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Vietnamese baked banana cake
Bánh chuối nướng: Saigon's dense, caramel-edged banana and coconut bread pudding
Bánh chuối nướng is sold by the slab from glass-fronted carts and bakeries in Saigon, a soft, heavy cake made from overripe bananas, day-old bread and coconut milk, baked until the top turns deep amber and the bananas go sticky and jammy. It sits somewhere between a bread pudding and a custard cake, and Saigon people eat it as an afternoon snack, often with a little warm coconut sauce poured over. Home cooks make it to use up blackened bananas and stale baguette. Chef's tip: use the ripest bananas you can find, with brown-spotted skins; they give the cake its colour and sweetness.
- Total time
- 85 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the cake
- 6 very ripe bananasmedium, about 700 g peeled
- 7 oz day-old white bread or baguettetorn into small pieces
- 1 ¾ cups coconut milk
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 3 ½ oz sugar
- 1 ⅜ oz buttermelted, plus extra for the tin
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
For the coconut sauce
- ¾ cup coconut milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cornflourmixed with 1 tbsp water
- 1 pinch salt
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (325°F fan). Butter a 20 cm square tin and line the base with baking paper.
Step 2: Put 7 oz day-old white bread or baguette in a large bowl, pour over 1 ¾ cups coconut milk and ¾ cup whole milk and leave for 15 minutes, pressing it down now and then, until the bread is completely soft. Squash it with your hand into a rough mush.
Step 3: Mash 4 of 6 very ripe bananas in a separate bowl and stir them into the bread with 2 eggs, 3 ½ oz sugar, 1 ⅜ oz butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract and ¼ tsp salt until evenly mixed. The batter will be lumpy and wet, like thick porridge.
Step 4: Pour into the tin. Slice the remaining 2 bananas lengthways and lay them over the top, pressing them in lightly. Scatter with 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds.
Step 5: Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown with caramelised patches, the edges pull away from the tin and a knife pushed into the centre comes out without wet batter.
65 minStep 6: Leave to cool in the tin for at least 1 hour. Common mistake: cutting it hot; the custard is still setting and the slices fall apart. It firms up as it cools and slices cleanly.
Step 7: For the sauce, warm ¾ cup coconut milk with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 pinch salt in a small pan over a low heat. Stir in 1 tsp cornflour and keep stirring for 1 to 2 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon. Don't let it boil hard or it splits.
3 minStep 8: Cut the cake into squares and serve at room temperature with a spoonful of warm coconut sauce. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does vietnamese baked banana cake take?
- About 85 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 65 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of very ripe bananas?
- 120g (½ cup) apple sauce per banana (less banana flavour).
- What can I use instead of coconut milk?
- Single cream, same amount (not dairy free).
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