{"id":110376,"title":"B\u00e1nh b\u00f2 n\u01b0\u1edbng \u2013 Vietnamese “Honeycomb” Cake","modified":"2025-10-29T17:11:51+01:00","plain":"A beautiful Vietnamese cake with summer colors that promises a light and sweet finish to your meal!\n\n\n\nCoconut and pandan... It smells just like vacation! Here\u2019s a fresh and airy dessert recipe from Vietnamese cuisine that we especially love for its light, fluffy inside and crispy outside. Honestly, between this and the banh cam, I can\u2019t decide which one I like more.\n\n\n\nWhat is Banh bo?\n\n\n\nBanh bo is a Vietnamese dessert, a type of baked pandan cake. In Vietnamese, \u201cBanh bo\u201d literally means \u201ccow cake,\u201d simply because the inside texture of the cake resembles the lining of a cow\u2019s stomach. Not the most appetizing image, I know...\n\n\n\nTo make it sound a bit more appealing, it\u2019s also called \u201choneycomb cake\u201d because of the holes that form inside after baking. Visually, it looks a lot like a green sponge cake, loved for its soft texture and fragrant aroma.\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s made mainly from pandan (an edible plant with a vanilla-like flavor), eggs, coconut milk, rice flour, and tapioca starch. Sometimes it\u2019s served with a sweet coconut milk sauce, peanuts, or toasted sesame seeds.\n\n\n\nThe dough for mochi is a distant cousin when it comes to texture\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a great way to play with contrasts, since Banh bo is light, soft, and airy\u2014just what you want for those hot days that are just around the corner!\n\n\n\nWhere does Banh bo come from?\n\n\n\nDuring the Chinese rule over Vietnam from 111 BC to 980 AD, the Chinese introduced what they called \u201cwhite sugar cake\u201d to their colonies. So, Banh bo actually started out as a Chinese invention!\n\n\n\nBack then, it was called \u201cBai thang gao,\u201d which literally means \u201cwhite sugar cake.\u201d It had a sweet, tangy, and even slightly sour taste, mainly because of the fermentation of some ingredients.\n\n\n\nCh\u00e8 Chu\u1ed1i is another delicious Vietnamese dessert\n\n\n\nOver the years, Vietnam adapted and transformed the recipe into what we know today. The cake became spongier, softer, and more delicate.\n\n\n\nThey also ditched the white color and gave it a brighter look with pandan leaves! It\u2019s said that the green color was chosen to help street vendors attract customers. Unusual, yes, but it definitely works!\n\n\n\nMain ingredients in Banh bo\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPandan extract: Known as \u201cAsia\u2019s vanilla,\u201d this aromatic ingredient is at the heart of the dish. Still, it\u2019s subtle and not overpowering. Pandan extract is essential for both the flavor and the cake\u2019s signature color.\n\n\n\nCoconut milk: Creamy and smooth, coconut milk (make sure it\u2019s unsweetened!) gives the batter a rich, velvety taste and that coconut flavor that makes you think of vacations. It\u2019s a little escape, even in your own kitchen!\n\n\n\nTapioca starch: Made from cassava, tapioca starch is what creates the honeycomb texture as the cake bakes!\n\n\n\nRice flour: The all-purpose flour of Asia, it gives the cake structure and helps it keep its shape. Be sure to use regular rice flour, not glutinous rice flour\u2014or you\u2019ll be in for a surprise!\n\n\n\nEggs: Eggs simply bind the ingredients together and give Banh bo its structure and stability.\n\n\n\nSugar: Since coconut milk isn\u2019t sweetened, adding sugar is a must. It makes the cake even softer and more delicious.\n\n\n\nTips for perfect Banh bo\n\n\n\nThe tricky part with this recipe is that the cake can collapse. You bake it to get that honeycomb pattern, but that\u2019s where it often gets tricky... To achieve the signature holes, I recommend beating the eggs just lightly with a fork\u2014don\u2019t overmix. That\u2019s the key.\n\n\n\nOne secret to honeycomb cake is to avoid incorporating air into the batter. You actually want a dense batter\u2014the baking powder will do its job to create the signature lines in the cake. If you whisk the batter like you would for other cakes, it\u2019ll be too thin and unstable to hold the air pockets, and it\u2019ll collapse as it cools after rising in the oven.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tB\u00e1nh b\u00f2 n\u01b0\u1edbng \u2013 Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tMoule \u00e0 savarin\t\n\t\n\t\t250 ml coconut milk (unsweetened and full-fat)2 teaspoons pandan extract6 eggs3 tablespoons coconut oil160 g tapioca starch1 tablespoon rice flour100 g sugar2.5 teaspoons baking powderoil for greasing the pan1 handful grated coconut (for garnish)80 ml water\t\n\t\n\t\tPreheat the oven to 180\u00b0C.In a mixing bowl, crack the eggs and beat them lightly with a fork, without overmixing, to preserve the cake\u2019s honeycomb texture.Add the coconut oil, water, coconut milk, and pandan extract, then mix.In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.Incorporate the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, stirring slowly until everything is well combined.Grease a savarin mold with a little oil and pour in the batter.Bake for 50\u201355 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 20 minutes.Remove the cake from the mold, let it cool, then sprinkle with the grated coconut before serving.\t\n\t\n\t\t\nThe main risk with this recipe is collapse. The cake is baked to create a distinct honeycomb pattern, and that\u2019s often where things get tricky. To achieve that signature texture, beat the eggs very lightly with a fork\u2014do not overmix. That\u2019s the key.\n \nOne of the secrets of honeycomb cake is to avoid incorporating air into the batter. You actually want a dense mixture\u2014the baking powder will create the tunnels that run through the cake. If you whip the batter as you would for other cakes, it will be too thin and unstable to hold the air pockets, and it will collapse as it cools after rising in the oven.\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\tDessertVietnamienne","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110376"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110647,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110376\/revisions\/110647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}