Malaysian Kueh Lapis Layer Cake Dessert Recipes

KUEH LAPIS (NINE-LAYER CAKE / JIU CENG GAO)

Steps:

• Wash the pandan leaves and drain dry. Then twist the leaves to break up the veins, and tie the pandan leaves into a bundle.
• Add water, sugar, pandan leaves and salt to a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 mins until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup smells aromatic.
• Transfer the syrup into a large heat-proof bowl through a sieve, then add the chilled coconut milk into the sugar syrup to help cool it down.
• Add tapioca flour and rice flour into a seperate bowl and mix well.
• Once the sugar syrup is cool, add the flour mixture into the syrup mixture a little at a time, and stir with a hand whisk.
• Sieve the batter to remove any lumps, then divide the batter into 3 equal portions. Add red and green food colouring to two of the portions, leaving the last portion white.
• Grease the bottom and sides of the non-stick square tin with oil.
• Fill the Panasonic Cubie Steam Oven water tank with water. Then place the square tin on the lower rack of the Panasonic Cubie Steam oven, and set the oven to 'Steam-High' for 3 minutes.
• Stir the white batter, then use a ladle to pour in enough white batter to completely cover the bottom of the square tin. Then set the oven to 'Steam-High' for 4 minutes.
• Check that the first layer of batter is completely set, then pour in just enough green batter to cover the first white layer, and set the oven to 'Steam-High' for 3 minutes. Repeat this process until you have 9 layers of alternating white, green and red layers.
• For the final layer (red), set the oven to 'Steam-High' for 10-12 minutes (instead of 3 minutes) to allow the whole Kueh to set.
• Remove the Kueh Lapis from heat and allow to completely cool down (4-6 hours).
• Use a greased silicone spatula to loosen the sides of the Kueh Lapis from the square tin tray, then invert the tray over a piece of baking paper.
• Flip the kueh over so the red colour is on top. Then use a sharp greased knife to slice the Kueh Lapis into 32 (8x4) or 24 (6x4) pieces.
• Garnish the sliced Kueh Lapis with some cut pandan leaves and serve.

STEAMED LAYER CAKE SNACK

Steps:

• In a pot boil water, sugar and pandan leaves together till sugar dissolved. Turn off heat, discard pandan leaves and add in coconut milk. Stir well and leave aside to cool.
• Mix tapioca flour and rice flour together and gradually blend well into coconut liquid with a hand whisk. Then strain mixture through a sieve to ensure it is free from lumps.
• Divide mixture in two equal portions and add desire colouring into one portion, keeping one portion white. (You can use more colours if you prefer to have more colourful layers)
• Grease a 7 inch square or round cake pan and place in steaming pot for few minutes over high heat.
• Pour about 100-125ml of white liquid into the heated pan and steam at high heat for about 4 minutes or until batter is cooked. Then add 100-125ml of pink liquid onto it and steam for another 4 minutes. (reduce liquid for thinner layers)
• Repeat the procedure, alternating white and pink liquid until all the batter is used up. Remember to stir the batter every time before pouring out the liquid to steam each time.
• Add a little more rose pink colour to the last layer to make it a deeper shade of pink.
• Leave Kuih Lapis to cool completely after steamed and invert the cake pan to knock out the kuih.
• Grease knife with little oil before cutting. You may also brush a little oil on the surface as gloss finishing.

MALAYSIAN KUEH LAPIS (LAYER CAKE) DESSERT

Steps:

• cook the coconut milk, salt and pandan leaves until it comes to a boil. remove and let cool
• mix the rice flour and cornstarch and sugar in bowl. add the coconut mixture little by littlle and stir until smooth. divide into two parts. and color one part red or green and leave the other part plain white.
• oil a 9x18x7 in cake tin and heat up tin in steamer for about 3 min pour in the mixture layer by layer each color in turn and steam each layer separtely for about 5 mins each. when all the mixture has finished, steam the whole cake an additional 30 minutes.
• remove and let cake cool down before cutting.

KEK LAPIS INDONESIA (INDONESIAN LAYER CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the bottom and sides of a square cake pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the base exactly and grease the paper.
• Sift flour, cinnamon, cloves, anise, and cardamom together into a bowl.
• Beat butter and vanilla extract together in a bowl using an electric mixer until creamy. Cream egg yolks and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar together in another bowl until thick and tripled in volume. Place egg whites in a separate bowl using clean beaters; mix until stiff peaks form.
• Mix the creamed butter with the creamed egg yolk mixture. Slowly fold in the spiced flour, alternating with beaten egg whites. Carefully mix well.
• Pour 1 ladleful of cake batter into the prepared pan. Spread batter evenly into a layer about 1/4-inch thick.
• Bake in the preheated oven until light brown, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from oven; use a skewer to prick the top of the cake to prevent air bubbles from forming.
• Spread another ladleful of batter on top and bake the new layer for about 5 minutes. Repeat the process and bake each remaining ladle of batter. When done, remove the cake from pan at once. Turn it over, top side up, onto a cooling rack and let cool for at least half an hour.

KUIH LAPIS (MALAYSIAN STEAMED ROSE LAYER CAKE)

Steps:

• Place a metal steamer basket in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot (about 12" diameter) and pour in water to come 3"-5" up sides of pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat as needed to maintain a simmer. (Alternatively, you can use a pot with a large bamboo steamer set on top.) Whisk ¾ cup (100 g) Thai or Vietnamese nonglutinous rice flour, ¾ cup (90 g) bleached cake flour, and ¾ cup (85 g) Thai or Vietnamese tapioca starch or tapioca flour in a large bowl to combine.
• Heat 2 fresh or frozen pandan leaves (if using), 1 cup (200 g) sugar, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1½ cups water in a medium pot over medium-high, whisking occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, discard pandan leaves, and whisk in two 13.5-oz. cans Thai or Vietnamese unsweetened coconut milk (mixture will be lukewarm). If using 2 tsp. vanilla extract instead of pandan leaves, whisk into coconut syrup.
• Pour coconut syrup into dry ingredients and whisk vigorously until smooth (a few tiny lumps may remain-that's okay). Strain batter through a fine-mesh sieve into another large bowl, pressing on any solids in the sieve with a ladle or spoon to help dissolve them (you want the batter to be lump-free). Reserve first large bowl (no need to rinse).
• Pour half of batter (3¼ cups; 806 g) back into reserved bowl (this will be for the white layers). Stir ⅓ cup rose syrup, 2 tsp. rose water, and 4 tsp. natural red food coloring (if using) into remaining batter (this will be your pink batter).
• Lightly coat bottom and sides of a 9"-diameter metal cake pan with vegetable oil. Line bottom with a parchment paper round and lightly brush parchment with oil. Place pan in steamer and let sit until slightly warm, about 3 minutes (this will help kick-start the cooking process when the batter is poured in).
• Stir white batter, then pour 1 cup (250 g) batter into cake pan (leave pan in the steamer while you add each layer to maximize efficiency-just be mindful of the steam when you remove the pot lid). Cover pot and steam batter until just set (the surface will leave only the barest indentation when lightly pressed with a spoon), 7-9 minutes. (There might be a thin sheen of fat and water on top-don't let that deceive you into thinking it's uncooked. If cooked too long, the layers might be rubbery.)
• Stir pink batter and gently pour 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (280 g) batter over white layer; repeat cooking process.
• Continue layering and cooking process with remaining batters, alternating between white and pink, for a total of 6 layers. Adjust heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer and check water level in pot occasionally to make sure pan is not dry (if water level is low, add hot tap water and return to simmer before cooking additional layers; pan can remain in steamer). Remember to stir batter each time before pouring as the flours have a tendency to settle at the bottom of the bowls. After the final layer is set, remove pot from heat, uncover, and let sit until cake is cool enough to handle, about 45 minutes.
• Gently blot any liquid from surface of cake with a kitchen towel. Cover pan with a plate or plastic wrap and chill until cold, at least 2 hours. (Chilling helps the starch set and ensures cleaner slices when cutting.)
• To serve, invert pan onto a cutting board; tap and wiggle pan to release cake (if it refuses to come out, run an offset spatula along the sides of the pan). Using an oiled knife or a sturdy plastic knife, slice cake into about 1" squares, rectangles, or diamonds (the rounded edges will be uneven; consider them a cook's treat!). Arrange kuih on a platter and let sit about 30 minutes to come to room temperature before eating for optimal texture. Do ahead: Kuih lapis can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled in pan, or if cut, transfer pieces to an airtight container and chill.