Malaysian Honeycomb Cake Recipe

Updated February 25, 2008

Originally posted December 7, 2006

No, this is not a section of an ant colony. This delectable item is a cake that you simply must try!

Malaysian Honeycomb Cake

In Malaysia, this is called a “honeycomb cake”. It gets its name from the interesting honeycomb-like patterns caused by bubble trails baked into the cake. The texture is like a sponge cake, with more bounce and less crumble.

Malaysian Honeycomb Cake is similar to the Indonesian Bika Ambon but the Malaysian recipe calls for the sugar to be caramelized first, giving it a darker color. The cake is sweet with a hint of bitterness from the caramel. That’s one of the reasons I like this honeycomb cake so much.

The other thing I like about it is, it doesn’t call for a lot of ingredients, and is fairly easy to make. The only hard part is making the caramel sauce. Other than that, it’s a piece of, well, cake!

This Malaysian Honeycomb Cake recipe comes from Jo’s Deli Bakery, an excellent site for baking enthusiasts.

Malaysian Honeycomb Cake Recipe

Ingredients

210g sugar
240g water
80g butter
6 eggs
160g condensed milk
180g all-purpose flour
2½ tsp baking soda

(What’s that? Still haven’t gotten that digital kitchen scale yet? Tsk tsk!)

Method

1. In a saucepan over low heat, caramelize the sugar until it turns a dark golden brown.

Making Caramel Sauce for Malaysian Honeycomb Cake

2. Slowly and carefully pour the water into the caramel. CAUTION! The caramel is very hot and the water will quickly boil and steam. Stir until the caramel is dissolved in the water and it becomes a thin syrup. Remove from heat.

Pouring Water Into Caramel Sauce for Malaysian Honeycomb Cake

3. Add the butter and set the pan aside to cool.

Melting Butter in Caramel Sauce for Malaysian Honeycomb Cake

4. Preheat oven to 350*F.

5. Mix together the egg and condensed milk in a bowl.

6. Sift the flour and baking soda together into the egg and milk. Mix well.

7. Pour the caramel butter sauce into the batter and mix well.

Pouring Caramel Butter Sauce in to Malaysian Honeycomb Cake Batter

8. Pour the batter into a greased, 9-inch round cake pan. Let it sit for 5 minutes for the bubbles to begin developing.

9. Bake at 350*F with bottom heat only (no convection!) for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

10. When the cake is cool,turn it out onto a plate. Slice and serve.

Malaysian Honeycomb Cake

Here’s a video I did a couple years ago of the whole process of making the Malaysian Honeycomb Cake:

I’d like to see you readers out there try this Malaysian Honeycomb Cake recipe out for yourselves. You won’t be disappointed!

Aloha, Nate

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