When East senior Faith Chau returned home one evening after a routine basketball practice, a familiar sweet and dewy scent filled her nostrils. Her mom was baking one of her favorite dishes: honeycomb cake. 

Bánh Bò, or commonly referred to in English as honeycomb cake, is a Vietnamese dessert that is a shade of light green and is known for its distinct honeycomb pattern. 

“One of my favorite memories of the dessert is my mom making it the night before family gatherings,” Chau told Spark. “The recipe is not written down, but she knows it like the back of her hand.” 

The cake develops a honeycomb-like crumb coat after it has finished baking. The texture is spongy but soft on the inside, chewy and slightly crispy on the outside, and has a green hue that comes from pandan extract or fresh pandan leaves. Pandan is a flavoring that is similar to vanilla in many Asian baking recipes. 

“Food is very important in my family,” said Chau. “A majority of my cousins and I were born in the United States, and grew up speaking English, so there is a little bit of a language barrier between us and some of my relatives. But this cake helps bring all of us together, no matter the language we speak, because we all can take a slice of the cake.” 

Chau frequently creates this recipe with her mom and appreciates how this connects her with her immediate and extended family, along with her culture.

“I love to bake when I have the time,” Chau said. “I love to do it with my mom even more, it allows me to spend time with her, while learning about our culture. She shares about her experience being born and raised in Vietnam, and it is interesting for me to compare it to my experiences and appreciate her experiences in Vietnam and immigrating to the United States.” 

Chau also takes this experience and integrates it into her club which she is a cofounder and president of, the Lakota East Asian American Association. The club held their first meeting in March of 2024. 

“In the club this year, each meeting highlights a different country,” Chau said. “We have a short presentation at the beginning about the country and then we all share and try food from each of the featured countries of the meeting. Eating food is just such an authentic way to experience the culture and it brings everyone together.” 

The honeycomb pattern in the cake is caused by the fermentation process. The rice flour has a starch base, which also has natural yeast in it. The sugar acts as food for the yeast and the liquid ingredients provide moisture for the yeast to thrive. After the batter is stirred and placed in the oven, the yeast feeds on the sugar, and breaks it down into carbon dioxide bubbles. The bubbles get trapped in the thick batter, creating the iconic honeycomb pattern. 

Whether Chau is enjoys the dessert with her club, friends, or family, she recognizes how the recipe is a direct connection with her Vietnamese culture. 

“While it seems cliché,” Chau said, “everytime I take a bite of the dessert I feel a connection with my family and heritage, and I am very grateful for that.”

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp canola oil

1 cup coconut cream

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pandan extract

3/4 white caster sugar

1 tbsp canola oil

5 large eggs

1 cup tapioca starch

1 1/2 tsp rice flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 356 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Grease an eight inch round cake pan with a half teaspoon of oil. Place the pan in the oven to heat up.

3. Add the coconut cream, salt, pandan extract, and white castor sugar to a bowl.

4. Put into the microwave for around one minute, then stir.

5. Add the tablespoon of canola oil.

6. In another bowl, crack the eggs and cut the yolks into small pieces. Then add the eggs into the other bowl.

7. Sift around half of the tapioca starch and rice flour into the mixture and gently whisk. After about a minute, add the remaining dry ingredients and whisk for another minute.

8. Add the cream of tartar and baking soda into the mixture and mix.

9. Take the cake tin out of the oven and press the cake mixture through a colander and into the pan.

10. Using oven mitts or a thick towel, drop the cake pan from a height of an inch onto the work surface to get the air bubbles out.

11. Put cake into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

12. Let cake cool and serve.