Lapis Surabaya (Indonesian Layer cake)

"30 egg yolks? wtf?!?"

yes, a cake that requires 30 egg yolks, yet only 6 egg whites. i used to hate recipes that leave you with such a great amount of leftover yolk/whites, but i've since learnt that it's not quite the same when you spitefully dump the entire egg into the recipe.

we halved the recipe, for this lapis surabaya, (i call it indonesian layer cake) not wanting to invest 30 yolks in something that we weren't sure would turn out. it would have been a great disappointment, and the souring of many a childhood memory, such as devouring the chocolate layer and refusing to eat the rest, to my mother's annoyance.

Ingredients:

250g flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

500g butter
250g sugar
1 1/2 tbsp rum
1/2 tsp salt
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
30 egg yolks
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp melted chocolate
3 tsp orange zest
some jam or butter cream



Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter, half of sugar, rum and salt till light and creamy

Beat egg whites, remaining sugar and cream of tartar till pale coloured. Add egg yolks, beat again till thickened and add in the butter mixture.

Fold in the flour and baking powder. Portion out 1/3 of the batter, and add to it cocoa powder and melted chocolate. Bake for 30 minutes.

Add orange zest to the remaining batter and bake for 40 minutes. Cut into 2 layers and spread with jam. Sandwich the chocolate layer in between.

Oh, we didn't have jam, but we did have strawberries. So I boiled the strawberries with 1 tbsp of sugar, and we got a pretty decent "jam".

This cake really needs to cool thoroughly before its flavours peak. Ideally leave it overnight so that the layers can settle into one another firmly. Picking at it while still warm will leave you with the impression that this is an oily, too-sweet pound cake. Leave it for a few hours more and the texture changes...somehow it'll tastes better; moist rather than oily, flavourful rather than too sweet.

chocolate cake!

you're going to feel cheated when i tell you that it's from the back of the hershey's cocoa powder box. but i swear, this recipe is moist, chocolate-y (i hate it when chocolate goods just taste *sweet*) and absolute bang for its buck. yes, there are richer and more elaborate chocolate cakes out there, but this one is really for the times when you have a craving and need some chocolate cake *now*. it's measured, mixed, and baked in 1 hour.

ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup warm water

method:
preheat oven to 350F, and grease a 9" baking pan.

combine dry ingredients in large bowl.

combine wet ingredients, except water. mix in dry ingredients, beat at medium speed for 2 minutes, then stir in warm water.

bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

or for cupcakes, bake for 20 minutes. makes about 30 giant cupcakes.

like i said, bang for its buck. no ridiculously expensive melting chocolate, or cream, or fancy egg separation requirements, it uses cooking oil instead of butter for goodness sakes. which means you don't have to cream the butter, making for a faster process, ie. shorter waiting time for a mouthful of cake. heck, the recipe is so simple that you don't even really need an electric mixer, just a wooden spoon will do. saves on washing up.

you're probably finding adding water to the batter a little weird. yes, it will look more like chocolate soup than batter, but DO IT. it's key to making this recipe moist. the original recipe called for a full cup, but i fear that that may dilute the batter too much and it won't dry out in time, let alone bake fully. that said, i wouldn't go add water to all other cake recipes if i were you. i think the water works here because the ingredients are so simple. other recipes with more complex chemistry may just collapse with the addition of more liquid.

the original recipe also called for *2 cups* of sugar. i've learned that using 1/2 to 2/3 the amount of sugar called for in most american dessert recipes makes the end product more palatable to the rest of us. 1 cup was just right for this cake. it was sweet, but you could still taste the cocoa. each bite left you craving for more, which perhaps is a little dangerous for a dessert, but you have to do it justice; you wouldn't make a sub-standard cake on purpose would you? i wouldn't go a teaspoon over 1 1/3 cup of sugar for this one.

my proof of success? when the boyfriend (who isn't a fan of chocolate) gets seconds.


yes, eat with strawberries. they're good for you.

another day i'll tell you about the tung lok chicken recipe that we tried tonight. go try this recipe first, and you'll trust me on the next one.