For The (Indonesian) Woman In You
An adage said,
I said,
once if she’s lucky, many times to polish her layering skill
Now as Eid Mubarak is approaching in approximately 3 months, a time frame you barely notice to be flying very fast, we all have a perfect reason to sweat ourselves learning to bake this gorgeous rustic looking cake all day. Yes, that’s how long it takes. Along with 60 eggs, that is.
There are many variety of recipes for Lapis Legit (Lapis = layer; Legit = scrumptious, very tasty). The one that yields densed texture, spongy texture, the one using food coloring to achieve more egg-yellowy tone, the one using egg yolks only, with the whites, and we haven’t even started with its modification. There are Lapis Legit with different toppings: prunes, almond, raisin; different layers and flavors: chocolate, mocha, pandan, cheese; different shape and pattern: rolled, batik, tikar (braided mat), etc.
All comes down to the basic ingredients and technique: abundant butter, abundant eggs, just enough sugar, a little flour, a good teaspoonful of spekkoek spice, baked in an oven using mostly upper heat, layer by layer. This basic formula was used by our great-great-great-… grandmothers when they invented this indulging treat with so very traditional means. They only had firewood, tin oven, some bowls, and wooden spoon. Yet they invented and mastered such a magnificent nibble that combines everything good in life in one single slice: incomparable deliciousness for your tongue, heavenly aroma for your nose, stunning intricate layers for your eyes. And the whole day labor intensive work for the patience in you! Aren’t they incredible, our grandmothers? Let’s send them our most beautiful prayer tonight. For without them, there wouldn’t be a national treasure called Lapis Legit. They certainly deserve a beautiful prayer.
About the magical thing called spekkoek. Spekkoek spice is a blend of everything nice, apparently. Cinnamon, cardamom, clove, ginger, nutmeg,.. God knows what else. The spices growing on our motherland, Nusantara, the land of spices. This spice is the heart of Lapis Legit. The magic dust you put in that makes it fit for a king. To quote Anthony Bourdain, “There’s a reason why they fought war over spices, you know.” I know.
Now, onto the recipe. I used the most basic one. The one written by Hadi Tuwendi, one of Indonesian baking maestros, in parallel with Mrs. Liem, or Nyonya Liem as she often be called. He was once the man behind Holland Bakery, a well established bakery in Jakarta with respected reputation throughout the decades. So, you’re in good hand.
Classic Lapis Legit
by Hadi Tuwendi
Ingredients:
20 egg yolks
500 gr butter, beat until fluffy and pale
400 gr powdered sugar
200 gr all purpose flour
1 Tbsp spekkoek spice
10 egg whites, beat until stiff
How-to:
- Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celcius. Grease a 20 x 20 x 8 cm cake tin with margarine or butter, line it with baking paper, then grease the paper again. Mix flour with spekkoek spice.
- Beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale in color. Using spatula, fold in butter alternately with the flour mixture. Blend well. Fold in the egg whites.
- Weigh the batter 100 g, pour into the cake tin, spread evenly. Bake using lower and or upper heat for about 5 minutes or until the cake surface is set and golden in color. Turn off the lower heat.
- Take the tin out of the oven, if any bubbles turn up, prick it with a clean toothpick. Using a smoother, press lightly the layer surface to make sure there is no gap formed between layers.
- Weigh the same amount of batter for the next layer, pour on the previous layer, spread evenly. Using the upper heat only, bake for another 5 minutes or until the surface is golden and set.
- Repeat the layering process until the batter is done. To finish the cake, bake using lower heat only for another 7-10 minutes.
- Take the tin out of the oven, let it cool on the rack. Turn the cake out onto a wax paper, peel of the baking paper. Turn it again onto a cake plate, slice and serve.
Some wisdom:
- To my preference, I like to use duck eggs instead of chicken eggs. They taste better, provide better volume and sponginess. And fat!
- Using real butter, especially dutch butter, would be best. But in tropical climate like Indonesia, it often creates problem as the butter tends to melt at even our room temperature. The texture will ruin when the butter melts too much. What you can do, start with cold butter. Cut the butter, keep it in the refrigerator until needed, so you start beating with cold butter. This helps the butter to stay in manageable consistency. You also can substitute margarine for half of the amount of the butter. But I’d prefer all butter. No compromise.
- When using the smoother, do not put too much pressure on the layer as you will squeeze the layer and ruin it. Just lightly, very lightly, enough to make sure that the surface is flat and smooth, no bubbles. Most of the time you don’t even need to flatten it. When the layer was perfect, just leave it the way it was. No smoothing and pressing.
- If your lines didn’t form very nicely, chances are:
- you didn’t brown the surface enough. It’s got to be golden brown without baking it too crispy. Correct it by adjusting your oven temperature, turn it up a little bit and see the result.
- you didn’t put enough batter for every layer. Maybe 100 gr per layer was not just enough for you, who knows. Try adding another 20 gr per layer and see the result.
- You press it too much with your smoother.
- Finally, challenge yourself to perfection and have fun during the process. It will pay off, mark my word.
Gosh, I feel complete now.
Comment by Fenny — June 9, 2008 @ 1:44 pm
lapis legit.. oh lapis legit..
so SINfully scrumptious!
Comment by cindy — June 9, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
I think I must get my granny’s sister’s recipe, she’s been baking LL for ages and hardly fails. May have to try it once in my lifetime, I”ll send you the recipe later…
Comment by Chennette — June 10, 2008 @ 12:46 am
This looks lovely. I would love to taste it…not sure if I have the time to bake it all day
but maybe after I taste it. Pity Indonesia is so far away from the Caribbean.
Comment by umami — June 11, 2008 @ 6:09 pm
This is my mum’s favourite cake. Yours look magnificent.
Comment by mary — June 11, 2008 @ 11:51 pm
hiya, lovely cake. May i asked was it icing sugar and not castor sugar in the recipe.
You must have tasted some of the best LL in indonesia , how does this compared to by taste and texture wise. I hear that the dutch butter makes lots of difference in the LL.thanks
Comment by ina — June 12, 2008 @ 7:02 am
mbak riana..kok baca ini jadi terharu ya…
inget mamak..huaaaaaaaa
Comment by eliza — June 14, 2008 @ 8:06 am
kepengeeennn…
Comment by latifa — June 14, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
thats looks lovley. i have heard of this indonesian cake before but never taste it. well done.
Comment by cindy — June 27, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
unluckily my great aunt left her recipe book in her house whereas she now stays with my aunt, so we just got to be patience and wait for her next home visit - and I’ll grab the recipe for sure!
Comment by mary — June 30, 2008 @ 8:44 pm
thanks riana…i will definately give this recipe a try…the 5 hours really paid off for u because the cake looks wonderful.
Comment by ovie — July 2, 2008 @ 2:59 pm
mbak Riana, ovennya ga ada api atas ato bawah gitu, kira kira bisa ga ya? wong tombolnya cuman ngatur temperatur doang.
Comment by Lisa — July 9, 2008 @ 3:19 am
Riana api atasnya pake broil bisa gak ya? soale oven sini gak ada setting buat api atasnya
Comment by mary — July 23, 2008 @ 10:52 pm
hello riana, the dutch butter comes in a can, how do i make it into cold butter since it soft and cannot be cut into cubes? Does tradional indonesia LL uses duck eggs..Can i use half duck egg + half chicken eggs. thanks
Comment by caroline — July 26, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Salam kenal…telaten ya.
Aku sihnunggu suami bawain aja nih 2 minggu lagi..maminya the best LL maker I’ve ever known, well my grand auntie was a LL maker too even her spekoek was shipped to US. But to hard for me .. specially don’t have to much time hihii…
Aussies pun demen banget pas dibagiin tuh kue..tiap kita pulkam dari indo hehe…
Comment by caroline — July 26, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
oya….kalo buat ku …asal butter sih biar generic..asal resep and yang bikin bener..namanya fresh from oven pasti enak…
tapi kalo ya brand minded ya…emang Weissman butter have the best aroma.
Comment by delia — August 26, 2008 @ 11:20 am
Riana,
Watch the channelnewsasia and saw you on TV. Am interested in making LL. Is this recipe is the almost the same as the one shown on TV? When do you add in the egg whites? Thank you.
Comment by lilik — September 10, 2008 @ 1:16 am
Apa itu spekkoek spice. Kalo Inggrisnya namanya apa sama? Bisa diganti spice lainnya enggak? thanks
Comment by glory — September 27, 2008 @ 10:54 am
I do not have upper heat in my oven.
How do I bake since it requires upper level heat.
glory
California
Comment by rath_mmi — October 13, 2008 @ 2:38 pm
I wonder how to make lapis legit, because every slice has different colour and contour. I ever eaten this cake. The taste is so luscious.
Comment by irene — October 13, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
Mbak Riana, I made myself an Indonesian woman yesterday.. baking my first LL ever. All the efforts.. long-hours standing & heat exposed by the oven had paid off.. This is not just simply baking a cake, this is somewhat like building my legacy in my kitchen….
I made my mark!!!
*grin*
Comment by evie — October 20, 2008 @ 10:56 am
Riana, aku pake oven yang nyatu sama kompor gas model kayak ariston gitu, yg apai atasnya cuma manjang vertikal di tengah aja, itu bisa buat bikin LL ga?
Comment by cindy — October 20, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
maap ya Ri, being 87 si Oma not only occassionaly forgets her recipe, but also forgets where she keep her recipe book! BTW, she makes her spekuk herself, too! Aduhhh..tuh kan kalo sampe resepnya ilang, kacau deh! heheh