One of my favorite childhood treats is this sweet, fragrant and chewy sponge cake called bánh bò nướng.  The cake is made from rice flour, water, sugar, and yeast. It has a honeycomb-like appearance on the inside due to the presence of small air bubbles. This is why it is called a honeycomb cake. Coconut cream is included in the cake batter revealing a slight flavor and aroma of coconut.  It is a very simple recipe but the result lies in the baking technique which we are excited to show you in this post.

Ingredients:

14 oz (approximately 1 package) of tapioca starch flour. This equals to 2 cups.

1 can coconut cream – 14 fluid oz

1 stick of unsalted butter and a little extra to coat the pan

2 cups of sugar

2 bags of Alsa baking powder (5 teaspoons of single acting baking powder)

8 eggs

2 bags of vanilla sugar or 2 tablespoons of good vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of pandan flavored paste or syrup (not essence) – preferred brand is Koepoe Pandan Flavored Paste

You will need 2 regular size cake pans.  For this post, I used a 9 inch pie pan and a 12 muffins pan.  I like making it as muffins because it is much easier to transport. However, you will get a nicer presentation when you make it in a cake pan.

Directions:

Preheat the oven 400F and put pans in oven to heat up.

In a mixing bowl, add eggs and sugar. Do not mix the batter.  The goal is to just break the yolks together with the sugar.

Melt 1 stick of butter and add all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Again do not beat! Only mix carefully because we want to preserve as much air bubbles as possible.

Pour the mixture through a strainer into another bowl.

Notice all of the air bubbles that are in the batter after straining. This is key for your cake to rise properly like a meringue. Carefully take the very hot pans out of the oven and lightly butter the pans so the cake will not stick to them. Pour the mixture into the pans leaving a half inch clearance at the rim. This will leave enough room for the cake to rise without splattering.

Bake at 400F for 10 mins and then reduce the heat to 350F for 40 mins.

Turn off the oven and crack open the oven door slightly so the heat escapes slowly. The cake will deflate if you take them out of the oven due to the change in temperature.

Wait for an additional 15 minutes before you take the cake out of the oven so it won’t deflate. Enjoy this wonderful dessert with tea.

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Authors:  Chau Hoang and Henry Nguyen