Bánh Bò Nướng (Honeycomb Cake)

Updated July 11, 2024

Bánh Bò Nướng (Honeycomb Cake)
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
About 2 hours, plus cooling
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
2 hours, plus cooling
Rating
4(130)
Comments
Read comments

Known in English as honeycomb cake for its interior pattern of holes stretched long like yawns, bánh bò nướng is tinted jade from pandan paste, which flavors the coconut milk batter. Glossy green pandan leaves, from which the paste is extracted, impart a scent that hovers like jasmine and vanilla with a grounding of soft herbs and toasted rice. The mix of tapioca starch and rice flour yields a texture that’s stretchy, sticky and soft. Hannah Pham’s take on this Vietnamese classic includes a crisp outer crust. She uses a Bundt pan so there’s more of the browned shell in each bite and, to make the exterior even more caramelized, cut down on the amount of butter brushed over the heated pan. For a foolproof cake, she calls for double-acting baking powder, avoids over whisking the eggs and passes the batter through a sieve. —Genevieve Ko

Featured in: Want a Cake to Impress? Make This Vietnamese Classic.

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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.

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Preparation

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

Ratings

4 out of 5
130 user ratings
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Comments

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 :)

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

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 :)

Unfortunately I had similar experiences to others. The cake rose ridiculously high along the sides touching the pan, didn’t quite bake in the middle, then lost volume while cooling. Like a soufflé. Disappointing.

Came out perfect! Bring it to a party to impress.

I made this cake from the recipe directions and it was a flop literally. The cake rose in the pan, which was a high sided souffle pan. As soon as I took it out of the oven it fell and kept on falling until it was 1/3 of its original height. The consistency of the cake I can only describe as like mochi. Dense and thick. Flavor was very eggy. It was green since I used concentrated pandan flavoring.

SAME! The sides baked first and puffed up out over the edge, while the center sunk into a globby, eggy mess. I have no idea what caused this!

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Credits

Recipe from Hannah Pham

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