Homemade Mini Vietnamese Sponge Cakes (Banh Bong Lan)

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These homemade Vietnamese Sponge Cakes are super light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of sweetness. Served with an amazing homemade strawberry sauce, these little mini sponge cakes are addictively tasty!

When I think of Vietnamese food, I usually don't think dessert.

I NEVER think of dessert.

But everyone eats dessert right?

Many Asian countries have a different idea about dessert than Western countries.

Vietnamese desserts are often far less sugary sweet.

Which I actually like.

Sometimes, especially after a decadent meal (I mean come one, you've see the heart stopping recipes I like to post), I just want a little hint of sweet.

Not a big piece of rich chocolate cake (I know - blasphemy), but just something a little lighter.

Like these Vietnamese sponge cakes.

Light, fluffy, and perfectly sweet, these are great served with a homemade strawberry sauce (recipe below) OR this super super delicious lemon curd for even more deliciousness.

Ingredients

Buy your ingredients here (these are Amazon affiliate link - I earn a small commission if you buy through these links):

• Sugar
• Butter
• Vanilla extract
• Cake flour
• Baking powder
• Cream of tartar
• Mirin
• Parchment paper

Also, I bought these super cute silicone mini pie dishes that are great to cook with. You can buy them through this Amazon affiliate link:

And, I got this new mixer from my mom for Christmas (no, I'm not a KitchenAid stand mixer convert yet) that I absolutely love. It's great for small spaces as it all is contained in it's own little storage box so you don't have to hunt down your pieces and it fits just about anywhere. If you're interested, the Amazon affiliate link is below (I earn a commission off this link).

Step By Step Instructions

Like most of my recipes, it's not hard. The most important part is to make sure you gently fold the batter into the egg whites to keep everything light and fluffy.

Separate the egg whites and egg yolks in separate bowls.

First, we make the batter by combining the egg yolks and ½ cup sugar and whipping until creamy.

Then mix in the melted butter, vanilla extract, milk and lemon juice. Then mix in your dry ingredients.

Set the batter aside for a moment and grab those egg whites.

You're going to whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Once your egg white start getting frothy, add the cream of tartar.

The cream of tartar works to stabilize the egg whites - meaning it helps to keep the egg whites from deflating.

After you add the cream of tartar, slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar while continuing to whip the egg whites.

Once you have your stiff peaks, you're ready to start folding. Now how easy has it been so far?

Take you batter and SLOWLY fold it into the egg whites. I usually do this in 3 batches. Be very careful not to overmix as this will deflate your egg whites.

It's ok if there are still streaks of egg white in your batter. It does not have to be perfect, the key is to not overmix.

It is time to get that oven preheated to 325F degrees.

Now that we have our batter, we're going to pour half of it in a lined muffin tin, and the other half in your mini tart molds.

But really, you can use a spring form pan as well, or two muffin tins, or all mini tart pans. You have FREEDOM guys!

For the muffin tin, I like to cut squares of the parchment paper to line the pan so I end up with cute individually wrapped sponge cakes.

Just remember, only fill your muffin or tart pan ¾ way full. This gives the sponge cakes room to fluff up.

Place your "pans" in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off, open the door, and let the sponge cakes rest for about 15-20 minutes.

making the strawberry sauce

In the meantime, you can make your strawberry sauce.

Which is super duper easy too.

To make the strawberry sauce, puree the de-stemmed strawberries with the mirin and place the mixture in a sauce pan.

Add the vanilla, lemon juice and sugar and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. AND DONE.

Ok guys. These Vietnamese sponge cakes are good stuff. I'm glad it made a lot, because I was eating them as I was photographing, and they were disappearing quickly

Even the chocolate obsessed boyfriend fell in love with these...and that is really saying something.

MORE DESSERT...I hear you guys. Here are some other awesome treats to to treat your sweet tooth:

Light & Fluffy Japanese Cheesecake
The Best No Bake Cheesecake Balls
Caramel Marshmallow Crunch Brownies
3 Ingredient Oreo Balls
Salted Toffee Peanut Butter Fudge

Did you make these Vietnamese sponge cakes? Leave me a comment below and let me know how they came out?

Vietnamese Sponge cakes

These homemade Vietnamese Sponge Cakes are super light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of sweetness.

5 from 12 votes

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Cool Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Calories: 178kcal

Author: Danielle Wolter

Ingredients

Sponge Cakes:

• ▢ 5 eggs
• ▢ ¾ cup sugar split ½ and ¼ cups
• ▢ ¼ cup milk
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ▢ ¾ cup cake flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ tsp. cream of tartar

Strawberry Sauce:

• ▢ 16 ounces package strawberries
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ cup mirin
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ ¼ cup sugar

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Instructions

Sponge Cakes:

• Separate the egg yolks from egg whites and set whites aside.
• Add ½ cup sugar to the egg yolks and beat until creamy, 3-5 minutes.
• Add the melted butter, vanilla extract, milk and lemon juice. Mix until combined.
• Add the flour and baking powder and mix until combined and set aside.
• Beat the egg whites until frothy, then add cream of tartar. Continue whipping while slowly adding the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Beat until still peaks form.
• Fold the batter into the egg whites, being careful not to over-mix.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Line a muffin tin with individual pieces of parchment paper (**See other options below).
• Fill each muffin ¾ way full.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Turn oven off and crack the door. Leave the sponge cakes in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove from parchment paper and serve with strawberry sauce (optional).

Strawberry Sauce:

• Cut the stems off the strawberries. Combine with mirin in a a blender and puree.
• Add puree in a saucepan with the vanilla extract, lemon juice and sugar.
• Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Serve with sponge cakes.

Expert Tips:

1 - use mini tart dishes instead of a muffin tin. All other instructions remain the same.

2 - Use an 8" spring form pan and bake 25-30 minutes.

3 - add food coloring or different extracts for different colors and/or flavors.

Nutrition

Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 173mg | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 230IU | Vitamin C: 23.3mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 0.6mg

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