''Kue bolu'' or simply ''bolu'' is an Indonesian term that describes a wide variety of

sponge cakes Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during t ...

tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...

s and

cupcake A cupcake ( AmE, CanE), fairy cake ( BrE), or bun ( IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting, icing and various other cake decorations such as ...

s. ''Kue bolu'' might be

steamed Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American Southwest, steam pits used for cooking ha ...

baked Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is gradually t ...

. There are a wide variety of ''kue bolu'', and most have a soft and fluffy texture, akin to sponge cake or

chiffon cake A chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavorings. Chiffon cakes (as well as angel food or Michelle cake, sponge, and other foam cakes) achieve a fluffy texture by having egg white ...

Ingredients

The ingredients for ''kue bolu'' may include

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

rice flour Rice flour (also rice powder) is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

, and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...

. Flavourings might include

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

or pandan. ''Kue bolu'' is known for its soft and fluffy texture, created by a

leavening agent In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...

that lightens and softens the dough mixture. Traditionally ''kue bolu'' uses

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

as a leavening agent, however, today

baking powder Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increas ...

baking soda Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda (or simply “bicarb” especially in the UK) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt (chemistry), salt compose ...

is more commonly used. Today in Indonesia, ''bolu'' mostly refers to a bare sponge cake without any frosting. Cakes that are coated in frosting are called ''keik'' (derived from English "cake") instead.

Etymology and history

Hundred years of colonisation of the Indonesian archipelago has left its legacy in local culinary tradition. European influences upon

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions by various ethnic groups that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed ...

are most prevalent in baking, pastry, cake and bread making techniques, introduced by Portuguese and Dutch colonists. The term ''bolu'' in Indonesian is derived from Portuguese ''bolo'' to describe

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

, or more precisely

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during ...

. This

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

comes from the historic Portuguese influence in Indonesia. After the Dutch colonisation, the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

word ''taart'' also entered Indonesian vocabulary, as a similar kind of ''

kue Kue are bite-sized snacks or desserts originally from what is now Indonesia but have since spread throughout Southeast Asia. ''Kue'' is a fairly broad term in Indonesian to describe a wide variety of snacks including cakes, cookies, fritters, p ...

'' snack or cake. Today the terms ''bolu'' and ''tar'' or ''tart'' are used interchangeably to describe cakes or tarts.

Variations

In Indonesian cuisine ''bolu'' is categorized as a ''

'', which includes a wide variety of traditional snacks, cakes, and sweets. ''Kue bolu'' or simply ''bolu'' is often used as an umbrella term to identify wide varieties of cakes and tarts in Indonesia. Variations include: *''Bolu bahari'': Small ''bolu'' cupcake from

Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...

(Indonesian Borneo). *''Bolu bruder'': brother's cake, is a soft ''bolu'' from

Manado Manado (, ) is the capital City status in Indonesia, city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 census giving a population of 451,916,Badan ...

(Minahasan). In

Manado Malay Manado Malay, Manadonese or simply the Manado language, is a creole language spoken in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province in Indonesia, and the surrounding area. The local name of the language is , and the name Minahasa Malay is also ...

, the term ''bruder'' means Christian priest, which is derived from the usage in Christianity. It is named after a Dutch dish of the same name, ''

broeder Broeder (also known as Jan in de Zak and pork) is a traditional Dutch dish whose central ingredient is buckwheat flour. Name ''Broeder'' is the Dutch word for brother; this is how the dish is commonly known in West-Friesland. "Jan in de zak", o ...

''. Spelling variations include ''brudel'' or ''bluder''. *''Bolu emprit'': Small bite-sized bolu of

Javanese cuisine Javanese cuisine () is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major Native Indonesian, ethnic group in Indonesia in the provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java. Definition Javanese cuisine refers exclusively to the cuisine of Javan ...

, prevalent in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

. *''Bolu gulung'': Rolled ''bolu'' akin to a

Swiss roll A Swiss roll, jelly roll (United States), roll cake, cream roll, roulade, Swiss log or swiss cake is a type of rolled sponge cake filled with whipped cream, jam, icing, or any type of filling. The origins of the term are unclear; in spite of ...

. *''Bolu klemben'': A variant of dry ''bolu'' from

Banyuwangi Banyuwangi, previously known as Banjoewangi, is a large town and an administrative district (''kecamat5an'') which serves as the capital of Banyuwangi Regency at the far eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia. It had a population of 106,000 ...

, East Java. The shape is elliptical, akin to a

cocoa pod ''Theobroma cacao'' (cacao tree or cocoa tree) is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the Malvaceae family. Its seedscocoa beansare used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. Although the tree is native to the tropi ...

. It is quite similar to '' kue bahulu''. *'' Bolu kukus'': Steamed ''bolu'' cupcake, a popular ''jajan pasar'' (market purchase) in Indonesian traditional markets. *''Bolu macan'' or ''bolu marmer'': Tiger stripes or marbled ''bolu'', made by creating a stripe pattern using chocolate. *''Bolu lapis mandarin'': Two-layered square ''bolu'', usually flavoured plain and chocolate. *'' Bolu pandan'': Green coloured and pandan flavoured bolu. *''Bolu pisang'':

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

flavoured ''bolu''. *''Bolu tape keju'': ''Bolu'' with '' tape'' (fermented cassava) and cheese. *'' Kue bahulu'' or ''bolu kering'': Bite-sized bolu from

Malay cuisine Malay cuisine (; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia (parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan), Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines (most ...

Ingredients

Etymology and history

Variations

Gallery

See also

References

External links