Recipe
Bento cake: the 4-inch lunch box cake
A bento cake (or lunch box cake) is a small, two-layer cake about 4 inches across, decorated with a short message or simple drawing and packed in a takeaway box. It started in South Korea and has become especially popular in Brazil.
What makes it a "bento" cake
The name comes from the packaging: the cake sits in a clamshell takeout container that looks like a lunch box. It serves one or two people, which makes it an affordable, personal gift. The decoration is the point: a pastel frosting, a short funny or sweet message piped on top, and often a simple stick-figure doodle.
What you'll need
- A 4-inch (10 cm) round cake pan, or a clean 15-oz can lined with parchment
- A piping bag with a small round tip (or a zip-top bag with a tiny corner snipped off)
- A clamshell takeaway box around 5 inches (12–13 cm) square, plus a cake board or circle of cardboard
Fillings
In Brazil the most popular fillings are brigadeiro (a fudge made from sweetened condensed milk and cocoa), doce de leite and Ninho milk-powder cream. A simple jam or extra buttercream works too. Our Portuguese version of this recipe includes the brigadeiro filling.
Writing on the cake
Chill the frosted cake for 20 minutes so the surface is firm. Tint a few spoonfuls of buttercream a darker color, fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, and practice on parchment first. Keep messages short, three to six words fits a 4-inch cake comfortably.
Ingredients
- Cake: 1 large egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) neutral oil
- ¼ cup (60 ml) milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (65 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- Buttercream: ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 1–2 tbsp milk
- Gel food coloring
- Filling: 3–4 tbsp jam, doce de leite or brigadeiro
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 4-inch round pan and line the bottom with parchment.
- Whisk the egg and sugar until pale and slightly thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the oil, milk and vanilla.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and fold until just smooth.
- Pour into the pan and bake 22–25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then completely on a rack.
- Beat the butter until creamy, add the powdered sugar and beat for 3 minutes, adding milk until smooth and spreadable. Tint most of it a pastel color; tint 2–3 tablespoons a darker shade for writing.
- Trim the dome, then slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread the filling on the bottom layer, leaving a small border, and add the top layer.
- Spread a thin crumb coat of buttercream all over and chill 15 minutes. Add a second, smoother coat and chill 20 minutes more.
- Pipe your message and any decorations with the darker buttercream. Place the cake on its board in the clamshell box and refrigerate until serving.