Indonesian Layer Cake / Kek Lapis

A Dutch-Indonesian cake which is also known as Lapis Legit (Indonesian) or Spekkoek (Dutch) or A Thousand Layer Cake (English) is a rich, spiced-flavoured  multi-layered cake.  It is one of the most popular cakes for the Indonesians.  

Although it is not hard to make this cake, it is rather time-consuming and requires patience and time as it involves baking the cake layer by layer sitting in front of the hot oven and watching it like a hawk so that it doesn't burnt.   

Ingredients:

12 egg yolks
8 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
100g caster sugar
2 tbsp condensed milk
150g butter, softened
2 tbsp brandy (I replaced with whiskey)
90g plain flour
3/4 tsp mixed spice
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

• Grease and line the base of a 14cm square cake pan with baking paper (do not grease the sides).
• Whisk egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar until thick and creamy.
• In another bowl, beat butter, brandy and condensed milk until smooth.  Then add into the egg yolks mixture.  Beat until combined.  Then, fold in the sifted flour and mixed spice.
• In a clean, dry bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy.  Add in cream of tartar.  Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.
• Gently, fold the beaten egg whites into the egg yolks mixture. 
•  Heat grill to 180 degrees C.  Place the prepared pan under the grill for 1 minute.  Then remove the pan  from the grill.  
• Spoon batter onto the base of the hot pan and spread evenly by tilting the pan.   Grill for about 2 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  
• Remove pan from the grill and spoon the same amount of batter for the second layer.
• Repeat process until all the batter is used up.
• After the last layer, bake the cake in the oven (160 degrees C) for about 10 minutes.  If the top of the cake is too brown, cover with foil before baking.
• Run a knife along the edges of the cake and invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool. Remove the baking paper on the base of the cake before the cake has cooled completely.

Braised Belly Pork With Soy Sauce

Ingredients:

600g belly pork, cut into big pieces (with the skin on)
5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
10g palm sugar
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 dried chilli
2 garlic bulbs
1 star anise
1 small piece cinnamon stick
8 pieces of firm fried tofu
bean curd sticks (soaked to soften)
4 hard-boiled eggs
2 1/2 cups water

• Put all the ingredients into a pot and bring it to the boil.  Then simmer under low heat for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is very tender.
• Serve hot with rice.

Mini Pavlova

My first attempt at  making pavlova from Donna Hay's recipe.....

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

220g caster sugar (I reduced to 170g)

2 tbsp cornflour

2 tsp white vinegar

•  Preheat oven at 150 degrees C.
• Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gradually add sugar, whisking until thick and glossy.  
• Add cornflour and vinegar and whisk until just combined.
• Shape into 6 individual round shapes onto an oven tray lined with baking paper. 
• Place in the oven, reduce temperature to 120 degrees C.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  Cool pavlova completely in the oven with door ajar (about 1 hour).
• Whisk cream to soft peaks and spread over pavlova and top with your favourite fruit.