Best Steamed banana cake (Bánh chuối hấp) recipe

banana-cake
Steamed banana cake

Originally from southern Vietnam, banana cake is one of the very popular variations of Vietnamese sweets in the banana.
This delicious cake is part of Vietnamese family recipes and is often found in restaurant menus. This is a cake that has exported very well thanks to the ingredients easy to find in the West.

Certainly, the variety of bananas changes, canned coconut milk is thicker than that extracted from homemade grated coconut pulp, and the way of cooking in Vietnam is a little different. However, we find more or less the same taste and the same texture very popular with Vietnamese: a soft cake (a kind of pudding) with the good taste of banana flavored with coconut. As a bonus, it’s an easy treat to make.

Steamed banana cake recipe

  • 6 bananas riped
  • 150 gram tapioca flour
  • 50 gram brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
  • 1/4 tsp yellow food coloring powder (optional)
  • 100 ml water

For the sauce

  • 50 gram white sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp tapioca flour
  • 400 ml coconut milk
  • 50 ml water
  • 10 gram tapioca pearls
  • Roasted sesame seeds or peanuts (crushed)

Making the cake

  1. Peel the bananas, smash 4 of them using a soup spoon, cut the 2 left into round slices
  2. Mix well until combined the mashed banana with 150g tapioca flour, 50g brown sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp yellow food coloring powder and 100ml water
  3. Brush oil over the bottom and sides of the cake pan
  4. Put one layer of round sliced banana in the pan
  5. Pour the batter on top of the sliced banana layer
  6. Put another sliced banana on top of the batter
  7. Steam the batter for 20 minutes on medium-high heat
  8. Let the cake cool down

Making the sauce

  1. Soak the tapioca pearls in water for 30 minutes and then drain out the water
  2. Mix well until dissolved 400ml coconut milk with 2 tsp of tapioca flour, 50g white sugar, 1/4 tsp of salt and all the tapioca pearls
  3. Cook on low heat until the tapioca pearls turn transparent
  4. Let the mixture cool down

Serving

  1. Remove the cake from the pan
  2. Cut the cake into square or diamond shapes
  3. Place the cake on a dessert dish
  4. Top with some sauce and sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds or crushed peanuts

You can use maple syrup or maple sugar instead of brown or white sugar.

The banana should be as ripe as possible. The best is that the bananas have some black spots on the skin.

You will need a steamer for this recipe.

Let try our other dessert recipes!

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