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Kueh Lapis

I remember having tried my first attempt at kuih lapis, a layered steamed rice flour cake or kuih as Malaysians call their sweet treats. I think it was when I was still in school. I loved it and although I remembered how impatient I was waiting for each layer to set, it still turned out pretty well and I have yet to find one sold to date that tastes as good as the one I made. Until I had the guts to try again yesterday. And, yes! it does taste as it did when I made it as a teenager. I am so happy it turned out and now I shall continue to make this for sale at my cafe, Little Cottage Cafe at The Robertson, Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur.

The ingredients and method here is to help me remember what I did. I shall myself come back to this post whenever I want to make this.

After reading various recipes, I decided I wanted to use a total of 400 gms flour combination with a total of 1 liter liquids in order to get the right texture and thickness for the layers.

Here's what I did:
A.  In a mixing bowl, I added
250 gm rice flour
150 gms tapioca flour
200 ml coconut cream + 150 ml water
(I used the M&L brand santan) and added water until it reached the 350 ml mark in my measuring cup.
300 ml water (Additional water to get all the liquids to total 1 liter, no more. If I wanted to add water to my ground pandan leaves for color, I would use the liquid from this portion rather than add any extra liquids).
2/3 teaspoon salt

Whisk everything together until there are no lumps.

B.  In a saucepan, I melted the sugar with the following
250 gm caster sugar
350 ml water
4 pandan leaves tied together

After the sugar has melted in the water and the pandan flavor infused, let cool a while and combine with the mixer in the mixing bowl.

Separate the mixture into different bowls of equal portions. I used two; one pink and one white.

Use a 10 inch diameter cake pan, greased with some vegetable oil or a silicon bake ware. Place in a steamer with boiling water and once the water has reached boiling, regulate the temperature to keep the water boiling. I used a gas stove and once the water in the steamer had boiled I lowered the fire to keep the water boiling and the steam rising.

I poured in the first layer to cover the bottom of the pan using a ladle and counting the number of ladles so that the other layers would be the same. My first layer was the pink one. Each layer took about 4 minutes for each layer to firm up before pouring the next layer. It should take about 9 layers, thus the chinese name calling it the nine-layer cake, if I remember correctly what my grandma called it, with the last and final layer to be a darker shade of pink (combine all the remaining mixtures and add extra coloring to the final layer.)

Let cool completely before cutting with a knife wrapped with cling wrap. I chilled it overnight so it would be easier to cut.

I only got to seven layers when I reached the top of my pyrex, and so I had extra mixture leftover. Now, I know to use a 10 inch diameter bake tin and next time I shall get my 9-layers.


Here's the final result... It's as yummy as it looks and it's so pretty. Now, I can make more with different color combinations and flavors. I am surely going to use the measurements above as I am satisfied with the texture and the way the layers can be lifted off as I find it fun to eat mine layer by layer. ;P

~ Aunty Faizah








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