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.