Ramadhan (fasting month) is only a week away, so I thought of baking something traditional for once. :)
Kek Lapis is a layered cake which first originated from Indonesia and then introduced commercially to the people of Sarawak. And now it is popularly known as Kek Lapis Sarawak. This kek lapis is mainly served during the festive seasons and special occasions. It is forever a must for my family members to buy kek lapis for Hari Raya. The colours and patterns on the cake helps to brighten up the festive mood!
As you can see from my picture, mine is a boring single-line pattern layered cake. Usually kek lapis should have thin, delicate layers. You need to have great patience to achieve that. I have fond memories of my grandaunt working on many kek lapis orders for her customers. I know it wasn't easy for her. But she did the layering process so patiently and gracefully that she left me completely in awe everytime. Her end products were always consistent: beautiful kek lapis with thin, delicate, uniform layers. And because I don't inherit similar level of patience from her, my kek lapis doesn't look as pretty as I hope it would be. :D
There are also other types of kek lapis with complex, intricate patterns that just simply boggles my mind whenever I look at it. I mean, how do you even do that????
(Photo taken from kwgls.wordpress.com)
Let me warn you that this is an extremely rich cake that contains enough eggs and butter to clog your arteries. Imagine an 8" X 8" size of this cake can contain up to 27 eggs and around 600g of butter! Sounds suicidal enough. But it doesn't stop me from eating a huge amount of it. The dense, rich and creamy texture of the cake is just too addictive. Simply melt-in-your-mouth goodness!
So, after much searching on the Internet, I've finally found a basic horlick-flavoured kek lapis recipe that is novice baker-friendly. A straight forward recipe that helps the novice baker to kick start their kek lapis-making adventure. Thank god this recipe only use 10 eggs! The only thing I would change about this recipe is to cut down the sugar by 1/4. Overall the cake is delicious with intense malted milk flavour, thanks to the Horlick and condense milk. Everyone in the house loves it! I will try to bake with other flavours soon!
Rating: 7/10
Recipe
(Adapted from Abg Rozzan's blog)
Makes 1 10" X 7" or 8" X 8" or 9" X 9" square kek lapis
1 pound unsalted butter
220g caster sugar
10 eggs
1 can (397g) condense milk
240g All-purpose flour or Hong Kong Flour
200g Horlicks
Method
Using the grilling function (top heat only) of your oven, preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius.
Line your pan with parchment paper or just grease it with butter.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Mix in the eggs, one by one at high speed. If your batter looks curdled after putting all the 10 eggs, not to worry, just continue to beat at high speed until it has come together and resembles a thick batter.
Pour in the condense milk and mix well.
Mix in the flour and horlicks at slow speed first, and then turn up the speed on high for 20 seconds until the batter is well-mixed.
Layering process
You decide how small or big you want the layers to be.
I scoop 2 ladleful of batter into the pan and bake for 6-8 mins in the middle tray until the top appears golden brown (please take note that the top must be brown or else you can't see the layering pattern when you cut the cake).
Repeat the layering process until the batter are used up. Once you have done with all the layering, switch your oven into convection / normal baking mode, lower the temperature to 180 degrees celsius and bake the whole cake for 10-15 mins.
Remove cake from oven and leave to cool on wire rack.
