Banh Bo Nuong (Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake)

Up close of two slices of vietnamese honeycomb cake.

Banh Bo Nuong (Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake)

Banh bo nuong is a fun, chewy, pandan and coconut flavored cake. This classic Vietnamese honeycomb cake with a brilliantly green honeycomb texture and a golden brown crust will be an instant hit.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Vietnamese

Keyword banh bo nuong, banh bo nuong recipe, honeycomb cake, pandan cake, Vietnamese cake, Vietnamese honeycomb cake, Vietnamese honeycomb cake recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1 10

Servings 10 inch bundt cake

Calories 361kcal

Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

Pandan Puree

100 ml water
10 pandan leaves washed

Honeycomb Cake

200 ml coconut milk full fat
1 tablespoon (15 g) coconut oil
100 ml heavy cream room temperature
¼ teaspoon pandan extract
1 ½ cup (300 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
7 large eggs room temperature
2 ½ cups (310 g) tapioca flour, or tapioca starch
2 tablespoons (20 g) rice flour
1 ½ tablespoon (14 g) single acting baking powder

Instructions

Prepare the pan and oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F or 176°C. Then, place your bundt pan in the center of the oven to heat up for at least 15 minutes.
Make pandan puree. Add water and the clean pandan leaves into a blender. Blend until the leaves are pulverized. Strain and press the pandan puree over a fine mesh sieve into a measuring cup. It should measure out to exactly 100 ml. If it needs more liquid, add 1-2 additional tablespoons of coconut milk. Set aside.
Mix wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the pandan puree, coconut milk, heavy cream, pandan extract, sugar and salt. Mix until well combined and the sugar has dissolved.
Strain the eggs. Strain the eggs over a fine mesh sieve into the wet ingredient mixing bowl. This will break up the yolk without adding too much air into the eggs. Discard the remaining liquid membrane. Mix until just combined.
Sift dry ingredients. In another mixing bowl, sift together the tapioca flour, rice flour and baking powder. Whisk until combined.
Combine. While gently whisking, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Mix until mostly combined. There may be a lot of clumps at this stage.
Strain. Slowly strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl while still whisking to mix in and remove the remaining clumps. You may need to do this in batches to evenly whisk out all the clumps.
Add coconut oil and rest. Add the coconut oil and mix until combined. Then let the batter sit for about 5 minutes.
Bake. Working quickly, coat just the bottom of the pan with butter. Avoid buttering the edges of the pan or the cake will not rise properly. Mix up the batter again and gently pour it in the greased cake pan. Bake at 350°F or 176°C for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick dipped in the center comes out clean and the top is lightly browned.
Rest the cake. Then let the cake rest in the oven with the door cracked open for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the bundt pan and let it completely cool the cake on a wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!

Notes

Use single-acting baking powder. Single-acting powder activates immediately when wet. Double-acting requires both moisture and heat. Most baking powders are double baking powders which will not work with this recipe. The cake will rise and immediately fall flat. I recommend using Alsa baking powder or Dr. Oetker baking powder.
Pass the egg through a fine-mesh sieve. This is an important step since the eggs are vital to the rise of the cake. You want to incorporate the eggs without adding too many air bubbles and sifting it will help you do that. Discard the remaining thick membrane for a smooth batter free of air bubbles.
Pass the batter through a fine-mesh sieve. This will ensure that there are no clumps in the batter, preventing you from overmixing and putting too many air bubbles in the batter which will inhibit the cake structure from rising evenly.
Chose a simple bundt pan. When choosing a bundt pan, select one with a simple design. This will make removing the honeycomb cake much easier.
Only lightly grease the bottom of the pan. On my first try, I got oil happy and overly greased the pan. This led to my cake not rising and looking like a gloopy mess. Only lightly grease the bottom of the pan and not the edges. Greasing the edges will prevent the cake from rising properly.

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