This cake is one of my new favorites, and has me asking “why have we never been to Vietnam?!” because there are so many naturally gluten free desserts that are absolute dream boats of buttery, gorgeous, flavors and textures. Let’s back up. My dear friend and former roomie, Leslie Nguyen-Okwu (who happens to be an incredible journalist, speech writer, and all around amazing human – check her out here) sent me a recipe for Vietnamese Pandan Honeycomb Cake ages ago because it’s one of her favorites (her mother is Vietnamese and her grandmother still makes this occasionally) and because, lo and behold, it only requires tapioca starch which, as you all know, is a gluten free star in the baking world. It also, obviously, is flavored with pandan, one of my favorite flavors but one I don’t often get to have and one I had NO IDEA how to bake with until now. Boy was I missing out. I’ve now compiled a list of looooots of other pandan desserts (with lots of help from Leslie – here’s to friends who support your baking addiction even from thousands of miles away) that will grace the blog this year because it’s just one of those flavors that you can’t eat one bite of (I hereby challenge all of you to try if you make this cake).
Now, there are TONS of other recipes out there for this perfect cake, so I encourage you to look a few of them up to get a good idea for the process, because it’s absolutely key to getting the texture of this cake right. The biggest note I have for first time honeycomb cake makers is to: do your research (don’t just read this one recipe by a random white girl in California who clearly has never made Vietnamese desserts in her life), and don’t put any air into the eggs! Don’t whisk them vigorously like you’ll be tempted to do! Seriously though, slow and steady is the way to go here. I also added a super non-traditional topping to this cake: pandan whipped cream! I had some extra cream lying around and really wanted to capture the gorgeous 1950’s mint green color of pandan extract, and also wanted a fun visual topping for the cake’s photoshoot, so mixed some extract into the cream and voila. It also tastes INCREDIBLE because it adds a beautiful, creamy (obvs) layer on top of the spongy, slightly chewy, buttery, coconutty, intoxicating cake itself.
Enough said, go make this cake (after you go check out some other videos and recipes by non-white bloggers!)! I guarantee you it’ll be one of your new favorites. And if it is, go check out other Vietnamese desserts that you can start enjoying at home! If you’re looking for other whipped cream topped desserts check out our angel food cake with berries and cream, or our birthday pavlova with jasmine pastry cream and raspberry whipped cream, or this pistachio raspberry rose swiss roll filled with raspberry whipped cream, our this pillowy southern banana pudding!!
Gluten Free Vietnamese Pandan Honeycomb Cake – Banh Bo Nuong
Equipment
- Not-non-stick 8-inch round cake pan
- Whisk
- Sieve
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 200 ml coconut cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 Cup white sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 180 grams tapioca starch/flour
- 3/4 tsp pandan extract
- 2 1/2 tsp single acting baking powder
For the whipped cream:
- 2 Cups heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp pandan extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
- First, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and spread just 1/2 a teaspoon of canola oil in the bottom of your 8-inch pan – not on the sides! You'll need the cake to stick to the sides so that you can cool the cake upside down (similar to angle food cake). Place the pan in the oven to heat while you make the batter. Then, combine the coconut cream, salt, sugar, and pandan extract in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 45 seconds to a minute. This will help to melt the sugar. Then slowly whisk the mixture until the sugar is dissolved and the pandan extract is fully combined (it should be very green).
- In a separate large bowl, crack in all 6 eggs and slowly stir them using a fork – do not fully mix/break the yolks/whites. Then add the coconut pandan mixture to the eggs and slowly stir to combine – do not put any air into the batter. Lastly, sift in the tapioca starch, 1/2 of it at a time, stirring in between (there will still be chunks in the batter, do not overmix! you'll be able to strain out lumps at the end). Finally, add in the single acting baking powder and whisk in slowly.
- Final step, pour the cake batter into a sieve over another large bowl and press the batter through the sieve until everything is through/all the lumps are removed. Remove the hot pan from the oven and pour the batter into the prepared pan, then drop it from a few inches onto the counter once or twice to get any air bubbles out. Bake for 40 minutes or until a firm crust forms on top and the top domes up in the center.
- Cool cake in pan upside down for at least an hour to ensure that the cake retains its height.
To make the cream:
- While the cake cools, whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks form, then add the powdered sugar and pandan extract and continue to whisk until medium to stiff peaks form.
- Once cake is cool, turn right side up and run a butterknife around the edge of the pan to release the cake and plate it on a cake stand. Then, top the cake with floofs of pandan whipped cream, and slice and serve!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
6 Comments
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Tristan
this was so good! I’m officially a pandan fan – it’s almost coconut/buttery flavor, and the whipped cream is great
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Kathryn Surchek
Haven’t tried this yet – but will — looks so beautiful and different from the sweets I’m used to. Question: Where do I get pandam extract? Is there a brand you recommend?
Amelia Farber
Definitely! I just got ours on Amazon, but you can also find it in Asian grocery stores! Ordering online may be the easiest way to go – I used the Butterfly brand pandan extract!