Kek Lapis, Layer Cakes

Mother knows many great cooks in town.

Every year, in celebration of Chinese New Year, in addition to the visiting and merry making, her friends bake cakes and gift them as a token of appreciation. You see, Mother leads a group of friends in a daily exercise group.

Folks here are known for their Lapis "layer" cakes. Lapis means sheets or sheaths, but when stacked together they form layers. These cakes mostly have a sweet, soft, moist texture. Creativity abounds on the island of Borneo, so people come up with cakes that have chocolate, cheese, nuts, raisins, prunes, and other ingredients. But they don't stop there. The cakes have to be visually appealing.

My mother receives cakes that are mostly home-made and have an authentic look and feel. These cakes are heavy, mostly about 12 inches square. Most are baked, some are steamed for 8 hours!

Mother comes in and cuts them up into lovely pieces and arranges them for the people who come to visit. Our refrigerator is a gallery of these creations.