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Pandan extract gives this traditional Vietnamese cake a vibrant, green hue.
For March's green-themed Supper Club dinner, Dino was eager to try out an interesting recipe he obtained from one of his coworkers.
Bánh Bò Nướng is a Vietnamese dessert in which extract from pandan leaves gives it a rich, green hue.
The word "honeycomb" in this case comes from the fact that when the cake is sliced open, it looks like the texture of a honeycomb.
The key to creating this texture is a mix of tapioca flour (AKA tapioca starch) and single-acting baking powder.
We learned that the most popular and regularly available baking powder in the USA is double-acting, meaning that it has one reaction when mixed with wet ingredients and a second reaction when exposed to heat.
Single-acting baking powder only reacts with wet ingredients, so it's key that you seek it out if you want to make this recipe at home.
Apparently the use of double-acting baking powder will cause a huge, gummy mess.
I found Dr. Oetker's Original Baking Powder at our local Stop & Shop, which is a single-acting, German baking powder.
Dino's coworker, Gina, recommended that we use buko pandan flavor extract. Buko refers to young coconut- and so the bottle we used was a mixture of young coconut and pandan flavoring.
Gina has been perfecting this recipe for years, so we trust her!
This cake is not a typical dessert by any means. It has a spongy texture and is not overly sweet.
Pandan itself has a rich, nutty and grassy flavor which works very well with the coconut milk and young coconut flavoring.
To me, the taste was reminiscent of marzipan.
It certainly fit the bill for our green-themed dinner, and it got a big reaction when sliced open due to its interesting texture and vibrant, green color.
If we make this cake again, we would seek out pure pandan extract without the young coconut flavor and artificial ingredients to see how it differed from this version.
This would be a fun dessert to serve at a Halloween party with a chocolatey glaze- the dark color of the chocolate with the bright green would be wicked good fun!
Looking for more dessert recipes? Check out some of our favorites:
- Rich Cocoa Brownie Bites
- Elvis-Style Frozen Bananas
- Sweet + Salty Dark Chocolate Clusters
- 5-Ingredient Samoa Cereal Bowls
- Orange Scented Cannoli Dip
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Vanilla Icing
- Dessert Nachos with Fresh Baked Cinnamon Tortilla Chips
- Tolon's Strawberry Basil Shortcake
- Cranberry Orange Snickerdoodles
- Bourbon Bacon Pecan Pie with a Whole Wheat Crust
- Chocolate Cream Pie with Orange Zested Whipped Cream
- Great Grandma Francesca Cardile's Cookies
- Triple-Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
- Ricotta Cookies
- Grandma's Christmas Cookies
📖 Recipe
Bánh Bò Nuong: Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 Servings 1x
- Category: Cake, Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vietnamese
Description
Pandan extract gives this traditional Vietnamese cake a vibrant green hue.
Ingredients
- 200ml (½ can) of coconut milk
- 1 cup white sugar (I use just a bit less)
- About ⅓ of a 20mL bottle of Buko Pandan flavoring
- 2 cups tapioca flour/starch
- 2 ½ teaspoons of SINGLE ACTING baking powder*
- 6 eggs
Instructions
- In a sauce pan over low heat, add the ½ can of coconut milk and the 1 cup sugar. You're basically just melting the sugar here so it will only take a few minutes. Turn the heat off then add the Buko Pandan flavoring. I usually put about ⅓ of the small bottle, but it all depends on how much flavoring you want your cake to have. To me, ⅓ - ½ is just perfect.
- Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or whenever it totally cooled down.
- Preheat the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the 6 eggs (don't over beat the eggs).
- When the coconut milk/sugar mixture is completely cool, mix this to the beaten eggs along with the 2 cups of tapioca flour + 2 ½ teaspoon of single acting baking powder. Again, don't over mix. The consistency should be watery.
- Pour the batter in a bundt or cake pan (sprayed liberally with cooking spray) and bake for 40-45minutes.**
Notes
*SINGLE-ACTING baking powder substitution:
1 teaspoon = ¼ teaspoon baking soda plus ½ teaspoon cream of tartar plus ¼ teaspoon cornstarch
**I guess this will depend on your oven. I followed instructions in the past to bake it 50-60min and I noticed that the ends end up being way too dry while the inside is moist and chewy. So I started to experiment and lessened baking time, making the entire cake moist and chewy with no dry ends (of course if you prefer the first, you can bake longer so it's up to your preference).
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 209
- Sugar: 25.1 g
- Sodium: 59.6 mg
- Fat: 8.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.4 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 5.2 g
- Cholesterol: 139.5 mg
Florian @ContentednessCooking says
Wonderful cake, thanks for sharing!
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
Thank you, Florian 🙂
Joanne says
What is the difference between pandan extract and pandan flavoring? I can not find pandan flavoring in my Asian grocery store but found pandan extract instead. How is the extract going to affect the cake?
Ashley says
Hi Joanne,
The real extract is VERY strong so if you use that, use a lot less and maybe add a bit of coconut extract too. The buko pandan flavoring has coconut in with the pandan flavor. I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes if you try it out this way!
Choclette says
This is fascinating. I wonder what single acting baking powder is. Will have to find out. Love the colour and structure. panda is one of the many things I'd love to get my hands on.
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
Here's a recap from my post to help explain the single acting vs. double acting baking powder - it was all new info to us, too:
The most popular and regularly available baking powder in the USA is double-acting, meaning that it has one reaction when mixed with wet ingredients and a second reaction when exposed to heat. Single-acting baking powder only reacts with wet ingredients.
Dino Covelli says
We had some single-acting baking powder left over from making this cake. I used some to make buttermilk pancakes and they turned out really well. They were less fluffy than they usually turn out, but in this case it was a good thing.
Ashley says
OMG yes! Those pancakes rocked our world!
Debra C. says
I bet this is just delicious and it looks so fun! That bright green color looks like it belongs in a Dr. Seuss book - too fun!!!
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
Oh man - it's TOTALLY Seussian. Seussesque? Seussy. Ha!
Michelle De La Cerda-Nash says
I was so excited to see this recipe. I grew up in SoCal in Little Saigon and have missed this cake since moving away. Pinned the recipe...YUM
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
So glad to help you out! Our friend had the same trouble, and she worked for so long to get this cake to work out for her. Hope it tastes the way you remember it 🙂
Joanne (eats well with others) says
I LOVE the crazy green hue!! And the texture!! What a cool cake.
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
So crazy, right?
Manila Spoon says
I totally love Pandan as my mom actually has this plant in our back garden! This cakes looks moist and scrumptious! I have to make this when I go home to the Philippines. Pinned, too. 🙂
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
That's so cool - the friend who came up with this recipe is actually from the Philippines, too! Are Vietnamese desserts big over there, or just pandan goodies?
Jerry Russell says
Now I'm going to have to see if I can find Pandan. i don't think I've seen it anywhere in San Antonio so far. Amazon, perhaps?
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
Definitely Amazon, but it'll cost a lot more than if you can find it in store. Do you have any Asian markets in the area? That would be a pretty good bet!
Elizabeth M. says
That color is just wild. I think I'll have to try this out of sheer curiosity!
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen says
Right? It totally fit the bill for our GREEN themed dinner!
Mel says
I think I messed up somewhere. I used a Pandan extract at 30ml and my cake turned brown. Not sure what happened.
Also it collapsed but maybe my oven was too cold or it was too oily? I used coconut oil in a bundt pan.
Ashley says
Hmm - the recipe calls for about 1/3 of a 20mL bottle of Buko Pandan flavoring, so 30mL would be too much. I know that the pandan flavoring is different than extract, which may be the reason for the color change. Also, did you find single acting baking powder? If you used double acting (which is what's standard here in the US), that may have caused issues with it not rising properly. Sorry to hear that you had trouble with it!
lcfatoom says
Do you think frosting would suit banh bo nuong? Like a pandan flavored bundt cake glaze or something made with sweetened condensed coconut milk? I'd like to try this recipe but I'm afraid my family won't like it unless it has a frosting.
Ashley says
I think that would be a nice accompaniment - the cake isn’t very sweet, and that may make it more appealing. I’d love to hear how it turns out when you make it!
Christine Dang says
If you were to put it in a cupcake tin instead of a bundt/cake pan, how long would you bake it for? Would you bake it at the same temperature?
Thanks! 🙂
Ashley says
I haven’t tried this in a cupcake tin, but my guess would be to check it after 20 minutes at the same temperature. There are a lot of articles about converting recipes to cupcake tins and a few recommend doing just one “test” cupcake with the batter first to determine the best bake time. Hope that’s helpful!
Stephanie says
Are their supposed to be little lumps of the tapioca starch? I could not get them out
Ashley says
I believe the tapioca starch should be smooth - tapioca pearls would definitely be lumpy. It’s been a long time since I’ve used tapioca starch so I did some poking around online to see if other people had lumps in tapioca starch and didn’t find anything. Sorry I can’t be more helpful here!
B Salith says
Possibly because eggs were too cold?
Luisa La says
Great recipe, easy to follow!
Ashley says
So glad this worked out well for you, Luisa!
Joanna says
Hi Ashley I'm just wondering.. do I use 1 teaspoon of the substitution or 2 and half teaspoon?
Ashley says
Great question, Joanna - you'll use 2 1/2 teaspoons of it. Hope it goes well!
Tiffany Tse says
Hi there! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It sounds amazing. I am planning on making it this weekend and bought all the necessary ingredients. However, I got pandan paste instead of flavoring: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006VD163U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Do you have any idea if I should use the same amount you call for in your recipe or should I change it slightly?
Thank you!!!
Ashley says
Hi Tiffany - I got a similar question a few days ago so I’m going to copy/paste my response - hope this is helpful!
The real extract is VERY strong so if you use that, use a lot less and maybe add a bit of coconut extract too. The buko pandan flavoring has coconut in with the pandan flavor. I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes if you try it out this way!
Ashley says
Oh I see yours is a paste but it is the artificial flavor. I’d think since it’s a paste it may be more concentrated in flavor but not as much as the real pandan extract. I’d use a bit less than what’s called for and if it doesn’t contain coconut, maybe add a bit of coconut extract if you have it. Hope that helps!
Tammy says
Hi Ashley, you didn't mention the size of your bundt pan. I just bought a 10 cup bundt pan. Will it fit?
Ashley says
Hi Tammy - I just filled mine with water to measure it and it’s a 12 cup pan. It’s been several years since I’ve made this so I’m not sure it there was extra room in my pan or not. I do plan to remake this recipe to write it up more thoroughly since it is so popular and I’ll be sure to make note of that when I do.
Rachel Le says
Hi Ashley,
could I use a different flavoring or extract? I can't find pandan anywhere but I have banana extract.
Ashley says
Hi Rachel - I've never made this with a different type of extract, so I'm not quite sure how it would work. I also haven't used banana extract and am not sure how strong the flavor is. If you do give it a try, let me know how it turns out!
Peter says
I'm a Hungarian, so I know little about how to cook Vietnamese dishes or even bake. As a matter a fact, you won't see me in the kitchen unless I'm making this recipe. I've been using this recipe for at least 5-6 times now and each time I always impress my Vietnamese in-laws, and they expect me to bake some more when I visit them. They are happy to see that I can put in the effort and bake something that is so dear to them. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Ashley says
I’m so happy that this is such a hot with your family, Peter! Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment.
Minh says
What size Bundt cake pan do you use for the 1x serving?
Ashley says
The bundt pan I used is the 12 cup size.
Minh says
Thank you!
Just bought the pan and all the ingredients. Hoping this will work in a toaster oven. 🙂
Ashley says
Good luck! I don’t have experience making it in a toaster oven so I’d love to hear how it goes!
Minh says
It looked good until I took it out and set it on the counter. I set it down a little hard and it deflated. 🙁
Guess I should have let it cool first. Or was more gentle taking it out. Had my 9mo old in one hand and didn't know it was sensitive.
Ashley says
I'm sorry you had trouble with it deflating! I haven't had this happen but a little research online suggests that overbeating is the most common reason for a cake falling. Do you think this is the case perhaps? I hope you were still able to enjoy it!
Toviah says
I used to pick these up from the deli at my local asian market and always found them mysterious and tasty and I am really motivated to try this recipe out myself!
I am wondering what the best method might be when it comes to making it without the 6 eggs (I am allergic).
I am familiar with using chia paste as an egg replacer, however there are other methods out there. What element of the eggs would need to be most replicated to best ensure similar results? I am not that experienced in baking so hopefully my question makes sense.
Thanks!
ps
How do you think would putting a covered cake pan in an instapot would go with this recipe?
Ashley says
I haven't personally used egg replacement in a cake like this before, but I know people who use the chia or flax "egg" substitute, and also some who use aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) with success in baking. I also haven't done any cakes in my Instant Pot but I do know that it's something that people love to do. Let me know how it goes if you give this a try!