Banana Matcha Imagawayaki Recipe

This banana matcha imagawayaki recipe is perfect for breakfast.

Originally from Japan, imagawayaki (also known as wheel cakes or obanyaki) are thick pancakes sandwiched with a sweet or savoury filling. Traditionally this filling is sweet red bean paste, but these days you can get everything from chocolate to cheese and tuna inside.

For my wheel cake recipe, I've stuffed mine with banana and matcha custard. The bananas go deliciously gooey while cooking inside the cakes – make sure you're using a really ripe banana for maximum sweetness.

This blog post includes affiliate links to a wheel cake iron on Amazon, which just means that if you buy it using my link, Amazon pays me a little commission. You won't pay any extra because it comes out of Amazon, and you don't have to use the link to buy it – but if you do, I very much appreciate it.

This iron is a stovetop one, whereas mine is an electric one that I bought from China. Occasionally I see them pop up on Amazon too though, so keep an eye out.

You can also see how I make these on my YouTube video:

Ready? Let's go.

Ingredients for Matcha Custard:

2 tsp matcha
250ml milk
35g custard powder
40g caster sugar
25g melted unsalted butter
Pinch of salt

Ingredients for Wheelcakes:

110g self-raising flour
1 tbsp matcha, sifted
2 tbsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
130ml milk

Filling and Toppings:

1 ripe banana, sliced
Banana chips

Method:

1. To make the custard, whisk half of the milk with the matcha powder until smooth. Mix it together with the other ingredients, then place in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until very thick.

2. Scrape into a bowl, cover with clingfilm to prevent a skin from forming, and set aside to cool.

3. In a separate large bowl, place all the dry ingredients into the bowl, and gradually stir in the wet ingredients until smooth.

4.  Brush a little oil onto your wheel cake pan or machine, and preheat it. Place a banana chip on the bottom of each hole, and then half-fill the holes with wheel cake batter. In half of them, place a couple of slices of banana and a level tablespoonful of matcha custard.

5. Cook for about two minutes, then flip the 'empty' sides wet-side-down on top of the 'filled' sides. Cook for a further minute, carefully flip the whole cakes over to the other side to cook for one last minute, then lift out to cool on a wire rack. Repeat with the rest of the wheel cake batter and custard, and eat your wheel cakes while warm.

Enjoy, and have fun.

Link to a stovetop wheel cake iron: https://amzn.to/36xnLZ2