Bánh Bò Nướng (Honeycomb Cake)
Updated July 11, 2024
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, plus cooling
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 2 hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:One Bundt cake; about 12 servings
- 2cups/254 grams tapioca starch (see Tips)
- ¼cup/38 grams rice flour (see Tips)
- 1½ teaspoons double-acting baking powder
- 6large eggs
- 1⅓cups/283 grams granulated sugar
- 1(14-ounce) can/390 grams full-fat coconut milk, well-shaken
- 2tablespoons canola oil
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½teaspoon pandan paste (see Tips)
- ¾tablespoon cold unsalted butter
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
299 calories; 13 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 242 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and put a 9½-inch nonstick Bundt pan on it. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Step 2
Set a sieve over a large bowl and add the tapioca starch, rice flour and baking powder to it. Whisk the dry ingredients until they’re all sifted through.
- Step 3
Set the same sieve over another large bowl. Crack the eggs into it and break the yolks with a whisk, then slowly whisk the eggs clockwise until they all run through the sieve. Add the sugar, coconut milk, oil, salt and pandan paste to the sieved eggs and stir slowly with the whisk until smooth. Whisk gently throughout so as to not create too many air bubbles, which can cause the cake to sink.
- Step 4
Set the sieve over the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients, whisking them through the sieve as needed to help the mixture pass through. Using the whisk, gently stir together the dry and wet ingredients until combined. Pour the batter through the sieve into the other bowl, whisking if needed to help it go through. Repeat the sieving two more times, going from one bowl to the other.
- Step 5
Pull the rack with the hot Bundt pan out of the oven and drop the butter into the pan. Use a pastry or silicone brush to spread the butter over the inside of the pan, then immediately pour in the batter. Lay a sheet of foil on top of the pan without crimping the edges.
- Step 6
Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 45 minutes longer, or until the top is browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then use a rubber spatula to nudge the edges away from the pan. Carefully flip the cake onto a rack.
- Step 7
Cool completely, then slice into ½-inch-thick wedges to serve. The cake tastes best when served the same day, but keeps for up to 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
Tips
- Tapioca starch is commonly used in Asian desserts. The Erawan brand works especially well here. Other brands available outside Asian groceries will not result in a successful cake.
- Rice flour comes in many different grinds and varieties. For this cake, you want very finely ground white rice flour, ideally the Erawan brand in the packaging with the red print. You should not use brands of rice flour available outside Asian groceries or glutinous rice flour, sticky rice flour or mochiko.
- Pandan paste is extracted from pandan leaves, which have a floral flavor similar to vanilla with a heady aroma like jasmine. The paste is a concentrated version of the flavoring, which also provides an intense green color to this cake.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Danielle
As a Vietnamese person I want to reassure everyone in the comments that pandan paste is welcome but certainly not mandatory. If you image search bánh bò you'll see that if we don't have pandan paste/extract we'll just use food coloring. We eat bánh bò primarily for the springy, chewy, fun texture; it's not as good on the 2nd or 3rd day, and it changes for the worse when refrigerated, so I'd worry more about finding enough people to eat this cake on the day it's made than finding pandan paste :)
keith
Pandab paste is really hard to find, even in NYC, but you can try an Asian grocery store. The popular brand seems to be Koepoe Koepoe. I tried this cake and I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 TBLSP of matcha tea powder (to give a warm vanilla floral essence) and it came out pretty good
Danielle
As a Viet person I just want to reassure others in the comments that for bánh bò the pandan flavoring is welcome but not essential. If you image search bánh bò you'll see that if we don't have pandan paste/extract on hand we simply substitute food coloring. We eat bánh bò primarily for the springy, chewy texture; left 2-3 days it becomes less pleasant, and refrigerating it changes the texture for the worse as well. I'd worry more about finishing it the day it's made than finding pandan paste :)
Anne Elk (Miss)
1/2 tsp of pandan paste? SUCH a tiny amount! Where to buy it, and is this one of those ingredients that is expensive, difficult to find and available in quantities that will go to waste after baking this cake that one time? Maybe Kalustyan's has it...
CL
I found a video of her making the cake, and she uses the brand Butterfly, available on Amazon. Sadly, the list of ingredients include no pandan. Instead, it includes artificial flavors and food dye. Same for brands like McCormick and Koepoe Koepoe. I found one pure extract - Bionutricia. Reviewers on Amazon are mixed about the flavor, with many saying it's too light to notice. Perhaps what we think is pandan flavor is artificial since the more common brands are probably used in these desserts.
Mike
Followed the recipe. My wife is Vietnamese and I know this is supposed to be a hard cake to make. It came out great and all my in laws were shocked at me for trying and succeeding. Thanks!
Elizabeth
Just made this. Color is not at all the same. More like a pale matcha color. It was a bear getting it out of my buttered bundt pan. I've never worked so hard to get something out in one piece. It tastes good. It's weird in a good way. I would try it one more time. More pandan -- which I got at the Asian grocery store. If they have pandan in Boise, you can probably get it anywhere.
Kathy
This did not work at all. The cake fell and the interior, while tasty, was dense and gelatinous. I followed the recipe exactly, taking care not to have too many bubbles and used the pandan paste from Amazon. Bummed.
Miami Baker
When I saw that commercial pandan paste was essentially sweet food coloring, I decided to make my own. I got 100% pandan powder online and used organic vanilla paste and organic agave syrup and mixed to a paste like consistency. The color was a darker green but the taste was great. I would agree with another users suggestion to use matcha powder and vanilla. It’s a close enough replacement
Martha Hunter
I found the ingredients at an Asian market but the Pandan I found was liquid in a little vial. I added scrapings of one vanilla bean. I goofed somewhere. The cake ballooned out of the Bundt pan while baking then quickly deflated once cooling, to halfway down the pan. My result had little taste and texture was kind of like a soft gummy bear. Well I tried!
Marty
In step 3 one is instructed to whisk clockwise. Does that hold for both hemispheres? Do left-handed people have to obey?
Kristi
I used coconut creme instead of full fat coconut milk. It turned out wonderfully. And on day two after the crunchy, chewy textures shifted I toasted slices and added butter. Yumm!
tomrely
This endless sieving back and forth, tip toeing in case we create air bubbles, hushed tones fretting over pandan, the guilt of food coloring ... like there's not enough to worry about these days. Can't we just crank the music up and make brownies?
Pandan Express
Made some small subs but the technique ensured great texture and flavor; Coconut cream rather than milk with half the oil, added 1/2 oz rum
KNick
Followed the ingredient instructions with a couple of exceptions: 20 extra minutes in oven; sprayed Pam non- stick in Bundt pan along with butter to help set it free after baking; added vanilla ice cream, dragon fruit, mango and toasted coconut to complete the presentation.
Jill
I too struggled to get cake out in one piece but my Bundt pan is old and scratched. Ran an ice pack around all edges and can out easily with a little help from rubber spatula
Amy
I made exactly as written in the recipe. I used natural Pandan extract and added 1 tsp of this, plus 1/2 tsp vanilla paste. My cake looked like the picture, but was so rubbery and hard to cut even with a fork, it was a disappointment. I'll have to look for other uses for the Pandan Extract!
Paul M
Can someone explain why the eggs are whisked 'clockwise'? Thanks, Paul
carlota
As for others on here, my cake puffed up enormously only to collapse immediately after being removed from the oven into what looked like a puddle of melted Grinch fur. I followed all the instructions, did all the sifting. What am I doing wrong?
cindy
I expected this cake to fall as others had said it was common. Ended up baking extra 20” and it did not fall. The texture is sort of rubber but never having cooked with rice flour and tapioca starch maybe that is how it supposed to be? Smells great and will be great with cream over the top
cindy
this a pretty cake and smells wonderful. I ended up baking extra 20” and it did not fall. It has a rubbery texture. I have never used tapioca starch and rice flour -maybe this is how it is supposed to be. Did use recommended brands.
Carolyn
I made this last night. As one reviewer noted, mine fell. It was very sad but still tasted great - my son likened it to Butter mochi. If anyone has advice on how to avoid falling (next time I'll be sure to whisk much more slowly)? I used Bob's Red Mill Double acting baking powder, but maybe one with aluminum, which I try to avoid, will work better?
GM
1st try -sticky rice flour, pandan extract, anglefood cake pan! Many errors, whole thing collapsed, gooey. 2nd try: Bundt, rice & tapioca flour (Red Mill), fake pandan flavor (Butterfly: Glucose & sorbitol syrup, artificial pandan flavor, propylene glycol, coloring, modified starch, artificial vanilin, ethyl malitol). Better, but deflated 5 minutes out of oven, inside nice green sticky, stretchy (like mochi), outside not too crispy. Too gooey for me, friend said spot on! She loved it.
Rosalie
Hi…baked this for the first time this weekend and used 1/2 tsp of McCormick pandan flavoring (clear in a tiny bottle). It was very mild and might up it to 1tsp next time.
Maureen
I halved the recipe using the Butterfly pandam paste on Amazon (all I could find). Half the recipe fits perfectly into a mini carved Bundt pan. Baked at 320 for 30 min, then another 30 min uncovered. As I was taking it out of the oven the pan slipped out of my hand and landed upside down. The cake popped right out and landed right side up! Totally intact. Problem solved. The pattern is brown with green indentations and very beautiful. Can't wait to cut into it.
Janice
I live at 1400 feet. We have layers that lay BIG eggs. And my Bundt pan is one of the copper aluminum ones fromthe 1960s. The cake was a total failure.. and collapsed. It was like heavy, (no air bubbles). Questions: how much do 6 normal eggs weigh (in the shell). Should I do something for being at 1400 feet? and should I borrow one of the heavy bundt pans (mine wasn't non stick).... Nice flavor though... and lovely color.
Riku
I attempted this yesterday. I found a recipe to make pandan extract, which from what I gather is the "paste." Takes a day to let the juice settle to get the extract, but it smells nice. I agree the flavor and color are much more subtle than I was expecting. My problem was that the cake fell, so I didn't get the honey comb lightness and it came out gummy. I'm going to get a new can of baking powder and try again. I think I over mixed it and never had bubbles appear.
jocelyn dombrowski
First this cake did not take five minutes to assemble. It took more like 25 minutes. Second, this was the hardest cake I’ve ever had to take out of the pan. I recommend using a springform pan. I made this cake two days in a row because the first one totally collapsed upon taking it out of the oven. I did not have.pandan paste so I used extracts of panan third I think the cooking time was incorrect. It needed about 20 minutes more than they recommended.
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