Vegan Dessert: Indonesian Traditional Layers Cake - Lapis Beras

My childhood cake, made of rice flour, tapioca starch and glutinous rice flour. It is a traditional cake as Indonesian original cakes didn't use any butter, only when the Dutch invaded Indonesia, we learned about butter. Many of our (traditional) cakes were mainly steamed before we learned about butter (and later margarine).

Many Indonesians cakes, sweets, desserts and dishes use coconut milk, so we have creamy and rich goodies, which some would say too fatty, but not this gal 😂

Our traditional cakes have two categories of "wet" cake and "dry" cake. While dry are mainly baked (cakes, cookie, snacks), our "wet" cakes are also dessert type, like this following layer cake.

That being said, plenty of Indonesian cakes/desserts are actually vegan. Those vegans who live in Indonesia often say Indonesia is heaven for vegans, not just for the fresh fruits, but various veggies and desserts.

Anyhoo, I talk too much, here is the recipe 😀

Ingredients

• 130 g each tapioca starch and rice flour
• 30 g glutinous rice flour
• 120 g sugar
• 2 cans of coconut milk (600 ml)
• a pinch or two of salt
• 2 screw-pine leaves (fragrant Pandanus), tied in knots
• Pandan paste and cocopandan paste (you can use food colors, but do check the ingredients - Wilton is vegan friendly)

How To

• Bring coconut milk and pandanus leaves to a light boil, simmer for 5 minutes, cool to room temperature

• Meanwhile, mix flours, starch and sugar in a bowl

• Once coconut milk is cooled, pour into flour mixture and stir to combine and no lumps

• Divide batter into 3, add pastes to the other two and leave the 3rd as is.

• Preheat steamer, brush mold lightly with vegetable oil

• Once steamer is ready, pour some of the white batter, steam for 5 minutes, followed with other batter, alternating colors each time, and steam 5 minutes each time.

• To avoid steam water drips onto cake, cover the pan with clean tea towel, then top with pan lid

• Once all batter used up, steam the whole cake for 25 minutes
• Cool completely before slicing (aaand here is when I wasn't patient enough as the smell was so good 😂 so as you can see, my slices aren't neat!)

Note: for easier slicing, wrap your knife with cling wrap (as cake is sticky/wet) - if not, brush knife with vegetable oil before slicing

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Thanks For Looking!

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