Pandan, scientifically known as Pandanus amaryllifolius, is a tropical plant that blooms in Southeast Asia. Its leaves carry a sweet scent akin to vanilla and are commonly used in various dishes. One such dish includes a brilliant green cake that is incredibly aromatic due to the finely ground pandan leaves. The cake's intriguing fragrance and color become even more appealing with the addition of a creamy mascarpone cheese layer touched with a swirl of raspberry jam, introducing a bit of tartness to balance the sweet.

You can easily find fresh or frozen pandan leaves at Asian grocery stores, depending on your location. If storage becomes a concern, roll the leaves in damp paper towels and store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh for four to five days. You can also freeze the leaves on a tray before transferring them to an airtight container for longer storage, extending their life to six months.

For those who can't find fresh leaves, pandan paste and pandan powder serve as acceptable substitutes. Adjust the recipe to replace the pandan liquid with a combination of water, pandan powder, and several drops of pandan paste.

The cheese used in this recipe is preferable if it is of a spreadable consistency. Based on our experience, we recommend brands such as BelGioioso, which provides sufficient thickness to hold the cake layers while offering a creamy texture. The perfect sugar for this recipe is superfine or caster sugar that can be easily found online or at grocery stores.

Before proceeding with the cake’s assembly, you can wrap the layers in plastic and store them at room temperature for a day.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

Cake:

• 12 fresh pandan leaves, thinly sliced crosswise (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened finely shredded coconut (like Bob’s Red Mill), divided
• 2 1/3 cups superfine sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (and a little extra for greasing)
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

Additional ingredients:

• 2 (8-ounce) packages mascarpone cheese (like BelGioioso)
• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

The full recipe was first published in Food & Wine magazine on March, 2024.