Ondeh ondeh cake

Ondeh ondeh is a traditional South-east Asian dessert, particularly popular in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. These bite-sized delights are made from chewy glutinous rice flour balls filled with molten palm sugar that burst in your mouth. The outer chewy part is my favourite part – infused with pandan to give it the distinctive green pandan look and flavour.

Enter the ondeh ondeh cake. A delightful twist on the classic treat, and dedicated to my friends who indulge me in flavours from all around the world!

The moist pandan sponge is the star of the show.

What is pandan?

Also known as screwpine, pandan leaves are long, narrow, and bright green. Its aroma is often described as a blend of vanilla, almond, and a hint of coconut. While I used pandan extract for the ease of making it, and to give it the distinctive green hue, you can certainly make your own essence by blending pandan leaves with water and straining it.

And of course ondeh ondeh is not complete without the palm sugar and coconut. The filling won’t be molten like the traditional ondeh ondeh treats, but the flavours are all there. Cooking the shredded coconut with the palm sugar helps soak up all the nuanced flavours of the palm sugar – the taste simply can’t be replicated with just white sugar!

Palm sugar – what’s the difference in cooking?

Palm sugar is a natural and unrefined sugar made from the sap collected by tapping the flower buds of the palm tree. This sap is then boiled down to a concentrated form, resulting in a thick, caramel-coloured syrup. Palm sugar has a unique flavour that can be described as rich, caramel-like, and with hints of toffee. Its taste is less intense than some other sweeteners, such as white or brown sugar. So if you are substituting the recipe with brown sugar, make sure to add less!

To enhance the pandan flavour, I slathered kaya between each cake layer. Kaya is a sweet and fragrant coconut and egg spread commonly used on toasts. Its rich and creamy texture enhances the coconut milk and pandan taste in this cake.

Give the recipe a try yourself – it is texture and flavour galore! Tag your ondeh ondeh cake creation with @ultimateomnoms on Instagram so I can feature you.

Ondeh Ondeh cake

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

Pandan cake

• 65 ml oil
• 200 ml milk
• 55 g sugar
• 6  eggs (separated)
• 180  g  cake flour
• 2 tsp pandan extract
• 1 pinch salt
• ½    tsp cream of tartar
• 130 g sugar

Coconut filling

• 120 g grated coconut
• 60 g palm sugar
• 80 ml water
• 1 pinch of salt

Method

 

Pandan cake

1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan using low-med heat. Sift in the cake flour and mix
2. Add the milk, sugar and mix. Take the saucepan off the heat
3. Whisk the egg yolks in one at a time, mixing well between each one
4. Add a pinch of salt and pandan extract
5. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy and add the cream of tartar. Add the remaining sugar in batches and whisk until the egg whites reach stiff peaks
6. Preheat the oven to 150ºC and prepare your hot water bath
7. Add one third of the egg white to the yolk batter and mix well. Using a spatula, fold the remaining egg white in two batches. Do so gently and thoroughly so no streaks of egg white remain
8. Pour the batter into the lined 8” cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Tap the pan against the tabletop to get rid of any large air bubbles
9. Put the cake pan into the hot water bath, ensuring that the water height reaches at least a third of the cake pan
10. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 20min or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean
11. Remove from the oven and tap the pan against the tabletop a few times to prevent shrinkage. Transfer to cool on a wire rack pan for 10min before unmoulding

Coconut filling

1. Melt palm sugar in a small pot with water
2. Add in grated coocnut and stir till water is absorbed
3. Set aside to cool before using