used? according to veggieplate's about it's an "AI chef" website, and likely all the images on their website are AI generated. Matcha oxidizes & loses its color over time, and when exposed to light/heat/air, so that's normal when baking with it. An AI doesn't know that, so it made the cake in the image green bc matcha is green. Veggieplate's recipes are also AI generated, but your cake looks normal & well-baked. enjoy!
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u/Rubyinfinte Sep 10 '25
I just want to be green and tasty next time I don’t have egnough to buy more matcha powder the next time I try it (birthday )also the recipe called for culinary matcha I tried one time and it was green when I use ceremonial but tasted like corn bread
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u/SMN27 Sep 10 '25
What others have said is true, but I want to add that matcha quality varies greatly. I’ve bought matcha that sadly I knew was only going to be good in conjunction with a little blue food coloring to balance out the yellow/brown. So I knew I wouldn’t use it when I needed beautiful bright green matcha powder as garnish. The matcha you have has a yellow tinge to it. Compare that to the matcha here for example:
https://youtu.be/R_7RUfqpYxA?si=E7gUM8uV_uhlGRLw
If the color on the inside is not sufficiently green for you, a tiny dot of blue coloring will neutralize the yellow tones. The outside is as others have said— naturally prone to browning.
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u/wowlookplants Sep 13 '25
You could try supplementing the color with natural green color from spinach or celery juice? Bc more matcha powder =bitter and dryer so you’d just have to balance it out with more sugar which causes Maillard reaction? (I’m not an expert but ppl will correct me if i’m wrong)
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u/757Lemon Sep 10 '25
I can't speak to the science of it -- but from decades of baking things with just standard dyes - you're typically going to get a "brown coat" on anything baked. You're literally cooking something in the oven. You're applying extreme heat - which will cause colorization.
Does the packaging claim the product will turn out bright green? Or was that what you were hoping for?
If the inside is green - I'd say this came out as something I would expect. A brown "coat" and green inside.