Ondeh Ondeh has always been one of my favourite Southeast Asian desserts. Inspired by the beloved flavours of Ondeh Ondeh, this cake transforms the familiar combination of pandan, coconut and molten Gula Melaka into a soft buttery cake!
Traditionally, Ondeh Ondeh are pandan glutinous rice balls filled with palm / coconut sugar that bursts when bitten into, with a generous coating of freshly grated coconut. It’s a dessert that many of us grew up with, comforting, nostalgic and unmistakably Southeast Asian.
This recipe reimagiens those flavours in a different format: a tender pandan butter cake marbled with gula melaka caramel, finished with coconut to echo the classic coating of the original dessert.
What Makes This Ondeh Ondeh Butter Cake Unique
There are many Ondeh Ondeh inspired cakes out there, but most take the form of layered cakes, chiffon cakes or heavily frosted celebration cakes. While beautiful, these versions can sometimes feel elaborate and time consuming for everyday baking.
This cake approaches the idea differently. Instead of recreating Ondeh Ondeh as a decorative cake, the focus here is on capturing the key flavours and reimagining it in a simple, approachable butter cake! So no egg white whipping, making of a new cream. Instead, all you would need is to make a gula melaka caramel that will swirl within the cake.
A Celebration of Everyday Southeast Asian Baking
What makes this Ondeh Ondeh Butter Cake particularly special is how it bridges traditional flavours with modern home baking.
Pandan and Gula Melaka are familiar ingredients deeply rooted in Southeast Asian desserts, and pair beautifully with Western baking techniques. It’s a reminder that Southeast Asian flavours deserve a place beyond traditional kuihs, but also in the everyday cakes we bake and share.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Soft and fragrant pandan butter cake
- Deep caramel notes from gula melaka
- Beautiful swirls in every slice
- Beginner-friendly method (no egg white whipping or making of cream)
- Perfect for tea time or festive gatherings
Without further ado, the recipe!
Ondeh Ondeh Butter Cake Recipe
by Javier Tan March-12-2026
Inspired by the classic Ondeh Ondeh, this Ondeh Ondeh Butter Cake comes with swirl of oozy gula melaka with a generous coating of coconut!
Ingredients (Cake)
- 1 Cup or 225g Butter, Softened
- 1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp or 120g of Granulated White Sugar
- 3 Eggs, approx 60g each
- 1 Tsp or 5ml Vanilla Essence
- Approx 2 Tsps of Pandan Extract (to adjust from brand to brand)
- 1/3 Cup or 80ml of Coconut Milk (Room Temp)
- 1 and 1/2 Cup or 180g of Plain / All-Purpose Flour
- 1 and 1/4 Tsp or 5g of Baking Powder
Ingredients (Gula Melaka Swirl)
- Approx 2/3 Cup or 120g of Gula Melaka
- 1/4 Cup or 60ml of Coconut Milk
- Approx 1 Tsp Cornstarch
- 1 Tsp or 5ml of Water
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
- At low heat, mix together gula melaka, coconut milk and salt until well-dissolved.
- Then, mix cornflour and water into a slurry and pour it in and heat at medium / medium low heat until the mixture bubbles and thickens into a syrup (takes a few minutes). Leave it at the lowest heat setting so that it is lukewarm and hardens as little as possible.
- In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Next, whisk in the eggs one at a time until well combined.
- Then, mix in the pandan extract, coconut milk and vanilla.
- Gently whisk or fold in the plain flour and baking powder until just combined.
- Transfer half the batter to a 7 in or 8 in round baking tray. Then place in half the gula melaka mixture directly and swirl. Repeat the same step for the remaining half of both the batter and gula melaka. Reserve just a little bit of gula melaka at the side (you can heat it up with some coconut milk or water if it hardens).
- Bake 160C for 52 – 55 until nicely golden brown.
- Once cooled, free the cake from the mould, brush with a layer of gula melaka and coat with coconut.
- Serve and enjoy!
Details
- Prep time: 30 mins
- Cook time: 1 hour
- Total time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 1 x Delectable Ondeh Ondeh Butter Cake
Notes:
- If you would like to be updated for more recipes which I strive to create to perfection for sharing and for free, do check out my Instagram, Facebook Page, or YouTube 🙂 Thank you so much for all of your support! Feel free to tag me or link back here!
- Serve fresh at room temperature (on the day itself and up to 5 days) or in a fridge (up to a week). If refrigerated, do remove it 20 – 30 mins prior to serving. Yo ucan also consider microwaving it for a short blast for a more gooey gula melaka layer.
- Please do not copy and paste the recipe without my permission, but feel free to link back here!
Enjoy!
– Bakeomaniac, Javier Tan
when do u add coconut milk for the cake batter? i only see coconut milk added into the gula melaka mixture in the instructions
Hi Twinkle, thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment! At around 21 – 23 seconds of the video that’s when I added the coconut milk in, and together with the pandan extract. I am glad you pointed this out, I left it out of the recipe card and didn’t noticed. I’ve since edited 🙂 Appreciate!
Hi Javier..tq for sharing this receipe .would like to explore.
f I would like to use fresh pandan juice how many ml please. Tq
Hi Siew Ho (please let me know if I got your name wrong, and apologies in advanced if I did), thanks for dropping my blog and the kind appreciation! I would recommend it might be easier to blend 10 pandan leaves directly with the coconut milk and straining it (: