Learn how to easily make Indonesian bolu caramel sarang semut. The cake has an amazing soft, bouncy with honeycomb/ants nest appearance when you cut the cake. Recipe can be made in the oven or air fryer.
What a weird name for a cake I know!! kue means cake, sarang means nest, semut means ants in Bahasa and Malay language. In Malaysia and Singapore it is also known as Kuih Gula Hangus (Burnt Sugar Cake). The burnt parts literally means caramelized. When you just cut the cake vertically, you will see some honeycomb texture running up and down, almost like the one in Bika ambon. When you cut the cake cross-section (horizontally), it resembles the ants nest, which is full of little holes (that makes me itch my skin when I look at it lol!).
cross-section of the cake reveals the ants holes appearance
Despite its “disgusting” look, you might think, this cake has an incredibly soft and bouncy texture that my two kids love a lot!
WHY YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOLU CARAMEL SARANG SEMUT
1. AMAZING TEXTURE
I love the combination of tapioca starch and all-purpose flour that makes this cake soft yet bouncy and slightly chewy
2. CAN BE BAKED IN THE OVEN OR AIR FRYER
This is actually the first time I baked a cake in an air fryer and it turned out wonderful.
3. CAKE IS NOT OVERLY SWEET OR BITTER
Despite the scary dark brown color you see in kek gula hangus, the cake doesn’t taste burn or worse bitter. The amount of sugar calls for in this recipe doesn’t make the cake overly sweet either. Coconut sugar is actually less sweet compared to regular sugar.
INGREDIENTS
1. ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
You can use either bleached or unbleached all-purpose flour
2. TAPIOCA STARCH
Tapioca starch adds an amazing bouncy texture to the cake
2. BAKING SODA
Baking soda helps to leaven and brown the cake in this recipe
3. BAKING POWDER
Baking powder is also used as a leavening agent in combination with baking soda
4. EGGS
Use any large eggs anywhere between 55-60 grams are good to go
5. CONDENSED MILK
Condensed milk adds that creamy sweetness to the cake
6. SUGAR
I use granulated sugar to do the caramelization
6. OIL
The oil keeps the cake really moist
HOW TO MAKE KUE SARANG SEMUT IN THE OVEN OR AIR FRYER
1. PREHEAT: Preheat oven or air fryer at 350 F. Line the pan with parchment paper or alternatively, grease the bottom of the pan with some oil or use non-stick cooking spray.
2. CARAMELIZE THE SUGAR:
Put the sugar on a saucepan over low-medium heat.
The sugar will slowly melt. Swirl the pan around as it helps to speed up the caramelization and to prevent the sugar from getting burn. Control the heat. If the sugar burns, the cake will taste bitter. Don’t stir as the sugar will crystalize
Once the sugar has turned golden brown, slowly pour in the hot water. It will bubble vigorously. Be careful, this is hot sugar.
The sugar will crystalize a bit but don’t worry, keep stirring over medium heat
The sugar crystals will dissolve and then remove from the heat and let it cools down completely.
2. PREPARE CAKE BATTER
Whisk the dry ingredients and set aside. Use a hand whisk to beat the eggs and condensed milk until a bit foamy. Add oil and whisk again until combined.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with the caramel sugar. Strain the batter to get rid of any lumps if necessary
3. BAKING IN THE AIR FRYER
Remove the inner basket of an air fryer. Place a metal trivet inside the air fryer box. This is how to set up looks like
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.
Set the pan on top of the trivet and bake for 35 minutes and then lower temperature to 300 C (150 C) and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
This bolu caramel sarang semut is a very easy cake to bake and ingredients are not difficult to find. I’m pleased with the result!
DID YOU MAKE THIS BOLU CARAMEL SARANG SEMUT RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Recipe is adapted from here with some modifications.
The recipe was last published in 2019 and I have updated the recipe on September 26, 2020 to a version I like better and to include a tutorial video.
For baking/ kueh making: I highly encourage to weigh ingredients with a digital kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups as they are not very accurate especially when it comes to recipe that requires precision.
GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION (UNSIFTED)INGREDIENTS
For caramel:
- 160 gr sugar
- 250 ml hot water
Dry ingredients:
- 75 gr all-purpose flour
- 75 gr tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- 3 large eggs - about 50 gr each (without shell)
- 100 ml condensed milk
- 100 gr oil - plus more for greasing the pan
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven or air fryer at 350 F (175 C) for 5 minutes. Oil the bottom of the pan. I use a baking spray that has flour in it. There's no need to grease the side. You can line the pan with parchment paper (like I did in the photos) but you actually don't need to. The cake doesn't stick badly to the pan actually
Caramelize the sugar:
- Put the sugar on a saucepan over low-medium heat. The sugar will slowly melt. Swirl the pan around as it helps to speed up the caramelization and to prevent the sugar from getting burn. Control the heat. If the sugar burns, the cake will taste bitter. Don't stir as the sugar will crystalize
- Once the sugar has turned golden brown, slowly pour in the hot water. It will bubble vigorously. Be careful, this is hot sugar. The sugar will crystalize a bit but don't worry, keep stirring over medium heat until dissolved and then remove from the heat and let it cools down completely.
Prepare the batter:
- Whisk the dry ingredients and set aside
- Use a hand whisk to beat the eggs and condensed milk until a bit foamy. Add oil and whisk again until combined. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with the caramel sugar. Strain the batter to get rid of any lumps if necessary
Baking in an air fryer:
- Remove the inner basket of an air fryer. Place a metal trivet inside the air fryer box. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Set the pan on top of the trivet and bake for 35 minutes and then lower temperature to 300 C (150 C) and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
Baking in the oven:
- Place the cake on the 3rd rack from the top and bake at 350 F for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
Cool down the cake:
- Wait for 20 minutes and then remove the cake from the pan to let it cool down completely before slicing the cake
2 comments
Hi Marv, love your recipes they are authentic and so delicious! I had a problem with the Sarang Semut yesterday, it didn’t come out with the honeycomb like texture…. rather it came out looking more like Nian Gao on the inside.. Delicious nonetheless, but im just wondering what could have gone wrong? Any tips?
Hi Jeana, So sorry to hear of the problem. Hmm…is there any chance that the baking soda might be expired? You can test it out with about 1/2 tsp of baking soda and pour some hot water on it and it should sizzle vigorously almost immediately. If it doesn’t, the baking soda is no longer good.