Chocolate & Orange Kue Lapis Legit

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When it comes to Chinese New Year, no matter how busy I am in baking my cookies, I will always allocate some time to bake Kek Lapis or Cake Lapis or Kue Lapis Legit. Having tried several flavours over the years, I decided to do a Chocolate & Orange Kue Lapis, a combination which I always like!

A recipe which I always fall back to is from Florence. In many kue lapis that I've ever attempted over the years, I modified from her recipe. I like her recipe very much because (1) it doesn't use an exorbitant amount of condensed milk and even I replaced it with whole milk and it worked fine, (2) the quantity of egg yolks and butter used is reasonably acceptable. These are in comparison with other recipes, though kue lapis cake uses a lot of butter and egg yolks in the first place! So here is my modified version.

Recipe for Chocolate & Orange Kek Lapis Legit
Makes a 21cm x 21cm square cake pan. Filled to the brim.

Orange Layers
Ingredients:
250g Liv Unsalted butter, room temperature
50g Caster sugar

10 Egg yolks
60g Caster sugar
1 tbsp Grand Marnier (or any orange liquor of your choice)
2 tsp Orange extract
1 large orange zest
2 tbsp Whole milk

66g Cake flour (I used superfine flour)
1/4 tsp Baking powder

5 Egg whites
30g Caster sugar
1/2 tsp Cream of tartar

Method:

1. Cream butter with sugar until creamy.
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar till thick. Stir in orange zest, orange extract, liquor and milk.
3. Sieve flour and baking powder into an empty bowl.
4. Mix butter and egg yolk mixture well.
5. Fold in flour mixture in two batches and mix well. (I used the beater to mix in the flour.)
6. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites till foamy. Add cream of tartar into the sugar and mix well. Gradually add in sugar and beat till stiff.
7. Fold egg white into egg yolk mixture and mix well.
8. Set aside.

Chocolate Layers

Ingredients:
250g Liv Unsalted butter, room temperature
50g Caster sugar

10 Egg yolks
60g Caster sugar
1 tbsp Rum (or brandy)
2 tbsp Whole milk

40g Cake flour (I used superfine flour)
26g Cocoa powder (I used Belcolade)
1/4 tsp Baking powder

5 Egg whites
30g Caster sugar
1/2 tsp Cream of tartar

For method, follow Orange Layers #1-8 above.

To bake:

1. Using a laddle, scoop the orange layer evenly into the paper-lined and butter-greased cake pan.
2. Turn the oven to bake function at 180C.
3. Bake the first layer for 5mins. Switch to grill and continue to grill at 6mins.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and scoop the chocolate layer evenly onto the cake pan. Even it out.
5. Grill this layer for 7 mins.
6. Continue to alternate the layers and grill at 7mins.
7. After 3/4 of the pan, reduce the grill timing to 6mins.
8. After grilling the last layer, turn the temperature to 160C and bake the cake for 8-10mins to ensure it is thoroughly baked.
9. Remove from the oven and let it to cool in a wire rack for 10mins. Then remove from cake pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes:

• I realised that each layer was slightly too thick to cook through. That was why there was a transparent layer.
• Possibility good to turn down the grill temperature to 160C, and grill up to 9 mins for each layer to let it cook through.
• Alternatively, I will have to reduce the quantity in each layer to make it thinner and easier to grill.
• Also, noticed the orange zest in the lighter layer.

Overall, the taste of this lapis legit cake was very good. The orange taste came through even though chocolate was more prominent. Orange taste was very subtle, but powerful! With the addition of the extra egg white, the cake was very soft. I like it very much.

I'm submitting this to: 

• Aspiring Bakers #27: Through Thick and Thin – Kue Lapis Classics hosted by Sam of Sweet Samsations
• Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.