Lapis legit, also known as spekkoek (; or ), is a type of Indonesian

layer cake A layer cake (US English) or sandwich cake (UK English) is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by a filling such as frosting, jam, or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butte ...

. It was developed during colonial times in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. The firm-textured

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 ...

is an Indo (Dutch-Indonesian) version of the multi-layered rice cakes that are usually seen in Southeast Asian desserts but using some Dutch ingredients like flour and butter. It contains a mix of Indonesian spices, such as

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

, mace and

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

. The cake is made of

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

and

yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...

and is rich in

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 ...

. Lapis legit is popular in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and is served as a holiday treat, especially for '' natal'', '' imlek'', and '' lebaran''. It is also served or given as gifts during many local festivities such as at birthday parties and weddings. In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the sliced cake can be found in most grocery stores and Asian markets ( tokos). It is traditionally served for dessert in rijsttafel. It is also a very popular dessert in Hadhramout.

Etymology

The Dutch term spekkoek translates literally as

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless, fatty Primal cut, cut of pork from the Abdomen, belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in American cuisine, American, British cuisine, British, Swedish cuisine, Swedish, Danish cuisine, Danish, ...

(or

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

) cake, a name derived from its appearance of dark and light layers. Its Indonesian name, lapis legit, means sweet layer cake. In English, the cake is occasionally called "thousand layer cake", although the cake is unrelated to the French '' mille feuille'' (lit. thousand sheets), which is made with

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

Origin

Lapis legit is thought to have been made by the wives of Dutch administrators in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) during the colonial period and served during evening

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

Preparation

As a lapis legit commonly has more than 18 layers, baking this cake requires patience and is a very labour-intensive process. The batter is mainly made of butter, flour and

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 ...

with an approximate ratio of 1:1:2. Each layer is made by pouring a small amount of batter into a baking tin, which is then put into an oven and

grilled Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and v ...

from above until the layer has turned golden from the heat. The tin is then removed from the oven, and this process is repeated to build up the remaining layers.

Dutch oven A Dutch oven, Dutch pot (US English), or casserole dish (international) is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron; however, some Dutch ovens are instead made of cast aluminium, or ...

s with a

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

fire on top of the lid are said to produce the best results, while electric ovens are superior to gas ovens as cakes bake much faster in the former. Where clove buds or cardamom seeds are difficult to find, bakers can use lapis legit powder as a replacement.

Milling Milling may refer to: * Milling (minting), forming narrow ridges around the edge of a coin * Milling (grinding), breaking solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting in a mill * Milling (machining), a process of using ro ...

and mixing the spices right before baking produces a cake with an excellent aroma. The ground spices must be sieved into the flour at least three times, as the spice powder is very fine and tends to clump in the batter. In Indonesia, there are many varieties of ''lapis legit'', including cakes containing

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s, cashew nuts,

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

prune A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica'') tree. Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. Use of the term ''prune'' for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of ...

s or

raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...

s, and even cakes flavoured with

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 ...

and pandan. File:Spekkoek.jpg, Lapis legit on sale in an Indo (Eurasian) shop in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands File:Indonesian kue lapis legit - 20130217.jpg, A festive Indonesian kue lapis legit in Singapore File:Kueh lapis.jpg, Kue lapis legit with prunes File:Lapis Legit Pontianak.jpg, Pontianak-style lapis legit File:Rainbow Kue Lapis Legit.jpg, Rainbow Kue Lapis Legit

Market

Due to the effort required to bake the cake, it is a rather expensive delicacy, costing about

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

20 per kilogram in 2010 in the Netherlands. In Indonesia, a similar-sized ''lapis legit'' can cost up to Rp 400,000 (about €12.50). Generally, a typical lapis legit cake is sold in a square pan (approx 20x20x6) and costs at least Rp 350,000 for a homemade, and up to Rp 900,000 for a special-made (commercialised).

Similar cakes

Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...

East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...

, kue lapis malang or spiku malang refers to a two-layered cake prepared using a different technique. Two batter mixes are prepared, one with naturally produced yellow colour, the other mixed with cocoa powder to produce a dark brown colour. The batter mixes are poured into two different baking tins and baked in the oven. To assemble of the cake are layered on top of each other with a thin layer of fruit jam in between. Similarly in

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

, kue lapis surabaya or spiku surabaya refers to a three-layered cake, prepared using a similar technique to spiku malang. The kue lapis surabaya is commonly used to make a

birthday cake A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of birthday celebrations. While there is no standard for birthday cakes, they are typically highly decorated layer cakes covered in frosting, often featuring birthday wishes ("Happy birthday") followed b ...

and

wedding cake A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at ...

in Indonesia. Lapis legit is similar to traditional Indonesian ''

kue lapis Kue lapis () , also known as kuih lapis ( or ) (Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay respectively for "layered cake") is a traditional Southeast Asian steamed dessert known for its colourful, multi-layered appearance and sof ...

'', the difference being that lapis legit is a puffy layered cake, made of flour and is

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 ...

, while ''kue lapis'' is a moist layered

pudding Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...

, made of

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 ...

and

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

, and is

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 ...

. Lapis legit has also spread to Malaysia. A form developed in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

is called the Sarawak layer cake or ''kek lapis Sarawak'' which has greater colour and flavour variations.

References