Be sure to mix it into the batter evenly so there are no streaks or blotches of color. Gel food coloring requires lots of mixing. During the summer months (air temperature in the 70’s), letting the batter rest on the kitchen counter is just fine.
The light will generate additional heat and further activate the yeast. To encourage the batter to rise, place the bowl in the oven with the light on and close the door. Activate the yeast using warm water that is approximately 100 degrees. If the yeast isn’t frothy after resting for 10 minutes, the yeast has expired.ĭuring the colder months, the batter may not rise as quickly. Jump to Recipe Card Notes on the Steamed Rice Cakes (Banh Bo Hap) Recipe, Tips and Tricks Please watch the video, read the recipe along with the tips and tricks and follow the directions closely. There are some key techniques to learn but once you get them down, you’ll see it’s easy peasy. Steamed Rice Cake is a wonderful dessert everyone should learn to make and it’s not as difficult as you may think. The Viet version of these cakes are small and they are usually enhanced with food coloring (green, pink, and yellow) for eye-catching appeal. They are sweet, soft and moist and when cut open have honeycombs throughout which give the cakes their interesting spongy and light texture. Call them what you will, these cakes are scrumptious and pretty easy to recognize. Recently I read on Wikipedia the word “Bò” is intended to mean “Cow” as the cakes resemble a cow’s udder. Depending on whom you ask, you will definitely get different explanations on the name. Moving to southern California, I was pleasantly surprised to also hear others call them “Cow Cakes”. My sister’s nickname for this cake stuck in our house. That’s what the batter does when it’s steamed–it “crawls” upward rising into a puffy cake. My Mom would laugh and explain to her that “Bò” also means “to crawl”. As a young child, my sister always called these “Cow Cakes” because “Bánh” in Vietnamese means “Cake” and “Bò” means “Cow”. Known by a few different names, Cow Cakes or Steamed Honeycomb Cakes, the cakes are sweet, soft and deliciously spongy. This Steamed Rice Cakes (Banh Bo Hap) recipe is from my childhood and conjures up so many happy memories.