Rainbow Kueh Lapis
Kueh lapis is a rich buttery spice cake that is grilled layer by layer, resulting in its definitive layered look. It is said to have originated in Indonesia during its Dutch colonial days and went by the names spekkoek (Dutch) or Lapis Legit (Indonesian). Today, it can be found in many Southeast Asian countries and is an ubiquitous item enjoyed during Chinese New Year in Singapore and Malaysia.
Kueh lapis is truly a labour of love as each layer is grilled in the oven under the watchful eye of the baker, who must pay attention not to burn it. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, we decided to make our lapis rainbow-coloured! If you are not fond of food colouring, you can skip it and simply use the same batter to make a traditional kueh lapis that will impress your family and friends when they visit!
Ingredients:
(Yields: One 7” square cake)
400g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
120g condensed milk
4 tsp brandy (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
2 tsp lapis spice (also called rempah kueh)
15 egg yolks
5 egg whites
200g caster sugar
Gel food colouring: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet
Method:
- Beat egg yolks with 160g of sugar until pale and creamy.
- Meanwhile, mix butter and condensed milk together until smooth
- When egg yolk mixture is ready, slowly mix in butter and condensed milk mixture.
- Sift flour and lapis spice together and slowly add it into mixture on low speed
- Stir in brandy and vanilla extract until just combined.
- In another mixing bowl, whip egg whites with remaining 40g sugar until stiff peaks and then fold into the rest of the batter.
- Divide batter into 6 equal portions of ~200g each.
- Stir food colouring into each bowl of batter until desired colour is achieved
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 7” square pan with butter and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper
- Preheat oven to grill function (top heat, 220oC/420oF) and place baking tray in oven to preheat as well
- Starting with the violet layer, spread half (~100g) of the coloured batter on the bottom of the tin.
- Grill until surface is cooked and golden brown, about 7 minutes.
- Remove tin from oven and press down the cooked layer with a flat tool to remove air pockets. If there are huge air bubbles, poke the bubble with a skewer then press down to remove the air.
- Spread remaining violet coloured batter on top of the first layer and grill.
- Repeat steps 11-14 for remaining coloured batters until all the batter is used up.
- For the final layer, make sure the surface is evenly browned before removing from the oven.
- Allow the cake to cool slightly, then loosen the sides of the cake with a knife and invert the cake onto a wire rack. Leave the cake tin on to prevent the cake from drying out while it cools completely.
- Slice and serve or cling-wrap and store in the fridge.
Hi. Is there a substitute I can use for brandy and lapis spice? Prefer a kids friendly cake and I don’t have lapis spice. Thank you.
Hi Chrissie, you can simply omit the brandy, which is what I do when I make a kid-friendly version. As for a substitute for lapis spice or kueh rempah, you can try using all spice but the taste will be slightly different.
Where to get the lapis spice? Can we omit the brandy and replace with “kids” friendly items?
Hi Michelle, you can get lapis spice at baking stores like Phoon Huat or even some supermarkets. It also goes by the name rempah kueh. Yes you can omit the brandy to make it more kid friendly, no need to substitute it with anything else. Hope this helps!
Hi, if I don’t put brandy, what to replace?
Hi Stella, you can simply omit the brandy.
What is inside lapis spice?
Hi Katrin, lapis spice is a blend of mix spices. It also goes by the name rempah kueh. If you can’t find it, you could substitute it with all-spice, although the taste will be slightly different.
Originally it cosist of Indonesian spices such as Cinnamon, Nutmeg. Clove and Cardamon. So you may use only Cinnamon instead.
Hi, this rainbow kuih lapis is so amazingly beautiful!
I saw the batter was curdled when u coloured them, it’s that normal? Appreciate your reply. Thank you
Hi there, the batter wasn’t curdled but the colouring did make the butter bits in the batter more obvious and hence the curdled look. However, it doesn’t affect the end product at all as you can tell.
Hi, if i want to make half the portion
How many egg yolk n white do i use
Hi, you can use 8 egg yolks and 3 egg whites. However, do make sure your baking tin is also half the size or you won’t get the same height.
hi, if I dun put brandy can I put Bailey’s ?
I wouldn’t recommend putting Bailey’s cos it has milk and the taste is very different. You can simply omit the brandy.
Can I substitute brandy with whiskey?
You can try, although the flavour profile of brandy and whiskey are different. I haven’t tried using whiskey so let me know how if it works!
Hi, thank you for sharing this recipe… how do i make it less sweet?? Does decreasing the sugar affect the texture??
You can try decreasing the sugar by 10%-15% in this recipe and see if you prefer it that way. It shouldn’t affect the texture.
Hi
The eggs have to be cold or room temperature
Eggs should be at room temperature for best results
Thnks very much for sharing the lovely Rainbow Kuih Lapis recipe. The cake looks very nice.
What if I want to steam? How long do I need to steam for one layer?
Unfortunately this recipe is not for steaming
Is mix spice the same or similar to all spice?
It is different, but if you can only find all-spice, you can use it too. The taste will just be slightly different.
My oven doesn’t have grill option only Bake and Broil. Can I set on Broil ?
Yes you can try broil function, as long as the heat is from the top.
My family do not like the taste of spices in tje cake lapis. Can i omit it completely?
Yes
Hi , may I know what is the proportions for ingredients if I use a 8″ square pan .
Thanks in advance!
You can use the same proportions and get a slightly shorter cake, or you can multiply everything by 1.4 times.
Hi!
Do you know where in the U.S. you can purchase the Lapis Spice? Having trouble locating it in several Asian markets.
I’m really not sure where to find it but you can try substituting with all spice, just cinnamon or a blend of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and clove
Hi,
May I know how Long you take to brown the TOP final layer? Can I use fan mode to bake it?
About 1-2 minutes. You need to use top heat to grill it, cannot use baking or fan mode
I would loved to bake a chololate kueh lapis. Do you have a recipe for that?
Hihi,
From 7″ to 8″ multiply by 1.4. If i wanna do 10″? Per layer how many gram?
For a 10″ square cake you can double this recipe
May i know what brand of brandy did you use? Can i use Cognac?
Yes you can
Hi! Thanks for this. How long can it keep?
It can keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks
Hi, end of my batter start to melt. How to keep it firm? Or am i did some step wrong?
Perhaps the kitchen you are working in is too hot, you can try putting the batter in the fridge if it starts to melt. But it isn’t a big problem really, cos the batter also tends to melt when spread out on the previous hot layer
Just to confirm.. we are keeping the oven on grill at 220C the whole time we are baking?
Yes, but you have to watch the cake and take it out when the surface is brown enough
Hai..I’m been looking for this receipe..for a long time..it’s easy n very nice..For this year CNY..baked a lot . A gift to my 2 SIL n my hubby staff n boss..n the best part..now…I earnt side income..hihihi..I got a lot of orders..😊😊 Thank U So Very Much Whisk n Fold…for sharing this wonderful..gift of receipe..It’s meaning a lot..Many2 Thanks …
You’re welcome. Do share our videos with your friends and family too!
Hi..
May I know what is the proportions for ingredients if i use 6″
Square pan….Thanks
You can use the same proportion and just end up with a slightly higher cake
Hi thanks for sharing the recipe. I’m accustomed to making the regular lapis rempah. And typically after the last layer is browned, I would cover the tin with aluminium foil and then bake using top and bottom heat for 10 minutes. May I know if your recipe requires the same technique? Would the batter bake through without the end top-and-bottom baking?
Yes the cake is cooked, I don’t bake it with top and bottom heat at the end because it tends to dry out the cake too much for me
May I know large eggs is about 60g or 65g? Thanks
60g
Hi, may I know the brand of butter you use or recommend?
Also, the baking time decreases for each layer as the cake builds, is this right?
Thanks.
I’ve heard some people only use Golden Churn tin butter for kueh lapis, but I use chilled French butter
Baking time decreases because the cake gets higher and closer to the heating element. The best gauge is to look at the cake itself