The Bolu Pandan is a light, fluffy green-colored cake flavored with pandan leaf juice.
The original Indonesian pandan cake from the Netherlands (Indonesia was a Dutch colony) and Singapore is a soft cake, similar to a chiffon cake, made without any additional glaze or coating.
Other variations actually derive from other cake recipes, with only a resemblance in the use of pandan flavoring extract.
The cake originated in Indonesia, and can be traced back to the cake-making techniques of the Dutch colonists in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).
In Southeast Asian cuisine, the pandan leaf is the preferred flavoring agent used to emit a pleasant aroma and is added to various dishes ranging from fragrant coconut rice, traditional cakes, desserts, and drinks.
It was the fusion of European cake-making techniques (during colonization) with locally grown ingredients that created the pandan-flavored cake.
Kue bolu or simply bolu is an Indonesian term that describes a wide variety of sponge cakes, tarts, and cupcakes, derived from the Portuguese bolo, meaning cake.
The Kue are small sweet and savory snacks originating from Indonesia, more often steamed than baked, made with rice flour and coconut.
After Dutch colonization, the Dutch word taart also entered the Indonesian vocabulary, as a similar type of snack or a type of kue.
Today, the terms bolu and tar or tart are used interchangeably to describe cakes or pies.
Ingredients for kue bolu can include wheat flour, rice flour, sugar, milk, coconut milk, eggs, and butter or margarine. Flavors can include vanilla, chocolate, or pandan.
Today in Indonesia, bolu refers mainly to a sponge cake without glaze. Glazed cakes are called keik (derived from the English “cake”).
My version of bolu pandan involves using rice flour (tepung beras) for a gluten-free version (you can use the same amount of wheat flour – called terigu protein sedang in Indonesian) and pandan powder.
A steamed version is called bolu kukus pandan, with a caramelized coconut filling unti kelapa.
The Bolu pandan is dedicated to “Wicked – Part 1”, an Oscar-nominated film for 2025 (10 nominations) for the Oscar Menu.
The film adaptation of Act I of the eponymous musical by Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz, based on the novel “Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire, itself a revision of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum.
It tells the story of the friendship between young Elphaba and Glinda, respectively the future wicked green witch of the West, and the future good white witch of the North.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Electric oven, Oven
- Cuisine: Indonesian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups rice flour
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 3 1/2 tbsp melted butter (or corn or sunflower oil for a lighter version)
- 2 teaspoons pandan powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cups coconut milk (warm)
Tools
- 1 Baking Pan 8.5-9 inches
Steps
Prepare the dry ingredients:
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, pandan powder, and a pinch of salt. The pandan powder will mix better with the other dry ingredients at this stage.
Beat the eggs and sugar:
In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar using an electric whisk or mixer until you get a light and frothy mixture. This process is important to achieve a fluffy and light texture in the cake.Add the liquid ingredients:
Add the vegetable oil, coconut milk to the egg and sugar mixture. Gently mix until you get a uniform mixture.
Combine the dry ingredients:
Gradually add the flour and pandan mix to the liquid mixture, stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon. Be careful not to deflate the mixture by gently mixing from top to bottom.
Butter and flour a round or rectangular baking pan (about 8.5-9 inches for a tall cake). Alternatively, you can use parchment paper to line the pan.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, leveling it with a spatula.
Bake in a preheated oven at 340°F for about 40 minutes until the cake turns golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once baked, let the Bolu Pandan cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes, then remove it and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
Tips and Variations:
If you want a more intense color, you can slightly increase the amount of pandan powder, but be careful not to overdo it, otherwise the flavor might become too strong.
You can also add some grated coconut flakes to the batter for an extra touch of flavor.
For an even fluffier texture, you can separately whisk the egg whites until stiff and then gently fold them into the mixture, but this step is optional.
For an even fluffier texture, you can separately whisk the egg whites until stiff and then gently fold them into the mixture, but this step is optional.
With fresh pandan leaves, start by boiling them in water to obtain a green infusion. Alternatively, you can use liquid pandan extract directly.
With fresh pandan leaves, start by boiling them in water to obtain a green infusion. Alternatively, you can use liquid pandan extract directly.
You can accompany it with pandan tea as I did:
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are the “bolu” in Indonesian cuisine?
In Indonesian cuisine, bolu is classified as kue, which includes a wide variety of traditional snacks, cakes, and sweets.
Indonesian kue are usually classified based on their moisture content, roughly divided into two groups:
– kue basah (literally “wet kue”) – mostly – usually made with coconut milk, sugar, and rice flour;
– kue kering (literally “dry kue”) identical to Western cookies, baked or fried with minimal or no water content. Often served during annual celebrations and important holidays, such as kaastengels.
Among the varieties of bolu:
Bolu bahari: small cupcake bolu from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).
Bruder: literally brother’s cake, is a soft bolu named after a Dutch dish with the same name: broeder made with buckwheat flour. Spelling variants include brudel or bluder.
Emprit: small bolu from Javanese cuisine, common in Yogyakarta.
Gulung: rolled similar to a Swiss roll.
Klemben: a variant of the dry bolu from Banyuwangi, East Java. The shape is elliptical, similar to a cocoa pod.
Kukus: steamed cupcake, a popular jajan pasar (market purchase) in traditional Indonesian markets.
Macan omarmer: marble bolu.
Lapis mandarin: two-layer square, usually flavored naturally and with chocolate.
Pisang: banana-flavored.
Tape keju: with tape (fermented cassava) and cheese.
Kue bahulu or kering: small-sized, from Malay cuisine, widespread in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo.What are the names of Bolu pandan in different languages?
Malay: kek pandan
Khmer: Num Sleok Touy
Vietnamese: Bánh pho sĩ, “bánh lá dứa”
Cantonese: Chinese : 班蘭蛋糕
Thai: เค้กใบเตยWhat is pandan?
A tropical herbaceous plant that grows in Southeast Asia is widely used in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
It has a flavor reminiscent of almond or vanilla; it possesses a range of beneficial properties such as the ability to reduce stress, soothe burns, and even keep insects away.
Pandan leaves can be used in infusion to flavor coconut milk and homemade sauces or shredded with the addition of water.How did the musical Wicked come about?
The musical Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz was written by Stephen Schwartz (music & lyrics) and Winnie Holzman (libretto) and had its preview in San Francisco on May 28, 2003, before opening on Broadway in 2003 (October 30).
This musical is loosely based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which in turn builds on the world of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900).
Schwartz and Holzman decided to use Maguire’s novel as a starting point – a prequel to the story of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland – but not as a faithful adaptation: the musical modifies, simplifies, and adapts many parts for the stage.
You can purchase the DVD of “Wicked – Part 1” online, where you can also find the CD of the film’s soundtrack and the soundtrack box set of the musical complete with booklets.
And read the review of this splendid film that is not just a musical but something deeper on my other blog Miss Spettacolo.
