A steamed, many-layered (traditionally nine) cake eaten by peeling layer by layer. Chewy from tapioca starch and scented with coconut and pandan, often coloured in rainbow bands. A Singapore Peranakan childhood ritual.
Kueh lapis is a steamed, many-layered cake, traditionally nine layers, that is a fixture of the Singapore Peranakan childhood. It is chewy from tapioca starch and scented with coconut and pandan, and is often coloured in rainbow bands that make the layer-by-layer peeling a ritual. The peel-a-layer eating is a specifically Singapore Peranakan childhood memory, and the cake is a staple of the kueh stall tray.
Bright, bouncy, faintly chewy layers of coconut-pandan cake, each peeled off and eaten separately, sweet and aromatic. Eaten layer by layer, it is playful, chewy and the nostalgic taste of a Singapore childhood.
The batter is a single mix of tapioca flour, rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and pandan, divided and coloured. Each layer is steamed separately: a thin layer of batter is poured, steamed until set, then the next is added on top and steamed. Each layer must be fully cooked before the next is added, or they bleed together. The nine-layer count is traditional and auspicious, symbolising growth and abundance.
Variations
A two-tone pandan-and-white version skips the rainbow. Some add rose or pandan essence.
On the Palate
Where Kueh Lapis Singapore sits in the Singaporean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 25 min
- 16 min
Extract pandan juice: blend 8 pandan leaves with 150ml water; strain to 100ml.
- 28 min
Mix 200g tapioca flour, 80g rice flour, 300g sugar, 400ml coconut milk, the pandan juice and a pinch of salt until smooth; divide into 9 portions.
- 36 min
Colour each portion a different shade (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, etc.), or alternate two colours.
- 48 min
Lightly oil a 20cm square tray; pour the first layer of batter thinly; steam 5 minutes until set.
Watch outSteam each thin layer until fully set before pouring the next — rush it and the colours bleed together instead of staying as clean stripes.
- 535 min
Pour the next layer on top; steam 5 minutes; repeat for all 9 layers, steaming the last layer 10 minutes.
- 64 min
Cool completely, loosen with a knife, turn out, and cut into squares. Peel to eat.
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