Amber Royer's Characters That Cook

 

In A Shot in the 80% Dark, 

blogger Tam Binh and Carmen, the Pastry Chef at Greetings and Felicitations spend some time in the kitchen coming up with fun, fusion desserts. They’re also making coffee, so one of them decides to take the spices meant for the café de olla and use them to flavor a cake.

Honeycomb Cake

This Vietnamese-style honeycomb cake may have an untraditional flavor profile, but it maintains the traditional “honeycomb” structure that comes from the gloss of the tapioca flour, with the air pockets that are maintained by cooling the cake upside down. (As otherwise it might collapse in on itself.) The eggs are handled gently in the preparation stages as well, to allow for the most height in the cake.

vegetable oil, for greasing the pan

1 c. coconut cream

¼ tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. espresso powder

¼ tsp. clove

¼ tsp. anise

3/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

5 eggs, at room temperature

1 c. tapioca starch

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

3 oz. dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom of an 8 inch round cake pan and place it in the oven to heat up.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the coconut cream, salt, espresso powder, clove, anise, and sugar. Place the bowl in the microwave and cook for one minute on high. Add the vegetable oil and mix to combine. Set aside.

Crack the eggs into a separate bowl. crack the eggs. With a pair of scissors, cut the egg yolks into small pieces. Pour the eggs into the bowl with the coconut mixture.

Sift together the tapioca starch, rice flour, cream of tarter and baking soda. Slowly add the tapioca mixture to the egg mixture, constantly whisking gently.

Carefully remove the cake pan from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Press the cake mixture through a sieve, directly into the hot cake pan. Holding the pan with oven mitts, tap it on the counter a couple times to release air bubbles. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, set up a cooling station, using two cooking racks with a gap between them to allow the cake to cool upside down at least three inches above the counter.

Take the cake out of the oven and immediately rest it upside down on the cooling station. Allow to cool for 40-50 minutes, or until lukewarm. Flip the pan over, and remove the cake from pan.

In a small bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring at ten second intervals. Drizzle the chocolate over individual cake slices and serve.