Honeycomb cake (Bánh Bò Nướng)

Bánh Bò Nướng or Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake is a gluten free cake recipe.  Many recipes have extensive sifting to remove lumps, but the trick to getting minimal lumps in the first place is to get the order in which you are combining ingredients right.  It's always preferable to whisk liquid into dry ingredients when you don't want lumps.

Ingredients

200ml coconut milk (1/2 can)

125g caster sugar (1C)

1/2t salt

1/2t pandan paste (adjust to taste/colour)

6 large eggs

150g tapioca starch

1t cream of tartar

1t bi-carb soda

Method

Combine coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a heatproof pyrex measuring jug (or bowl). Heat for 1 minute on medium-high power in the microwave and whisk/stir (you want all the sugar to be melted but the liquid to not be too hot, otherwise later it will cook the eggs).

Put tapioca starch into a large bowl.  Pour half of the coconut mixture into the bowl. Whisk to a paste.  Pour in the rest of the coconut mixture.  Whisk until a smooth liquid.  Add pandan paste to desired colour. 

Preheat oven to 180C fan forced.  Put chiffon tin into oven to heat up.

Place a sieve over another large mixing bowl.  Crack your 6 eggs into the sieve.  Snip the eggs yolks to break them.  Use a scraper to press through the eggs (discard any egg bits which dont make it through the sieve, rinse and clean sieve).

Using a wooden spoon, fold the eggs (make a D then half turn the bowl) until the yolk and whites look fully combined.

Return the cleaned sieve to over the egg mixture.  Pour the pandan/coconut mix through the sieve.  Use the folding D action again to combine.

Add the cream of tartar and baking soda. Give the mix a light stir, then pass it through the sieve again.

Pull the hot chiffon tin from the oven. Give the batter one last stir (you will see it starting to foam on top), and pour it into the chiffon tin.

Bake at 180C for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven, turn the oven down to 160C and continue baking for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Invert the chiffon tin and cool for 90 minutes before removing cake.

Remove cake by running knife around base to loosen, lift out, run knife around centre ring and invert, supporting cake with your fingers. Remove inner ring and place chopping board on base. 

Invert to right way around

Cut to serve

Recipe link

https://sweetdreambakes.wordpress.com/2018/04/12/the-ultimate-guide-to-banh-bo-nuong/