It had been ages since my first tryout making this cake. Today, I decided to try again with different ingredients, amounts and method. I wanted to try using egg white as I see most food bloggers don’t add it to their recipes, some use less egg yolks, and butter. Some bloggers use a lot of condensed milk. Some use rum and vanilla and their spice are different. Some bloggers add prune and durian.
Google: “The pinnacle of traditional cake-making, the perfect kueh lapis boasts at least 20 layers, with some even comprising up to 50 layers. With each impossibly even veneer of sponge measuring just mere millimetres, the geometric confection is truly an edible feat of engineering.”
“You may have also heard Indonesian friends refer to it as spekkoek, which literally translates to bacon cake in Dutch, to describe the alternating strips of meat and fat on a strip of the cured pork belly. However, while this other name might be used interchangeably with kue lapis legit, the classic spekkoek refers to a two-batter layer cake with visibly thicker layers — but of course, made with no less effort.”
Since I have to make dessert for our Chinese New Year lunch. I decided to try again the second time even though I know it’s time consuming, hard labour and feeling hot as I baked it on a hot day. I am glad that it turns out well. Each bite gives buttery and eggy texture with a distinct and unique spice aroma bursting in my mouth. Just like my grandma and grandaunt make this kueh lapis that is moist, sweet, delicious and luxurious that I forgot the hard labour work, thus, never considered “heavy” or oily. Let’s bake!!!!
Ingredients
(A)
500 g butter
4 Tbsp Condensed milk
3 Tsp Brandy
7 oz plain flour
1 Tbsp 5 spice powder
(B1)
20 Egg yolks
10 oz Castor sugar(
B2)
6 Egg whites
Method
Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Grease and dust an 8×8 inch square pan. Mix flour and 5 spice together until well mixed. Whisk egg whites with hand balloon whisk in a clean metal bowl until stiff and high peaks form, about 10 minutes. Place stiff peaks form egg white in fridge.
Beat butter until soft and white on low speed for about 10-20 mins. Set aside. Wash the beater and wipe dry. Beat egg yolks and sugar on low speed until light in colour and thick. Set aside.
Then mix flour mixture, 1 Tbs each time: scattering all over yolk mixture until finished all the flour mixture. Now bring out the egg white from fridge, check if it’s still peaks. If not whisk again. Add 1/3 egg white and gently folding into yolk and flour mixture with spatula. Followed by another 1/3 egg white until finished.
Next add into the butter mixture with spatula mixing until mixture are combined. Lastly, add in brandy and condensed milk, gives a couples of good mix until well incorporated. Get a stool if oven is at the bottom, get a glass bottle or pestle, gloves, satay stick, and a plate mat. Place the batter big bowl with spoon near you. Now you are ready for your time spending sitting in front of the hot oven and grill. Spoon a small amount of batter about 90-100g, ensure each batter is the same amount for even layer on the pan; swirl the batter around the pan before putting into oven and bake till golden at the center rack. Take about 5-7mins for the 1st layer. Remove from oven. Switch to grill function.
Second layer onwards, “low grill” function. Spoon the batter, onto the first layer, swirl the batter around the pan evenly till it melted, give it a couple of bangs, for 1 to 3 minutes and to let out the air bubbles before putting into grill until the top is golden brown in colour. This will help to even out the layers too. Subsequent layer takes about 4 mins to bake until golden brown. Use a pestle or a glass to lightly press and poke with satay stick each baked layer before adding new batter. Continue in grill function the cake by the layers until the last batter, change from grill to oven, bake at 180 degrees for 7-9 minutes until the top is golden brown in colour. Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool completely and rest at room temperature for one day for the flavours to develop before cutting it up. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!!!
Note: The bowl must be dry and oil-free so that the egg whites can rise well. A stainless steel bowl works best, followed by glass bowls. Plastic bowls are not recommended as they tend to retain grease, hindering the rise of the egg whites. Weighing the batter will help to ensure that every layer is even: use the same spoon amount.
When poking the cake, make sure you poke all the way through the cake. If the layer still puffed up after baking, just poke the puffed up area several times with satay stick and press it down with the pestle.
For ovens that do not allow the setting of top heat only, place a baking tray of water at the bottom of the oven. Always keep extra butter for greasing the pan and in between the layers of the lapis. Don’t over-grease or you will end up with a very oily and gross lapis.
Every oven differs slightly in temperature. When making Kue Lapis Legit, the difference of a minute can result in a burnt layer. Here are some tips on making lapis. Use ONLY upper heat. This should be the “grill” / “broil” mode on your oven.
https://helenscchin.com/2024/02/13/indonesian-layer-cake-kueh-lapis-legit
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