Ombre Matcha Lemon Cake

I'm adjusting to life in Botswana in my first week. While many people were like "Gosh, you're in the middle of nowhere in Africa, there must be nothing there," it's not as destitute as it sounds. Gaborone is the capital, so it's got what I need, material wise.

People wise though ... one thing about not knowing a single person in an entire continent is it can be lonely. Because of the time difference (7-9 hours), the lack of having a cellular data internationally, and our very spotty internet/electricity, it's hard to videochat or facetime with people from home.

I work at the pediatric HIV clinic with Botswana doctors, and I'm the only medical student there. While official business is conducted in English, at lunch the staff chatter away in the native tongue of Setswana, and the doctors hardly eat lunch. There are a few other US expats, but all are fresh college grads who are in the (nonmedical) volunteer / social support aspect of the clinic, so I don't see or work with them.
The first day, I had no money (I could not find a place to get/exchange Botswana pulas until in Botswana), no food, no idea where to walk for work, all no sleep (plus jetlag) since I arrived at midnight after 36 hrs of travel.

Luckily, kind people drove me, helped me get food and money, and introduced me to locals and suggested where to go/what to do. As the first week has passed by, I've adjusted and gotten to know people, local and expat, and everyone has been friendly. I'm not sure in America if people would go out of their way to help strangers.
I made this cake right before leaving for Botswana. Cake is such a social dessert since I always have to share it (I'd rather not eat a whole cake myself!) For my 25th birthday, my parents drove to visit, bringing me an amazing matcha lemon cake from Whole Foods that's been on my inspiration bucket list. I was delighted to work with Aiya matcha to make this awesome ombre matcha lemon cake.

This cake was a hassle (even more so than the pain it takes to make layer cakes in general) since I had to make the frosting three times. The first - a lemoncurd whipped cream - was my favorite tastewise, but much too soft for layering and made a mess. The second was to be a buttercream whipped cream that, alas, curdled and had to be tossed. The last was this lemon curd cream cheese filling that finally held up.

Ombre cakes are adorable, but it also definitely takes effort making sure the colors come out. Hopefully you can see the color gradient. You can certainly taste the stronger matcha flavor at the bottom!
I gave this cake to many friends - my roommate, who is kindly putting up with a subletter in my room this month; two who had birthdays that week (one who took his boards on his birthday!); my biking buddy who had to rescue me with a completely torn flat tire in the middle of the night shortly before I left for Africa (what a stressor! But now I know how to change a tire on an SUV); and a family friend who just started at my medical school (I am so excited to see the new baby first years start their journey!). As for my poor long-distance fiance, I could only text a picture, whose jealous belly is too far away, hehe.

So this cake has quite a few ties to my family and friends, and it makes me happy to even type this post up. I'm enjoying my adventure, but there's nothing like calling home when you're lost in the middle of a new world. Adapted from Allrecipes and Joy of Baking.

The wonderful matcha is from Aiya matcha - no food coloring needed. All post content is my own opinion. Enjoy!

Ombre Matcha Lemon Cake

Ingredients
MATCHA CAKE
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or 50/50 all purpose and cake flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes before turning out of the pans.

LEMON FILLING: In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar, lemon juice, butter until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture thickens to a yogurt consistency, ~10 minutes. Let cool at room temperature then refrigerate; the lemon curd will continue to thicken. Beat cream cheese with confectioner's sugar in another bowl, and combined mixture with the lemon curd - this will help it firm for assembly.

ASSEMBLY: When the cakes are completely cooled, stack the 3 cakes and spread a thin layer of lemon curd in between. Top the cake with whipped cream and dust with matcha for garnish. Tip: Freezing for a few hours can help keep slices neat.

For the ombre version, stir in a small amount (about 1/2 teaspoon) of matcha and pour 1/3 of the batter into a prepared pan. Add in more matcha into the remaining batter and stir until it's a darker green. Add 1/3 into another pan. Then add the remaining matcha into the batter, and pour the last 1/3 into the final pan - this should be the darkest green color. Adjust color with matcha as desired.