Vietnamese Banana and Bread Cake - Banh Chuoi
Our family's Vietnamese banana and bread cake or banh chuoi in Vietnamese, is one of those hidden gem recipes. The cake is somewhat similar to a British bread pudding but has the consistency of a baked cheesecake. It has delicious caramelised banana chunks on the top which gives it an amazing golden brown colour.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 tsp canola oil ((or any neutral oil))
- 200 gm stale white bread slices ((3+ days old) ( Note 1 ))
- 400 ml coconut cream
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 5 peeled Cavendish bananas ((approx total weight is 900 gm with the skin on))
- 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- 1
Add 1 tsp of oil to a non stick 20 cm / 8 inch cake tin and leave it in a preheated oven at 180 C / 356 F.
- 2
In a mixing bowl, tear the bread slices into small pieces.
- 3
Add the coconut cream and let it sit for a few minutes. With a wooden spoon, mash the bread and coconut mixture into a thick paste.
- 4
Add the sugar, salt, vanilla extract, flour to the mixing bowl and combine well.
- 5
Peel and cut all but one of the bananas into thickish slices ( 1 cm / 1/3 in ) and add it to the mixing bowl. With a wooden spoon, gently combine without mashing the banana slices.
- 6
Cut the remaining banana into thin slices to decorate the top of the cake.
- 7
Take the cake tin out of the oven and pour the mixture in. Arrange the sliced banana on the top.
- 8
Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the cake and cook in the oven for 60 minutes on fan force.
- 9
At 30 and 45 minutes, check the cake top is not burning. If it looks like it is going to burn, loosely cover the cake tin with a piece of aluminium foil. Do not seal the cake.
- 10
After 60 minutes, turn off the oven ,and leave the cake in the oven for a further 15 minutes. (Remove aluminium foil if used.)
- 11
After 15 minutes take out of the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for another 30 minutes.
- 12
Leave the banana cake in the tin and let it cool uncovered in the fridge for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight). Serve chilled.