Bánh Bò Nướng - Vietnamese Baked Honeycomb Cake

Method15 steps · about 2 hr

1. 1

   Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 °F.

2. 2

   Step 2: Thoroughly wash, defrost and dry the pandan leaves (50 g). Add pandan leaves and coconut milk (240 g) to a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) and blend until the leaves are about the size of rice grains. If you blend it too finely, it imparts a bitter and grassier taste. Here's a photo of how small you should blend the leaves.

   Uses 240 g coconut milk · 50 g pandan leaves · running water for washing pandan leaves

   
3. 3

   Step 3: In your first mixing bowl, pour this pandan coconut milk blend through a fine mesh strainer to extract as much of the coconut milk as you can, while leaving behind the pandan leaf pulp.

   Uses 240 g coconut milk blended with 50 g washed pandan leaves

   
4. 4

   Step 4: In the second mixing bowl, combine all the tapioca starch (250 g), rice flour (20 g), baking powder. Whisk together to thoroughly combine and sift with mesh strainer to remove lumps.

   Uses 250 g tapioca starch · 20 g rice flour · 2 package single-acting Alsa baking powder

5. 5

   Step 5: In a third bowl, combine 530 g whole eggs, 360 g sugar, one packet vanilla powder and ½ tsp salt. With a hand mixer on LOW speed, mix in only HALF of the sifted flour-and-baking-powder mixture for 30 seconds.

   Uses 530 g whole eggs · 1 package vanilla powder · 360 g granulated white sugar · 0.5 tsp salt · HALF of the sifted tapioca starch, rice flour and single-acting baking powder

   
6. 6

   Step 6: Add all the strained pandan coconut milk and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.

   Uses Pandan leaf pulp strained out; all recovered coconut milk reserved · Eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt mixed with the first half of the dry mixture

7. 7

   Step 7: Add the REMAINING HALF of the sifted dry mixture and mix on low speed 40–50 seconds until combined.

   Uses REMAINING HALF of the sifted dry mixture · First half of the dry mixture and all strained pandan coconut milk incorporated

   
8. 8

   Step 8: Add the cooking oil and mix for 10 seconds.

   Uses 1 tbsp coconut oil (Ensure it's melted. Neutral cooking oil is ok too.) · Both halves of the dry mixture mixed gently into the pandan egg base

   
9. 9

   Step 9: Pour all the batter through a fine mesh strainer to remove lumps. Then repeat one more time.

   Uses Cake batter mixed briefly with melted coconut oil

   
10. 10

    Step 10: Spray your cake mold with cooking spray.

    Uses nonstick cooking spray

    
11. 11

    Step 11: Pour the batter into the mold, slowly and evenly throughout the mold. Make sure the batter sits somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 full in the mold. If it's too full it will overflow after rising.

    Uses Completed batter passed through a fine strainer twice

    
12. 12

    Step 12: Bake at 350 °F in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Reduce the cooking time a bit if you're using a smaller mold.

    Bake Cake · 45 minUses Sprayed heavy Bundt mold filled between half and two-thirds full

    
13. 13

    Step 13: If the baked cake needs more colour, broil about 1 minute, watching closely. Turn the oven off and leave the cake inside 10 minutes with the door slightly open before removing it.

    Rest in Oven · 10 minUses Cake baked about 45 minutes until a tester comes out clean

14. 14

    Step 14: Place the cake mold on a cooling rack upside down and raised with cans or ramekens. Cool it completely to room temperature before removing the cake from the mold. I like putting a fan on it to speed this process up.

    Uses Baked cake rested ten minutes in the turned-off oven after optional browning

    
15. 15

    Step 15: You'll need to run a knife around the edges to dislodge the bánh bò, and additionally gently pry the cake away from the mold with your fingers to fully release the cake from the mold.

    Uses Cake cooled completely upside down in its mold on a raised rack