Chinese White Sugar Sponge Cake (Bánh Bò Người Hoa)

Chinese white sugar honey comb dim sum cake — Chinese White Sugar Sponge Cake

Soft, chewy, and full of honeycomb-like air pockets, these steamed Chinese white rice flour cakes are just like the sweet treats you’d find at dim sum.

Here’s my very easy recipe so you can make them at home.

What is Chinese White Sugar Sponge Cake?

Chinese white sugar sponge cake, also known as Bánh Bò Người Hoa in Vietnamese, is a light, slightly chewy rice flour cake steamed to a soft and bouncy finish. It has a chewy texture and a light sweetness.

You’ll often see this sponge cake served in square or triangle slices at dim sum restaurants. What makes these Chinese dessert unique is their airy, honeycomb-like texture, which comes from fermenting the batter with yeast.

Chinese vs Vietnamese Sponge Cake

In Vietnamese cuisine, we have a very similar sponge cake, which we call Bánh Bò Hấp. It, too, has a soft, chewy, honeycomb texture, but there are key subtle differences:

The Chinese steamed rice cake is simpler. It uses just rice flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and vanilla extract or something similar for fragrance.
Vietnamese Bánh Bò Hấp or also sometimes called Bánh Bò Hấp Rễ Tre, on the other hand, includes coconut milk and sometimes tapioca starch in the batter, making it richer. Sometimes it’s often steamed in small bowls and may come in pastel colors, one of which is the oh so popular pandan extract for a beautiful light green color.
Chinese steamed sugar rice cake is usually enjoyed as is — plain and simple. Whereas, Vietnamese steamed sugar rice cakes are traditionally topped with a drizzle of coconut sauce and toppings such as toasted sesame seeds.

Ingredients for Chinese Sugar Sponge Cake — What you’ll need: rice flour, oil, instant yeast, vanilla sugar, water, granulated sugar, and salt (I forgot to include the last two in the photo. Oops!).

What You Will Need

In this recipe, we are making the Chinese version. Here are the ingredients and equipment you will need to make Banh Bo Hap Nguoi Hoa.

Ingredients:

Rice flour – The base of the cake is rice flour. You want to use regular rice flour, not glutinous rice flour. In Asian supermarkets, regular rice flour comes in the red bag. Glutinous rice flour comes in the green bag. Get the red bag.
Sugar – Granulated white sugar to add sweetness.
Instant yeast – Yeast is the leavening agent that gives the cake its signature airy, honeycomb texture. I’m using instant yeast so I can add it straight into the batter. There’s no need to activate it first. Of course, if you don’t trust the yeast and suspect that it has expired, feel free to activate it with a bit of warm water and sugar from the recipe. If it gets foamy in about 10 minutes, yeast is good.
Vanilla sugar – The vanilla extract of choice. This is vanilla-flavored sugar, typically sold in small packets at Asian grocery stores. It adds a signature vanilla aroma that helps mask the slightly sour smell from yeast fermentation and also helps keep the cake white. If you can’t find vanilla sugar, you can use regular vanilla extract instead, but it may give the batter a slightly off-white tint.
Salt – Just a bit to round out the flavor and balance the sweetness.
Water – The liquid needed for the batter.
Neutral oil – To keep the cake moist. I’m using vegetable oil.

Chinese White Sugar Sponge Cake (Bánh Bò Người Hoa)

Equipment:

Large steamer – You’ll need a steamer big enough to fit your cake pan without touching the sides or top.
Nonstick cake pan– I’m using a 7-inch round nonstick pan. If you don’t have a cake pan, you can also use small bowls or ramekins.
Fine mesh strainer– We’ll pour the batter through this to catch any lumps and keep the texture smooth before steaming.
Kitchen towel – Use this to wrap the lid of your steamer. It prevents condensation from dripping onto the cake while it steams.

How to Make Banh Bo Hap Nguoi Hoa

Step 1: Make the batter

In a medium mixing bowl, combine rice flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, and water. Whisk until smooth, then strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of any lumps. Add the instant yeast and stir to combine.

Step 2: Let it ferment

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours but no longer, or it’ll turn overly sour. The surface should look bubbly, and you’ll notice a light sour aroma. Once it’s fermented, mix in the oil and set aside.

Step 3: Prepare your steamer

Fill your steamer with water and bring it to a boil.

Wrap the steamer lid with a large kitchen towel to catch condensation. Pull the ends of the towel up and tie them around the lid handle. Make sure nothing hangs down that could touch the burner.

Alternatively you can also lay a towel nearby and halfway through steaming, carefully lift the lid but keep it level, then transfer it to the towel to wipe off any water droplets that are clinging to the underside.

Step 4: Steam the cakes

Transfer the empty cake pan or small bowls into the steamer and let it get hot for about 2 minutes. Then, pour the batter through a strainer into the pan, filling it about three-quarters full.

Cover the steamer with the towel-wrapped lid and steam for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Step 5: Cool and serve

Carefully remove the cake pan or small bowls out of the steamer. Let it cool slightly before removing it from the pan. Slice into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

FAQs and Tips for Success

Why didn’t my cakes rise?

Make sure the yeast is active and that the batter was fermented long enough. Steaming the cake pan or bowls by themselves over high heat also helps the cakes rise properly. Also, pouring slowly through a strainer helps create that iconic elongated honey comb texture.

Why does my batter smell sour?

A slight sourness is normal and means the fermentation worked. Just make sure not to ferment it too long or else the aroma can be quite strong.

Can I make these without a steamer?

If you don’t have a steamer, try its oven version, Banh Bo Nuong instead.

Storage & Reheating

Store the rice flour cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 4 days. For longer storage, individual wrap each piece and freeze for up to 1 month.

To reheat, steam again for about 5 minutes to bring out its airy texture or microwave with a damp paper towel in 30 seconds intervals until heated through.

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