Vietnamese Baked Honeycomb Pandan Cake (Bánh Bò Nướng Trứng Rễ Tre Lá Dứa)

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What is Bánh Bò Nướng?

Bánh Bò Nướng (or Bánh Bò NướnTrứng Rễ Tre Lá Dứa) is a delicious Vietnamese baked honeycomb pandan cake. It is made primarily with pandan, eggs, coconut milk, rice flour and tapioca starch.

The cake has a light, springy, and airy texture with a burst of pandan and coconut flavor.

Enjoy it on its own as a tasty dessert or serve with a side of sweetened coconut milk sauce, chopped roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds.

Tips for Preventing the Cake from Collapsing

The cake is baked to create a honeycomb pattern, which is the hardest part of this recipe. But fear not!

Here are some tips to keep in mind when making this cake. These tips will ensure that your cake does not collapse and that you get the perfect honeycomb texture each and every time.

Do not overmix the batter. Overmixing the batter will make the cake tough and dense. Instead, mix the batter until just combined.

Warm the cake pan. Bake the cake pan in the oven first to get it nice and hot before adding batter. This will give the batter a head start to rise once it hits the pan.

Do not grease the pan. The parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan will be enough to easily remove the cake. But do not grease or butter the sides of the pan. We want the cake to stick to the sides for the next tip to work properly.

Let the cake cool upside down in the warm oven. Immediately removing the cake from the hot oven to cooler temperature will cause it to collapse and the hot temperature will meld the layers together. What you will end up with is a dense cake. To prevent this from happening, turn off the oven immediately when you are done baking. Flip the cake upside down. This will allow gravity to keep the air pockets open and wide. Make sure it doesn't crush the top. Put the cake back in the oven to cool down gradually. Don’t worry. It will not overbake the cake.

If we have greased the sides of the pan, the cake may fall right out when flipped upside down. A good nonstick cake pan will also work as it will still stick slightly.

The ingredients you will need to make Bánh Bò Nướng: sugar, coconut milk, pandan juice, pandan extract paste, tapioca starch, rice flour, salt, butter, eggs and whipping cream.

What You Will Need

Pandan leaves — The vanilla bean of the East. Blend it with water to get pandan juice that will be used to flavor the cake and to give it a light, but dull, green color. If you don’t have pandan leaves, you can mix together water and pandan extract.

Pandan extract paste — A concentrated form of pandan flavor. It can be found in most Asian grocery stores. In addition to the pandan leaves, we use a bit of pandan extract to provide a more vibrant green color to the cake. Look for the Butterfly brand pandan extract which is a thin paste rather than a liquid.

Coconut milk — Unsweetened coconut milk gives the cake a rich, creamy flavor.

Heavy whipping cream — Heavy whipping cream is used to make the batter richer and more decadent. If you don’t have this, replace with more coconut milk.

Butter — Unsalted melted butter will provide more richness and add more flavor to the cake.

Tapioca starch — Tapioca starch is made from the cassava plant that creates the honeycomb texture when baked.

Rice flour — The all-purpose flour of the East. It’s used to add body to the cake and to help it hold its shape. Make sure you get regular rice flour and not glutinous rice flour. Regular rice flour is simply labeled rice flour.

Baking powder — A leavening agent that helps the cake rise. Make sure you get double-acting powder for this recipe.

Eggs — To bind the ingredients together and to give the cake its structure.

Sugar — I’m using granulated white cane sugar for sweetness.

Salt — Salt is used to enhance and balance the flavors in the cake. I’m using fine ground sea salt.

Equipment You Will Need

8 or 9 inch cake pan — The cake pan needs to be at least 2.5 inches in height so that the cake has enough room to rise without spilling over. You can use either a round or square pan.

Parchment paper — Parchment paper is used to line the bottom of the cake pan. This makes it easier to remove the cake from the pan after it is baked.

Fine-mesh strainer — The fine-sieve strainer is used to remove the lumps from the batter.

How to Make It

Step 1: Make the pandan/coconut mixture

Cut the leaves into small strips with a pair of scissors. Add the leaves and water into a blender and blend until smooth. Strain and discard pulp. Add additional water to the pandan juice to get exactly ½ cup.

Don’t have pandan leaves? No problem. Simply mix together ½ cup water and pandan extract.

Mix pandan water with pandan extract paste, coconut milk, and whipping cream until well combined. Set aside.

Step 2: Make the batter

In a large bowl, break the yolks with a whisk and mix lightly. It's okay if there are large clumps of eggs. It will be strained later.

Eggs in mixing bowl. Mix the eggs lightly. No need to beat until smooth. — Mix the eggs lightly. No need to beat until smooth.

Mix in sugar, tapioca starch, rice flour, salt, baking powder, melted butter and the pandan mixture until well combined. The batter will be lumpy.

Banh Bo Nuong batter. Add the other ingredients to make the batter. It should look like this clumpy mess. — Add the other ingredients to make the batter. It should look like this clumpy mess.

Pour the batter through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl to remove any lumps, making sure to scrap the bottom of the strainer. Cover the mixture and let it bloom for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Banh Bo Nuong Batter. Pass it through a fine mesh strainer until smooth. — Pass it through a fine mesh strainer until smooth.

Once strained, the batter should be smooth and silky. If not, keep passing the batter through the strainer until it becomes free of lumps.

Smooth banh bo nuong batter — How the batter should look at the end. Very smooth.

Step 3: Prepare the oven and cake pan

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a deep 8 or 9 inch round nonstick cake pan with parchment paper. Bake the pan by itself at 350°F for 15 minutes to make the pan hot.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Pour the batter into the pan. You can strain it one last time directly into the hot pan to ensure no lumps. Gently shake it back and forth to even out the top.

I’m using a round spring form below that allows me to detach the sides, but it’s not required.

Spring form pan lined with parchment paper

Straining the batter one last time into the hot cake pan

Step 5: Bake

Bake for 50 minutes to one hour at 350°F, or until a skewer or chopstick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn off heat.

Step 6: Flip the cake

To prevent the cake from collapsing, carefully flip the pan upside down. You might have to use oven-safe objects to put on both sides of the pan to avoid crushing the top. See picture below. I'm using two ramekins. Allow the cake to rest in the closed oven for 20 minutes.

Flip the cake pan upside down like this in the oven. Prop it with oven-safe objects on both sides if needed to prevent crushing the top.

Step 7: Serve

Carefully remove the cake from the oven. Run a knife along the inside rim of the cake pan to loosen it up and lift it out. Wait until the cake is completely cooled before slicing.

Enjoy the cake on its own or with sweetened coconut sauce, roasted chopped peanuts, and roasted sesame seeds.