Kek Lapis (Indonesian Layer Cake)
November 11th, 2009 | Cakes, Dessert | 63 Comments
My intern Siew Loon is back with yet another mouthwatering and decadent dessert recipe—Indonesia layer cake or kek lapis. This is not a Nyonya recipe but the exotic taste and inviting aroma of kek lapis is legendary and one of my favorites, and Siew Loon and I wanted to share it with you. Check it out!
I can still remember vividly how my friends and I used to look forward to the sweet delicacies served during the Lunar New Year. Our favourite is the Kek Lapis or Indonesian Layer Cake. As this is an expensive cake, we only get to eat it during very special occasion. As a passionate baker, I told myself that no matter what I must learn how to make Kek Lapis…(get Kek Lapis recipe after the jump)
Kek Lapis is a very unique cake where spices are added in to give the sweet aroma smell. It is a very rich cake with very high contents of eggs and butter. Therefore, it is usually served in very small pieces.
Making Kek Lapis is a very tedious job but it is worth the hard work when you see the beautiful layers of the cake. More so when we see our friends and loved ones enjoying every bite of it. Kek Lapis is not actually a Nyonya recipe, but a great baking recipe to share with Nyonya Food readers.
Ingredients:
12 oz butter
2Tbsp condensed milk
20 eggs yolks
5 oz icing sugar
2 oz superfine flour, sifted with
1.5 tsp all spice
2 Tbsp brandy (optional)
Method :
- Lined and greased a 6 inch cake pan. Preheat oven at 380 degrees Farenheit.
- Beat butter and condensed milk till smooth. Leave aside.
- In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and icing sugar till pale and thick.
- Fold butter into egg yolk mixture.
- Lastly, fold in sifted flour in 2 batches until combined. Add brandy.
- Turn the oven to grill function. Put cake pan into oven for 1 minute.
- Put a small ladle ( about 2.5 oz) batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 5 minutes or till the top is brown.
- Remove from oven and and scoop the same amount of batter for the second layer. Repeat the same process.
- After you have finished the last layer, turn the oven to bake function. Cover top of the cake with aluminium foil and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove and cool on wire rack.
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I love love love kek lapis! Thanks for the recipe, much appreciated. :)
You actually make the process seem easy. I think I’ll stick with the ready-made ones though. This is sooo time-consuming!
They look absolutely gorgeous. It looks like a tedious process but I believe it’s all worth. Thanks for the recipe.
My pleasure.
Love kek lapis – do you mind sharing how long it took to bake this cake?
Hi, Leen, the whole process takes about 2 hrs. It is worth it though.
Once, I remember my friend said “every Indonesian woman should bake Lapis Legit, once if she’s lucky, many times to polish her layering skill “
Bravo, Bee! Your Kek Lapis looks lovely.
I’m inspired to be as brave as you are. Will have to go buy those 20 eggs, all-spice and superfine flour now : )
Happy Baking!
Bee, the Kek Lapis turned out delicious, and just like how i remember it. Love it, love it, love it!
Now, if only I could make it as pretty as yours. I’ll have to watch the oven like a hawk next time. Some of my layers got burnt. Did you use baking paper to line the tin? And did they turn almost black?
I do line the tin with baking paper. Try to turn the cake tin if the color is not even as sometimes our oven heat might not be even.
These look so pretty, and I am always so enamored with the process in which to make them!
Ohhhhh… kek lapis.. suka sangat makan kek lapis! It’s kinda time consuming but well worth the time spent!
Agree with you on this!
Reminds me of the quatros leches I had in Cancun last week. Looks delicious!
I’m a little confused about the method….so just to clarify….I preheat the oven to 380 degrees F and once I’m ready to bake, I turned it to the broil option and once all the layers are done, I turned it back to 380 degrees F?
Yes, the firs layer is done using the bake function and you need to use the grill function for second layer onwards till you finish the batter. To end the process, cover the top with aluminium foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes to ensure the cake is cooked completely.
This cake looks almost too good to eat..almost =)
Looks delicious! Wish I have some to eat NOW!!! Yummy!!!
Try to bake it…really yummy
I adore Kueh Lapis. It’s something that I love most when I was living in Singapore. The multi layers make the cake unique and fun to eat. I like to peel it layer by layer and enjoy the singularity flavor. Strange habit…I know. ^^
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I am not sure I will be gutsy enough to test it out, but I know there’s an option available when I need it.
yes…it’s the amount of egg yolks that’s stopping me from making this. But it looks gorgeous!!
Not mentioning the price, it is not easy to get layer cake which is aromatic and yet not oily. For some you can actually see the oil oozing out when you press the cake lightly. Gosh.
Try this recipe. It is rich but not oily. Use very good pure butter. Together with the eggs, it will give the perfect taste.
When it is me or my brother’s birthday and also our better halves, my mom will bake Kek Lapis. This is also one of her CNY must’s. So that’s 5 a minimum of 5 times a year. Yay! I really must get her recipe and and try making it myself.
Gosh Bee… I’ve never seen such an artistic composition for this cake… The layers look very even too. Did you use the cake “press” to even out each layer?
I am so lazy that I only wait for my relatives from Indonesia to bring this rich cake. That way, at least I can watch my weight. LOL
Thanks for the compliments. Try it out!
Hi…Where can i get all spice in USA?
You can get it from the supermarket. It comes in a bottle like Cinnamon powder, dried oregano, black pepper etc.
OMG! this looks so yummy!!
Im a bit confused on the icing sugar. how do i make the icing sugar? or is this a store bought icing? and if so, what brand or flavor is best?
thank you!!!
Icing sugar is powdered sugar.
what size of the egg we should choose – small, medium or large
Large eggs.
Try steaming…very time consuming though…
Hi just a curious question. I made a kek lapis recipe previously from a different website. It was 450g butter & 225g superfine flour, whereas yours is 340g butter & 56g flour. Just wondering what the difference will be taste wise? thanks
Hi, Nomad. Can’t really comment much as I don’t know the full recipe that you have. But what I believe is that the cake will be harder as more flour is called for. Try this recipe out.
wow, these are really beautiful. They definitely take alot of patience..
great job! :)
Thanks, Tracie.
This looks delicious. For one of the steps that requires the grill function,what would you do if your oven had no grill function? Is there any way that you could substitute this step with something else? Thanks!
I am afraid you really need the grill function as we are working on layers. If you use baked function, the heat is from the bottom and not so suitable. The cake will turn out hard and dry as overcooking on the bottom layers.
Very similar to the Goan Bebinca we bake in India!
Loverly recipe ! I had tried it however when I bake it, the bottom of the cake got burn ? any solution ? or what I did wrong ?
Did u use the grill function?
I LOVE KUEH LAPIS!!!!!! my baba grandmother stopped making them because it was so much work and she never wanted to make it again in old age.
Just want to know why some use ovalette for kek lapis
Ovalette is a cake stabilizer to make the cake soft. It is an emulsifier and made of chemical. I substitute it with condensed milk.
Hi! I made this cake today and something was a bit awry. Using the above ratio my cake was literally dripping butter at the end; any ideas?
Hi, Daniel, can you please elaborate a bit. The batter is quite watery and you have to use grill function to cook it. Try to pook it with a skewer after each layer to make sure it is cook.
I’m relatively sure it was cooked through each time. I suppose maybe i accidentally used a wrong measurement or something. The batter simply did not hold all of the oil of the butter; so as the butter melted it would pool out of the batter
hi,what different use egg whites and without egg whites?tx.
Hi, I’m planning to try out your recipe. Just a couple of question, what’s superfine flour? Is it different from the normal, all-purpose flour or cake flour? And also, what can I substitute for all spice if I can’t get it?
Thanks in advance!
Hi, ur converter icon is faulty i think….cos I tried to convert recipe for kue lapis and butter cookies, but couldn’t….any ideas?
what do u mean by grill mode? U mean let it be on the higher heating element?
It means using the heat from the top heating element. Usually there is a grill function on the oven.
Hi there,
I’ve 2 questions. Is the butter at room temperature, melted or cold? And is superfine flour the same as all-purpose or regular flour?
Thanks for your help!
Butter is at room temperature. Superfine flour is also called cake flour but you can use all purpose flour as well. The superfine flour is actually to give the cake a finer texture.
can we use an ordinary oven or tyoster oven to make kuih lapis?
I don’t think so as u might end up having a dry and hard base due to overbaking. You need the grill function.
Hi, my oven does not have a grill function, only broil. At what temperature should I set on my oven to achieve the “grill” effect?
Thanks,
Amy
Hi,
I baked the cake this afternoon. Delicious. My husband said it tastes authentic. One thing, I did not have enough batter to do as many layers as yours in the pic. What size of cake pan do you use? I am using a 8″ x 8″.
@Amy: I used the BOIL function of my oven (just the top element)
I visit many times kuala lumpur and I have test the chifon kek but I don’t know how to make it finally I found its ingrediants and method to cock it.
thanx alot to NYONYA FOOD >from saudi arabia,jeddah
Lina – thanks for your comment. Hopefully it works out for you.
Hi!
Great photo! :) May I ask if I can use ovalette instead of condensed milk for your recipe? – I happen to have ovalate in my fridge, that’s why. Also, what is “all spice”? Its not the same as “5 spice powder” right?
Also, what is “superfine” flour? Is that something you guys have in the U.S.? Or is it something that I have to buy at the Asian store?
Thanks in advance! Love your recipes!!! :) Such a life-saver for women like myself who live overseas!