Sunday, November 09, 2008

Lapis Betawi (Legit)

I had to test my oven's top double grill function after I had it fixed a couple of months back, after sifting through all the lapis cake (aka thousand layer or speckok) recipes I have. I decided to try this one simply because it uses less eggs, 8 eggs to be precise (as compared to those over 10 or 20 egg yolks) and it is relatively easy. The recipe is taken from an old malay recipe book which my aunty passed to me. I really have to thank her because I love all the recipes featured in the book. Some are pretty alien to me because I never had them before whereas some bring back memories of my childhood 8-) But one of the main reason why I love old recipes is because there is hardly any form of stabiliser used. If you look at the current lapis recipes, you will notice that lots of them has stabiliser/ovalette as part of the ingredient. For me personally, I prefer the old traditional way as much as I possibly can *LOL* Enough of my ramblings, this is the end product.





It looks a little dry because I cut it like 1 hour after baking it. This cake keeps pretty well and it will get moist overtime. The layers are supposed to be thinner but I could not find my medium size laddle *bummer* but taste wise, it's pretty good for a lapis that uses less than 10 eggs *LOL*


This is my treasured book. I don't think it's in print anymore. It has some pretty cool recipes, some are a bit tedious to make but majority are pretty easy to handle.



Ingredients
8 eggs, separated
350g butter (original 340g)
225g cake flour (original uses plain flour)
280g sugar
2 Tbsp condensed milk
1 Tbsp lapis spice (original uses 2 Tbsp, if your spice is mild, use 2 Tbsp)
1 tsp baking powder

Method
1. Sift plain flour, spice and baking and put aside
2. Cream butter and condensed milk till pale, put aside
3. Beat egg whites till frothy, add sugar and continue beating till stiff peaks formed
4. Add yolks and continue mixing
5. Add butter+milk mixture and slowly mix till well blended
6. Using a spatula, slowly fold in the flour mixture into the egg mixture
7. Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 7x7inch baking tin
8. Pour 1 laddle of the batter into the baking tin, use a spoon and level it and bake till it is cooked
9. Switch oven to top grill (adjust to 200C if your oven's temperature needs to be adjusted)
10.Level first layer and pour another laddle of the batter and level it using a spoon, bake for 7 min or till the top is browned
11.Take the tin out, use a glass with a flat bottom, level the cake to let any excess air out
12. Pour 1 laddle of the batter into the tin and level it, bake till top is browned
13. Repeat 11-12 till all the batter is used
14. After the last layer is browned, bring the baking tin to a lower rack and switch oven to top and bottom grill and bake for about 10-15 mins
15. Cool the cake on a rack and store in air tight container once cooled. You can either cut and eat (but will be a little dry) or leave it overnight for a more moist cake

Enjoy!

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice looking lapis you got there. I would still prefer a very fine lapis tho'. I'm still baking with 20 eggs with less flour. It will turn out moist and not dry.

Zurynee said...

Yes of course, i also prefer thin layers but I could not find my smaller laddle :-( I am not exactly a great fan of lapis (probably had it too much when I was young) so i usually half the recipes if using like 20 yolks and of course the more eggs you use, the more moist cake you get ;-)

Anonymous said...

Salam zu, kak t also have the same cookbook. verry old cookbook.

salam,

Anonymous said...

i imagine that would be a big hit at a party. i'm definitely saving this recipe. thanks!

jadepearl said...

That's looks awesome! Have got to try it soon! Thanks for posting the recipe!

Sophia said...

I have that same book for more than 20 years (my 1st cookbook). It's a treasure, yeah, for me.

Zurynee said...

Kak t, did you get it as a wedding gift? hehehe

Zurynee said...

Hi anne, jadepearl .. you are welcome ;-)

Zurynee said...

wow sophia, more than 20 years? You know when I first got it, I wasn't very enthusiastic abt it until a few years when I started to appreciate simple things and realise that it is very difficult to find true old traditional recipes. Just like you, it's a treasure to me :-)

Anonymous said...

hi!really appreciate all the recipes u posted.
i just wanna ask u if the agg yolks have to be beaten till thick n fluffy before it is added to the egg white?
thanks in advance!

Zurynee said...

Hi anonymous,

You don't need to beat the yolks at all. Just pour into the egg white one at a time.

Family First said...

I love layered cakes but steamed would be better. mind to share the sarawak seri kaya cake? i really love steamed recipes.

Anonymous said...

hi zurynee,
i tried baking this cake but it turned out hard the next day.i learned from my auntie that i actually 'bake' the cake rather than 'grill' it.

i'm planing to get a new oven now but the almost all the oven i found can only 'broil'.so i just wanna ask u if broiling is actually grilling?

and thanks for this recipe,i'll definitely be baking this cake again after i get my new oven!

Zurynee said...

hi anonymous,

I am so sorry that the cake turned out hard for you. Your aunty may be right about you baking it. Broiling is similar to grilling. Generally you need to brown the top only without really cooking the inside of each layer. Also do not over grill it as it will make the cake hard. Once the colour turns light brown, take it out and put the next layer. Good luck to your oven search and don't give up !

Zu

Anonymous said...

hi zu,
my mom have the same recipe book and its almost my age 28th.. Its so antiques.. as the receipe book contains my sibling handwrittings which we use to scribble...

It contains a good old generation recipes

Anonymous said...

Hi Zu,
It's almost CNY, and I still remember your egg white rainbow steam cake "selamatkan" me from throwing away excess eggwhites! I am still making kaya using your method till today. Thanks for this kek lapis. Have too been searching for a "less" cholesterol kek lapis. Will be baking it this Saturday. THANKS again!

Zurynee said...

Hi Taitauwai,

You are are welcome and happy trying !!

Zu

Anonymous said...

Hi Zu,
Made this kek lapis during the weekend. WoW! it was good. this time it's a success. I was wondering using the same recipe can we omit the lapis spice and then divide the batter into 2 and add coloring? this recipe is good so i thought of modifying it into 2 colors.

Zurynee said...

Hi Delia,

I am happy that it turned out well for you. Yes, you can omit the spice and add coloring. You can even sprinkle cheese or dried fruits for variation. Happy trying !

Anonymous said...

Hi Zu,
Sorry to bother you again. How long can this kek lapis keep?

Zurynee said...

Hi Delia,

In the fridge, it can last about 2wks or so. If freezer, it can be kept longer. Just make sure you wrap it up and store in an airtight container when you refrigerate it.

HTH

delia said...

Hi Zu,
It's me again. I made this kuih lapis 2 days before cny 2010 and find it a bit dry. Normally, do we have to make it a week earlier? I did 2, one with peppermint and chocolate and the other is the original taste.

Zurynee said...

Hi Delia,

Because this lapis does not use a lot of eggs unlike the other recipes, it tends to be drier than those that uses more than 10eggs. If you find it dry for you, you can brush a bit of melted butter on every layer after grill.

HTH
Zu

delia said...

Hi Zu,
Thanks for the info. I will try out with adding cheese in future. BTW, do you have cheese lapis recipe?