Baker Nguyễn Huỳnh Lâm Khánh Vinh

Nguyễn Huỳnh Lâm Khánh Vinh is a baker in HCM City, with over five years of experience. He works at The Greenery Art, which provides artcraft workshops for youths in the city. Vinh specifically teaches classes on sweets such as mochi, flower cookies and mousse cakes.

Phục Linh cake is a traditional dessert from Central Việt Nam, especially Huế City, once offered to the kings of the Nguyễn Dynasty or to ancestors during important events like the Tết holiday.

Phục Linh Cake

Ingredients

For the cakes

150g tapioca flour

20g pandan leaves

100ml coconut milk (fresh or canned)

40g white sugar

1g salt

For colouring (optional)

5g butterfly pea flowers (fresh or dried)

50g pandan leaves

70ml water

1 beetroot

Required utensils

Specialised mould for making Phục Linh cakes (can be found at bakers’ marts)

A pan and a sieve

Instruction

Making the colouring

- Clean then blend the pandan leaves in a blender with 50ml of cold water, then sieve the mixture to remove the pulp to have green colouring

- Soak the butterfly pea flower in 20ml of water, then remove the flower. The less water you use, the darker the blue colour.

- Juice the beetroot to achieve the reddish pink colour

Making the cake

- Put coconut milk, sugar, salt, and 5g of pandan leaves into a pot and bring it to a slight boil on medium heat (do not over boil or the mixture will become lumpy), leave it to cool completely

- Cut the cleaned pandan leaves into 2cm pieces

- Put tapioca flour and pandan leaves into a pan, toast on low heat with a regular stir until the pandan leaves are completely dry, or until the flour melts on the tip of your tongue without leaving a sticky residue (to retain the white colour of the flour, do not toast on high heat)

- Sieve the toasted flour to remove lumps and the pandan leaves

- Gradually add the coconut mixture into the toasted flour according to the ratios below:

+ To make uncoloured cakes: combine 150g of toasted flour with 125g of coconut milk mixture

+ To make coloured cakes: combine 150g of toasted flour with 95g of coconut milk mixture and 20g of colouring

- Make sure that the flour is fluffy and moist enough to be pressed into shape without having any cracks, but it should not be too sticky or too dry

- Scoop enough flour into the mould and press it into shape, then turn the mould upside down and slightly tap on it to take the cakes out

- The finishing cakes should maintain their shape and should not feel sticky when eating

Serving

- Phục Linh cakes can be enjoyed with hot tea to balance out the sweetness