This pandan-infused Vegan Ondeh-Ondeh Cake is layered with a coconut gula melaka filling, and slathered in a pandan cashew cream frosting. The combination of coconut, pandan and gula melaka cannot be beaten!
Ondeh-ondeh is one of my favourite Malaysian desserts. It’s a pandan glutinous rice ball filled with melted gula melaka (Malaysian coconut palm sugar) and coated in shredded coconut. If you’d like to make this traditional dessert, try this ondeh-ondeh recipe!
Pandan (or screwpine leaves) is described as the vanilla of South East Asia, and it gives this cake a beautiful green colour. It’s widely available and used in both baking and cooking. It’s used in a lot of savoury and sweet dishes like nasi lemak, kaya and ondeh-ondeh.
Gula Melaka (Malaysian coconut palm sugar) is VERY different from normal brown sugar because it has a caramel-like and smokey fragrance. I’m telling you, the moment I opened the packet of gula melaka I was entranced.
What you’ll need to make Vegan Ondeh-Ondeh Cake:
For the cake, you’ll need
- all-purpose flour
- white sugar: if you use darker sugars, the cake won’t stay green
- baking soda and vinegar helps the cake to rise. You can use lemon juice too.
- salt
- coconut milk for a more fragrant cake. You can use full or low fat coconut milk.
- pandan juice to flavour and colour our cake. Find instructions on how to make your own pandan juice in the recipe description below.
- coconut oil
As for the filling
- shredded coconut
- gula melaka shouldn’t be swapped with any other sugar. If you do, this wouldn’t be a vegan ondeh-ondeh cake.
And the frosting,
- cashews
- coconut cream
- pandan extract which is more concentrated than pandan juice.
- sugar
If you want this cake to appear a vibrant green, you can also add green food colouring.
Tips to handling the cashew cream frosting
I wrote a lot more about the difference between Malaysian coconut cream and that of other countries in my carrot cake blog post, but here are a few tips you’ll want to keep in mind:
- Use the thickest parts of the coconut cream. Let the coconut cream stand in the fridge overnight so that the water will separate from the cream. When making the frosting, use a spoon to scoop the thicker parts of the coconut cream.
- After blending the frosting, freeze for 30 minutes and it’s ready to use. The frosting should be stiff enough to hold its shape but if you see the edges start to melt, do not attempt to frost your cake! Stick the bowl back in the freezer and try again once it is firm enough.
- Do not leave the frosting in the freezer for too long as then the frosting will become hard. If that happens, let it sit out for 15 minutes until it softens.
- Ensure that the cake and filling are completely cool before frosting the cake. Prepare the cake and filling first, to give them sufficient time to cool.
- Frost the cake in parts, as stated below. In between each part, place the whole cake in the fridge for at least 15 minutes so the frosting sets.
- Quickly spread frosting over the first cake, sprinkle the filling then place the second cake on top. Repeat.
- Lightly frost the top and sides of the cake
- Apply more frosting if needed, and touch-up
- Decorate
- After decorating, let the cake set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. If the frosting isn’t firm enough, it’ll ooze out of the layers as you cut into the cake.
- Bringing this cake somewhere? Freeze the cake a few hours prior and you’re good to go.
Can I reduce the sugar in this recipe?
I’ve already reduced the sugar in the frosting and cake, so reducing it any further because it will affect the final texture. As for the filling, you could reduce the gula melaka but you’ll lose some of that fragrance. Hence, i wouldn’t recommend changing the amount of sugar in this recipe.
How to scale this ondeh-ondeh cake
This recipe produces a 6-inch cake but you can double the recipe to make a 9-inch cake.
Fill three 9-inch tins and bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Frost and fill as usual.
This vegan ondeh-ondeh cake is so fragrant and delicious, it’s literally the flavours of Malaysian dessert in cake form. Happy baking!
If you liked this recipe, you’ll love these too!
- Easy Classic Banana Bread (Vegan | Refined Sugar-Free | Small Batch)
- Vegan Carrot Cake + Cashew Cream Frosting
- Chocolate Orange Snack Cake (Vegan | Refined Sugar-Free)
If you made this recipe, do leave a comment and rating below because I love hearing your feedback. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @eatwkriss so that I can see your recreations!
Vegan Ondeh-Ondeh Cake/Pandan Cake with Coconut Gula Melaka Filling
Ingredients
Pandan juice
- 60 g pandan leaves cut into small pieces
- 750 ml water
Pandan cake
- 180 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g sugar
- 2 g baking soda
- 2 g salt
- 120 ml coconut milk full or low fat
- 60 ml pandan juice
- 60 ml coconut oil
- 15 ml apple cider vinegar
Coconut gula melaka filling
- 45 g gula melaka
- 40 g water
- 1 g salt
- 1 pandan leaf knotted
- 65 g shredded coconut more for decorating
Pandan cashew cream frosting
- 100 g raw cashews soaked overnight
- 150 g coconut cream
- 30 g sugar
- 30 ml pandan extract
Instructions
Pandan juice
- Prepare the pandan juice and extract the day before. Blend 60g of pandan leaves and 250ml of water. Strain the liquid and squeeze the pulp with your hand to get all the juice out. Repeat with another two cups of water.*
Pandan cake
- Preheat oven to 180°C and grease and line three 6-inch cake tins with parchment paper.
- Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold to combine with a spatula.
- Divide the batter into the cake tins, around 170g per tin. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove them from the tin to cool completely on a wire rack.
Coconut gula melaka filling
- In a small pan on medium heat, combine the gula melaka and water. Whisk continuously until the gula melaka dissolves. Fold in the knot of pandan and shredded coconut. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
Pandan cashew cream frosting
- Blend frosting ingredients together until smooth, pour into a bowl and freeze for 30 minutes or until it stiffens up.
Assembly
- Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of one layer of cake, then sprinkle half of the filling. Place another layer of cake on top of the filling and repeat. Place the cake and frosting in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake, and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to set. Decorate the cake with more shredded coconut and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
This post was originally published on the 12th of June, 2020. The blog post, recipe and pictures were improved on the 16th of November, 2020.
I’m generally not a fan of frosting so I thought I’d skip them so I adapted your recipe and made muffins instead! I basically followed the cake and filling recipe and they turned out amazing! Thank you.
oh wow! im not a big fan of frosting too hehe but im glad they still turned out amazing <3