Thai Steamed Banana Cake is known as Kanom Kluay (ขนมกล้วย) in Thai. It’s an everyday dessert, usually enjoyed after dinner or as a quick snack. The texture is soft but firm and similar to glutinous rice desserts.
If you like your desserts to have some tartness to them, try our fabulous Lemon and Almond Slice recipe.
Steamed Banana Cake Recipe
Don’t let the appearance fool you; it might look on the plain side, but it’s full of flavor and has a wonderfully chewy texture.
The only thing you’ll need for this recipe is a steamer. You can use a metal one like the one used in our guide or a bamboo-style steamer. Remember to be very careful when removing anything from the steamer, as both the vessel you’re cooking in and the steam can burn you.
Ingredients for Thai Steamed Banana Cake
- Bananas: Use ripe bananas; they can be a bit spotty but not black. Traditionally Thai people would use lady finger type bananas known in Thai as Gluay Naam-Waah (กล้วยน้ำว้า). You can use the lady finger or a traditional cavendish banana; it doesn’t change the flavor much.
- Tapioca flour: There is no distinct flavor from tapioca flour. Instead, it gives the chewy texture that is required for this dessert. We used Erawan brand from Thailand in our recipe.
- Rice flour: As with tapioca flour, rice flour doesn’t have a taste. Instead, it’s used to thicken up the dessert.
- Coconut cream: Mixes with the banana to give a sweet creaminess.
- Coconut flakes: Add another layer of texture and a burst of coconut flavor.
- Sugar: If you prefer, this recipe works well with artificial sweetener, we used Splenda instead of sugar, and it tasted almost identical. If you’re using something different from Splenda, check the ratio the manufacturer suggests.
- Salt: Don’t skip the salt; you would be surprised at how well it balances out the sweetness.
How To Make Thai Steamed Banana Cake
- Bananas: Peel the bananas, remove any stringy bits, and place them in a mixing bowl.
- Add ingredients: Add all of the ingredients to the bananas except for the coconut flakes.
- Combine: Mix all of the ingredients in the mixing bowl until well combined.
- Coconut flakes: Place the coconut flakes into the mixture. Make sure to reserve some for topping later.
- Mix in coconut: Try to mix through the coconut flakes as evenly as possible.
- Transfer: From the mixing bowl, distribute the mixture into the heatproof containers you will be cooking in.
- Steamer: Gently place your mixture into the steamer and cover.
- Topping: After steaming, remove the lid carefully and top with the remaining coconut flakes.
How should Thai steamed banana cake be eaten?
Typically it will be served warm or room temperature, this is mainly for the textural experience of the cake, as it becomes a little more bouncy or chewy. Honestly it even tastes great from the fridge, and has a firmer texture.
What can you eat it with?
Normally it wouldn’t be served with anything else but, a dollop of whipped cream or a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream really work well.
Thai Steamed Banana cake
Ingredients
- 21 oz ripe bananas
- 4.5 oz Thai rice flour
- 1.2 oz Thai tapioca flour
- 7 oz sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 oz coconut cream
- 4.5 oz coconut flakes
Instructions
- Setup a steamer on a stove at high heat to boil the water.
- Peel the bananas and add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, leave the coconut flakes out for now.
- With clean hands, squeeze and knead all ingredients together until all combined.
- Add almost all of the coconut flakes into the batter mixture (reserve some of the coconut flakes, around 2 Tbsp (20g) for topping later) and stir with a spatula to combine.
- Add around 17 oz (500ml / 2 cups) of the batter into 2 x 26 oz (750ml) heatproof glass container or bowls.
- Steam for 20 minutes, remove banana cakes from the heat then sprinkle the remaining coconut flakes on top straight away.
- Allow to cool slightly before eating.
