Mad about Kueh Lapis
It’s been a little past a week since I got home. Several cakes and many macarons later, I found myself staring at 20 egg yolks in my refrigerator. With no ice cream maker, absolutely no desire to make crème brûlée and the Lunar New Year just round the corner, I settled on the most logical solution: kueh lapis.
Kueh (possible spelling variation: kuih, kway, kue) Lapis, also known as ‘kek lapis’, ‘kueh lapis legit’, ’spek koek’, ’spekkuk’, is a traditional Indonesian layered spice cake, baked with an insanely unhealthful amount of butter and egg yolks.
The heading on my mum’s recipe said “Kway Lapis Spekkoek”. I was intrigued by the term ’spek koek’ and did a little research. It turns out that ’spek koek’ stems from the days of the Dutch East India Company and Dutch colonization of Southeast Asia. In Dutch, ‘koek’ translates to cake and ’spek’ translates to lard or bacon. It is conceivable that the term ’spek’ refers to the cake layers, which resemble the layers in pork belly. But perhaps ’spek’ refers to lard as an ingredient. This leads to another question: Was ’spek koek’ brought by colonists to the Dutch East Indies or was ‘kueh lapis legit’ an indigenous sweet given a fancy Dutch name?
To make things even more interesting, kueh lapis is similar in concept to the German Baumkuchen (literally translated as “tree cake”), so named because the cake was traditionally made on a rotating spit and the cake’s cross section resembled the age-rings in trees. These days, the cake is more commonly made in a ring pan. The last paragraph in this Jarkarta Post article has a really interesting take on the origins of kueh lapis and even manages to link it with Baumkuchen. I’m not entirely sure if there aren’t several leaps of faith in the theory, but it is nonetheless a fascinating read.
Whether Dutch, Hungarian, German or Indonesian in origin, baking kueh lapis is an extremely time-consuming task - each layer of cake batter is spread thinly onto the previous layers and baked for several minutes. Being a slow worker in the kitchen and it being my first attempt meant that I spent several hours (with my mum) baking this particular cake. I’m relieved the cake turned out well, but I’m not sure if I’ll be baking it again anytime soon!
[Edited to include recipe, Feb 17, 2008]
Kueh Lapis Spekkoek
Ingredients
20 egg yolks
4 egg whites
500g salted butter
3 tbsp condensed milk
340g sugar
200g plain flour
2 tsp ground mixed spices
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp rum or brandy
90g pitted prunes, sliced into thin strips (optional)
Method
1. Butter the base of an 8″ X 8″ X 2.5″ pan and line with baking parchment.
2. Pre-heat your oven, selecting the grill function.
3. Sift the plain flour and mixed spices together.
4. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until pale yellow, thick and creamy
5. Cream the butter and condensed milk together until soft and fluffy. Add the creamed butter to the egg yolk mixture and mix until combined.
6. Beat the egg whites until medium firm peaks.
7. Fold in the egg whites, followed by the flour mixture into the rest of the batter.
8. Stir in the vanilla essence and rum until well-combined.
9. Spread a thin layer of batter onto the parchment paper.
10. Grill for 7 - 8 mins on the lowest rack in your oven or until lightly golden brown.
11. Remove cake pan from oven and press the baked layer down lightly with a metal fondant smoother. Prick all over the layer of cake with a toothpick.
12. Repeat steps 9 to 11 for each layer. (Optional: Add prunes on every second or third layer).
13. For the last layer, turn the oven down to 180 degrees C and bake on middle rung for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
14. Remove from oven and run a paring knife along the edges of the cake pan.
15. Turn the kueh lapis out of the pan and remove the baking parchment.
16. Flip cake back upright and let cool.
February 1st, 2008 at 3:35 pm
LOVELY!! My gramma bakes all these traditional kuehs in the kitchen. Long & tedious, but the best time for bonding for us!!
Could you post the recipe, pretty please? Want to surprise my gramma
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:13 am
A few months ago, I made the Spekkuk from James Oseland’s Cradle of Flavor, and it was truly fantastic (but not as pretty, as I didn’t bother with the layers). I’d love to see your recipe!
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:56 am
Wow!!!
I saw one of these at a bakery in SJ one time.
It is so cool!! I was just wondering how can someone have the patient to make all these layers.
I’ve e-mailed you..I hope that you have receive them!! = )
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Hi Karen,
The Kueh Lapis is well done! How about a piece for us? Look forward to sampling it.
Cheers!
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
hey karen.. loved ur macaroons
maybe next time i’ll get to try the opera ones..
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:07 am
Eunice & cookworm: Thank you! I’ll post the recipe later after the madness that is CNY baking, cooking and visiting.
Millie: Thanks! I’ve sent you a reply.
Aunt HN: I’ll bring some over on Thursday.
Danielle: I’m glad you enjoyed the macarons! I’m really sorry about the mix up. Please let me know when you’re back from Malaysia. I’ll whip up a batch of opera ones just for you.
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
That’s perfection! I want to make it right now :))
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
wow, I am in awe, I have seen this cake at asian bakeries but never would have had the skill or audacity to even give it a go at home. You have mad skills!
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
r u sure about that? cause i would LOVE that.. everyone’s asking for them and i’m sure the bf can make a trip over to ur place between 2/11-2/13 (I’m back on the 12th) during the evening.. u don’t even have to make a full batch if that’s too much work.. let us know!
February 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Tuki: Thank you! Your Plaisir Sucre look so beautiful and exactly like the ones at Pierre Herme.
Jen: Thank you. I know I’ve said this before, but your photographs are just wonderful! The cake is simpler to make than it looks, just a little tedious. Do give it a shot at home. I’ll be posting the recipe at a later date.
Danielle: Absolutely! I’ve sent you an email. It’ll probably be about 10 - 12 pieces. Let me know if you would like more.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
The closest thing I ever made was a Dobos Torte, so seriously missing some layers! Looks wonderful and Happy New Year!
February 5th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
My name : Angela K,
I have started my blog and linked some of yr recipe & blog link
without reliease that i NEED to ask permission.
now, i would seek yr premission on this issue
and if you feel not comfortable with it, it’s ok for me.
I’ll delete it immediately.
Kindly reply me by 7 Feb’08.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Thank you, Helen. From what I’ve heard, the Dobos Torte has many layers too!
Angela: You don’t need my permission to link to this blog or any recipes on here, unless you’re using my photographs. Please feel free to add a link here.
February 7th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I saw your pineapple tarts on Flickr, and they look delicious. Do you care to share the recipe?
February 29th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Love your spek koek. PERFECT torting & filling. Also love the way you play with the camera - like a friend would say - you get up close and personal with your creations …
November 15th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
is it possible to make this without brandy or rum? could it be substituted with something else?
November 15th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Nicole: I should think it would be all right to just replace the rum or brandy with water if you want to avoid alcohol completely.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Hi
Can u tell me what spices are used? And are u sure it would be ok to substitute rum with water?
November 17th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
I used Chinese 5-spice powder, but you can make your own spice mix if you prefer. I’d definitely include cinnamon, cloves and star anise. The brandy/rum is added for flavouring, but if you leave out the liquid entirely, it may affect the fluidity of the batter.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I have tried your recipe today. I used the chinese cooking wine `hua diao’ to replace rum, the result is good. The cake turned out great. All my family like it very much.
Thanks a lot for the recipe.
January 18th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Hi, thanks for sharing your recipe. I was wondering - for step 2, is there a temperature to set? and for step 13, is the oven still in grill mode or do we switch it to baking mode? Thanks!
January 19th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
When using grill mode in an oven, the temperature is always set to the the highest that your oven can go (this is usually 220 - 240 degrees C). For the last layer, switch to top or top & bottom heating.
January 27th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
I do not like to bake, I love to cook. Baking and cooking is now meeting at a certain point in passion for food of late. Looks like I have to get baking soon, as my kid and husband love to eat cakes. Thanks for the recipe. Where do your teach?
June 14th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
hi i have been making this kek lapis (as said here in malaysia) comercially for the last 3 years normally around hari raya (after the month of ramadan(fasting) time their are actually a lot of special requirements and special prep methods which need to be adressed when trying to make kek lapis
a lot has been said about the origns of cake lapis and its spice
in my humble opinion it most probably had origns in germany as we know as baumkuchen which uses multi layers of spice batter
lebkuchen (gingerbread spice) tastes very similar to the spice used in kek lapis
alot of amazing similaritys but no known proof
for me anyway its enough proof this is such a special cake
and by the way
June 14th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
after a lot of thought i have concluded that it is a variation of speculaas a type of dutch soft biscuit associated with xmas and the spice which is used is very similar to the spice mix used in indonesia except the pepper is replaced with both mace and anice
September 17th, 2009 at 9:47 am
hihi! love your recipe!
Followed it to a T, cept I used 2 tbsp rum instead of 3, cos I was afraid of it being too alcoholic, which actually turns out ok!
It was scary to see so many yolks, but it’s kueh lapis legit afterall
I must say it was a very ambitious bake-job for me to do, cos it’s the first time i’m doing a full-fledge bake at home with such tedious steps, but I actually love the whole process!
The waiting for each layer to be ready really made me excited, but the overall turned out a little dry (must have waited too long for each layer to brown too much). Though the fragrance is heavenly!
will mosdef make it again to perfect it. thanx babe for the share!
December 6th, 2009 at 9:17 am
i would like to try your recipes because i like this cake very much… but i need the information more detail …in the first baking it is 220 degress with fan or without fan… because my oven is seperate with the grill. so it is oke if i just use the oven ( bottom fire )
December 6th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Liesa: It is without fan and you can’t use bottom fire. It has to be top fire using the grill option for your oven.
December 11th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Hi Karen,
Your baking and food photography skills are awesome!
I wish to bring to your attention though that I suspect someone of stealing your work to advertise for their own gains.
Thia gal, by the name of Kelly, is advertising on 88DB using your photograph of Kueh Lapis! How dispicable!
http://sg.88db.com/Food-Entertainment/Food-Items/ad-714508/
I suggest you write to her to “suggest” her removing the photo from her ad.
Cheers!
December 19th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Wow, this is a pretty amazing recipe. Even though i got the steps mixed up (i folded in the butter with the egg yolks, followed by the sugar and i used evaporated milk instead of the condensed milk), the kueh lapis came out awesome!
Thanks Karen! I’m gonna make this for new year and other recipe from this site. I’ll be sure to share this awesome site with my friends =)
January 15th, 2010 at 12:06 am
Hi Karen! I bake my lapis just recently(not using the recipe above), but could not understand why/where and what went wrong. My lapis turn out to be “steam kueh” like rather than cake. Any advice? Appreciate very much!
January 15th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Marc: Thanks for letting me know. I have requested that they remove the photographs and they have done so.
Mark: Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Catherine: Did you bake the cake in the oven using top fire/grill only? I have not experienced what you have described and am not sure how to advise you. My guess would be that each layer was not baked long enough and that there may have been too much butter in the recipe you used.
January 16th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Hi Karen!
I tried your recipe today and was (still am) very happy that I succeeded! I was baking at my friend’s house. Ha! My oven comes with 3 types of grill - Turbogrill, large surface grill and infrared surface grill. Maybe I could have selected the incorrect one. Perhaps should I select the icon that shows a line over a grill or the one with the zig zag pattern. My oven is Electrolux EOB852
Sorry, I hope I did not confuse you (I just want to be sure).
cheers/Cath
January 17th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Catherine: I’m glad you had success with my recipe. On my Ariston oven, I use the setting indicated by the icon with the “zig-zag” pattern, which is the grill function. I think any of the grill functions would work. You probably want to check your oven manual to see what each type of grill on your oven does - I’m guessing you can just go with large surface grill.
January 21st, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Hi Karen!
Many thanks for your tips! I think I set the turbo grill but did not put on the lowest rung of the oven- that’s why!
Again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart of your kind generosity to share this great recipe among the bakers here!
Hip Hip Hooray! 3x
February 1st, 2010 at 12:35 am
The photos are enough to make me drool!