Honeycomb charcoal cracker unexpectedly makes a hot trend again on social media.

The honeycomb charcoal cracker craze is back!

Recently, honeycomb charcoal cake has become a trending search term on the internet and social media. Searching "honeycomb charcoal cake" on Google yields over 25 million results in just 0.3 seconds. Among these results, there's a lot of information about how to make honeycomb charcoal cake or famous places that sell it.

In fact, honeycomb charcoal cakes have been around in Vietnam since early 2021. The first person to create them is believed to be Ms. To Linh Nghi (living in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City). She started experimenting with making honeycomb charcoal cakes after accidentally seeing some pictures of foreign chefs making sticky rice cakes and cookies with similar shapes.

Recently, honeycomb charcoal cookies have suddenly become a sensation again, turning into a hot trend on social media. Many people are eager to buy and try them out of curiosity about the flavor and the ingredients that give the cookies their distinctive black color. At shops, these cookies cost around 30,000 - 75,000 VND and are currently selling out.

Honeycomb charcoal cake is a delicious and unique treat. It has a subtly sweet, creamy flavor from the milk and eggs, combined with the refreshing taste of bamboo charcoal powder and an eye-catching honeycomb shape. To make the cake resemble a charcoal briquette as closely as possible, some shops use chocolate or Oreo cookies, but the most common method is using bamboo charcoal powder to create the distinctive black color.

Where can I buy honeycomb charcoal briquettes?

Savor Cake

Address: 108 Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi

Savor Cake offers three flavors of charcoal honeycomb cake, from traditional to custard and cheese sauce... The soft, moist sponge cake base is made entirely from bamboo charcoal powder, creating an explosion of flavor. The charcoal honeycomb cake with custard filling is a special version that everyone is sure to love. It still has the same soft, moist, and delicious cake base, but with an added golden, attractive, creamy, and not overly sweet custard filling. The ultimate treat for cheese lovers is the melt-in-your-mouth sponge cake combined with a fragrant, salty, and rich cheese sauce filling.

Origato Cake

Address: 25 Truong Dinh Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi

The honeycomb charcoal cake at Origato Cake is only available in its original flavor. Each soft, smooth slice melts gently in your mouth; the moist sponge cake base combined with the fragrant cream is irresistible. Importantly, the shop uses 100% pure Japanese bamboo charcoal powder and no artificial coloring, ensuring consistent quality.

Chu's Bakery

Address: 500/42 Doan Van Bo Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City

Chu's Bakery is a bakery in Saigon that also keeps up with the latest trends in cakes on social media. At the shop, the honeycomb charcoal cake with cream filling is a favorite among customers because of its soft, moist crust dyed black with bamboo charcoal powder and its rich, creamy filling with the delicious traditional vanilla cream flavor.

Aroma Bakery

Address: 325A Dien Bien Phu Street, Ward 15, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City

Round croissants and honeycomb-shaped bread are both "hot trend" items that many customers are looking for at Aroma Bakery. The salted egg yolk honeycomb bread at the shop scores points for its subtly sweet, rich flavor without any fishy taste.

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How to make rich and flavorful honeycomb charcoal cake

Ingredient:

• 65g all-purpose flour
• 50ml fresh milk
• 3 chicken eggs
• 10g bamboo charcoal powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 50g sugar
• 50g cooking oil

Making:

Step 1: Mix the egg yolks and egg whites together.

• Crack the eggs and separate the egg whites and yolks.
• Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Beat together the egg yolks, fresh milk, sugar, and vanilla until well combined.
• Add 1/3 of the whipped egg whites to the mixture and mix well.

Step 2: Mix the flour

• Add 1/3 of the whipped egg whites to the egg yolk mixture.
• Sift the wheat flour and bamboo charcoal powder into the mixture.
• Add the remaining 1/3 of the egg whites to the flour mixture.
• Add the remaining egg whites to the flour mixture and gently mix until well combined.

Step 3: Bake and shape the cookies.

• Pour the cake batter into a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
• Bake the cake in the oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
• Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly.
• Use a charcoal briquette maker to shape the cookies.

Note:

• The egg whites should be whipped until stiff peaks form to ensure the cake is light and fluffy.
• Mix the flour gently to avoid breaking the air bubbles in the egg whites.
• Cakes should be baked at the appropriate temperature to ensure they cook evenly and don't burn.

Phuong Mai is a reporter for Travellive Magazine in Hanoi.

Phuong Mai