Strawberry Matcha Mascarpone Dorayaki Recipe

This easy strawberry matcha mascarpone dorayaki recipe is perfect for both breakfast and dessert.

Made by sandwiching two fluffy, spongy pancakes with a sweet filling, dorayaki have been enjoyed in Japan since the early 1900s. While traditional Japanese dorayaki are usually filled with sweet red bean paste, you can find modern dorayaki with lots of different fillings these days.

My favourite shop-bought dorayaki in London are filled with matcha mascarpone and sweet red beans, which have been around for quite a few years in various Japanese shops here. The dorayaki pancakes are plain-flavoured, and sandwiches plenty of sweet matcha-flavoured and sweet red bean-studded mascarpone cream.

My version swaps the red beans for chopped fresh strawberries, making the process a little faster if you don't fancy cooking the red beans (or if you can't get your hands on sweet red beans). I also add matcha to the dorayaki pancakes for an even more intense matcha flavour.

My strawberry matcha mascarpone dorayaki are really quick and easy to make. You can skip the chilling part at the end, but I like to chill them for at least four hours to give the cream inside a chance to set, making them easier to slice / bite into without the cream squishing out the other end.

You can also watch me make this on YouTube:

Ready? Let's go.

(Makes about seven dorayaki.)

Ingredients for Pancakes:

140g self-raising flour
2 tsp matcha, sifted
2 tbsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp honey
100ml milk

Ingredients for Fillings:

150g mascarpone (full fat)
150ml double cream
45g caster sugar
180g strawberries, chopped

Method:

1. To make the pancakes for the matcha dorayaki, stir the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and make a little well in the middle of it.

2. Add the eggs and honey in the middle of the well, and gradually stir in the milk, working from the inside to the outside to avoid lumps. Stir until smooth and just combined.

3. Heat a little vegetable oil in a nonstick pan on medium heat and carefully wipe away the excess with kitchen paper.

4. Dollop even scoopfuls of the matcha dorayaki batter into the pan (I use an ice cream scoop to evenly portion the batter out), cooking the pancakes until bubbles form on the surface, then flipping to cook for a further minute.

5. Place the matcha pancakes on a wire rack to cool completely, covering with kitchen paper as they cool to stop them from drying out.

6. To make the filling, whisk the mascarpone, double cream and sugar together until thick and smooth, and fold in the chopped strawberries.

7. To assemble the strawberry matcha mascarpone dorayaki, sandwich two pancakes with a dollop of your filling (be careful not to overfill), pinch the edges shut and wrap tightly with clingfilm. Repeat until all the pancakes are used up, and pop the dorayaki in the fridge to chill overnight or at least for four hours. If you have any filling left, simply spoon it into ramekins and chill for an easy dessert tomorrow.

8. The next day, simply unwrap your dorayaki and eat.

Enjoy, and have fun.