In Southeast Asia, cake-making techniques were brought into the region through European colonization.
In the past, Indonesia was a Dutch colony, whilst Malaysia and Singapore were British possessions, and the Philippines was a Spanish colony.
Naturally, the European colonists brought their cuisine along with them, with the most obvious impact occurring in bread, cake and pastry-making techniques.
 In Southeast Asian cuisine, the pandan leaf is a favourite flavouring agent used to give off a pleasant aroma, and added to various dishes ranging from fragrant coconut rice, traditional cakes, to sweet desserts and drinks.
It was the fusion of European cake-making techniques with locally grown ingredients that created the pandan-flavoured cake.

In 2017 CNN named Pandan Cake as the national cake of Singapore and Malaysia.
This has led to a reaction in Indonesia that regarded the pandan cake, locally known as kue bolu pandan as theirs.
In Singapore pandan cake was popularized especially by one of the popular bakery in the city; Bengawan Solo, a cake shop owned by a Singaporean citizen of Indonesian origin.

According to CNN Indonesia however, this cake is originated from Indonesia, which can be traced to the cake-making technique of the colonial Dutch people in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during colonial era.
The colonial Dutch and Indos people combined the cake-making technique from Europe with the available local ingredients found in the Indies, in this instance the pandan leaf as flavouring and colouring agent.
This cake is also known as pandan cake in Dutch, and is quite popular in the Netherlands due to their historical link to Indonesia.
Other than made as chiffon pandan cake, pandan leaf is also used as green colouring and flavouring in Dutch-Indonesian favourite pandan spekkoek or lapis legit (layered cake), which demonstrate the prominence of pandan leaf in Dutch-Indonesian cake and pastry making.
In Southeast Asia, cake-making techniques were brought into the region through European colonization. In the past, Indonesia was a Dutch colony, whilst Malaysia and Singapore were British possessions, and the Philippines was a Spanish colony. Naturally, the European colonists brought their cuisine along with them, with the most obvious impact occurring in bread, cake and pastry-making techniques.  In Southeast Asian cuisine, the pandan leaf is a favourite flavouring agent used to give off a pleasant aroma, and added to various dishes ranging from fragrant coconut rice, traditional cakes, to sweet desserts and drinks. It was the fusion of European cake-making techniques with locally grown ingredients that created the pandan-flavoured cake.
In 2017 CNN named Pandan Cake as the national cake of Singapore and Malaysia. This has led to a reaction in Indonesia that regarded the pandan cake, locally known as kue bolu pandan as theirs. In Singapore pandan cake was popularized especially by one of the popular bakery in the city; Bengawan Solo, a cake shop owned by a Singaporean citizen of Indonesian origin. 
According to CNN Indonesia however, this cake is originated from Indonesia, which can be traced to the cake-making technique of the colonial Dutch people in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during colonial era. The colonial Dutch and Indos people combined the cake-making technique from Europe with the available local ingredients found in the Indies, in this instance the pandan leaf as flavouring and colouring agent. This cake is also known as pandan cake in Dutch, and is quite popular in the Netherlands due to their historical link to Indonesia. Other than made as chiffon pandan cake, pandan leaf is also used as green colouring and flavouring in Dutch-Indonesian favourite pandan spekkoek or lapis legit (layered cake), which demonstrate the prominence of pandan leaf in Dutch-Indonesian cake and pastry making.
Pandan cake