Durian Lapis 榴莲千层糕

Am I crazy or what?? I actually did a 2nd lapis. This is not me because I have never attempted doing 2 lapis in 1 CNY haha! The effort and time put in for a lapis could allow me to get so much things done at home, but I willingly give the time up for this sinful yet decadent cake that to me, is the must-have for every CNYs. 

This time I tried my hand at making a durian lapis since Hubby "replenished" my Mao Shan Wang puree stock some months back when the durian season was back for that short period. This durian lapis was quite good I must say. 

About 2 tablespoon heapful of MSW durian puree went into the already-sinful-enough lapis cake. Diet plans can always be shelved to another day, right? Hehe~

Oh I need to add that I do not always have good baking days, I do have my fair share of lousy bakes too. Like this time, the lazy me decided to skip greaseproof paper lining part and just brush on some butter on the tin base. 

All was good till the unmoulding part! The cake base somehow stuck on to the tin, with only the sides released with the help of my sharp knife. Only after some knockings on the base that my durian lapis finally got dislodged from tin, and it was not a pretty sight because the bottom centre part came right off, about like 2 layers of my lapis centre got stuck to the tin. Ah well, I learnt never to be lazy and skip the lining part. Life's a never ending learning journey :)

6 days countdown to the Lunar CNY! 1st round of reunion dinner with my family tomorrow and I cannot wait to feast on Mummy's cooking! Seems like lots of families are gathering to have reunion dinners like me on Saturday, which also happens to be Valentine's Day. Truly a period to be merry, with the season of love as well as festive celebrations. Have fun and huat ah!!!

Durian Lapis
Recipe by Jane's Corner

300g butter (I used 100g margerine and 200g unsalted butter)

(I used 300g President brand salted butter)
80g sugar
90g condensed milk
150g durian pulp (blend) (I used durian puree)
300g egg yolks (I used 19 yolks that weighed around 310g)
35g low protein flour 
15g milk powder
2 egg white

1. Cream butter until creamy. Add in condensed milk and durian pulp. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Leave aside.

I was lazy to wash the beaters so I did the whites first, then the yolks and finally the butter. I saved washing up and could beat and mix the different ingredients one after another hehe!

2. In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (about 15mins).

3. Sieve flour and milk powder and fold into egg mixture. Continue mixing until well combined.
4. Add in butter mixture and mix well.
5. In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until light and stiff peak.
6. Add (5) into (4). Mixed well.
7. Grease a 7" cake tin and bake each layer 70g for 7 mins on top fire 160C (I make 13 layers: 5 layers original colour, 3 red, 5 original)

The blops of browned top made the lapis looked yucky, but heng ah, it tasted yummy. Moist and flavourful.

8. For last layer, turn oven to top and bottom heat and bake the whole cake at 180C for further 15 minutes.

Sliced a portion for photography...

... and wrapped the rest in clingwraps to be given away to Dad, Sis and MIL.

And so, this sums up my CNY bakes. Nothing adventurous like many other wonderful foodie bloggers. I really salute you all!!! 

This durian lapis is a good bake. A recipe which is here to stay! 

Kueh Lapis

After hesitating for the longest time, I finally decided to pick up blogging again, but this time a makan blog! By jotting down all recipes and notes of food I cook and bake for my love ones, I hope to open up a channel for me to share with others, as well as learn more from all the other good cooks and bakers out there.

I have always had the interest in cooking and baking since my secondary school days, but I never really got to do much till when I got married 2 years back (and finally had my humble little kitchen!)

Start of January this year was a busy month for the hubby and me, and as if the spring cleaning wasn't enough to bog us down, I had to squeeze in the few CNY bakes.

My Dad loves Kueh Lapis, so naturally it was 1 of the must-bake on my CNY Bake list. The Kueh Lapis recipe by Mad Baker is a keeper. I followed this recipe closely last year and make a moist and wonderful lapis. This year, to play it safe I decided to use the same recipe, tweaking it abit and turned it into a Pandan Lapis.

Kueh Lapis
(Recipe by Mad Baker )

20 egg yolks
4 egg whites
500g salted butter (*I used Lurpak butter block)
3 tbsp condensed milk
340g sugar (*I used 320g)
200g plain flour
2 tsp ground mixed spices (*I left this out)
2 tsp vanilla essence (*I used 1 tsp for the vanilla portion and 1 tsp concentrated pandan juice)
3 tbsp rum or brandy
90g pitted prunes, sliced into thin strips (optional) (*I left them out) 

Method
1. Butter the base of an 8″ X 8″ X 2.5″ pan and line with baking parchment.
2. Pre-heat your oven, selecting the grill function.
3. Sift the plain flour and mixed spices together.
4. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until pale yellow, thick and creamy
5. Cream the butter and condensed milk together until soft and fluffy. Add the creamed butter to the egg yolk mixture and mix until combined.
6. Beat the egg whites until medium firm peaks.
7. Fold in the egg whites, followed by the flour mixture into the rest of the batter.
 8. Stir in the vanilla essence and rum until well-combined. (I added just the rum at this stage till well combined. Spooned out 10-12 tbsp of batter and mix in pandan juice for the pandan layers)
9. Spread a thin layer of batter onto the parchment paper.
10. Grill for 7 - 8 mins on the lowest rack in your oven or until lightly golden brown.
11. Remove cake pan from oven and press the baked layer down lightly with a metal fondant smoother. Prick all over the layer of cake with a toothpick.
12. Repeat steps 9 to 11 for each layer. (Optional: Add prunes on every second or third layer). (I alternated between 2 to 3 layers of the vanilla with pandan)
13. For the last layer, turn the oven down to 180 degrees C and bake on middle rack for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
14. Remove from oven and run a paring knife along the edges of the cake pan.
15. Turn the kueh lapis out of the pan and remove the baking parchment.
16. Flip cake back upright and let cool.

How to make fresh pandan juice? 
I normally cut up about 5 to 6 washed and cleaned pandan leaves into the blender, add in 1 tablespoon of water and blend till fine. Remove, squeeze and strain using strainer. You may use the juice right away or keep it in airtight container and refrigerate it and use the concentrate part that sits at bottom to get more intense pandan flavour.