Lapis Surabaya is one of our favorite cake. The last time I baked it was my first son's birthday during Christmas holidays. This time, we had our second's son birthday just before Easter. Since we were going to celebrate Easter together with some friends and their family, I decided to order a cake for his birthday. Why? I have to admit that cake decorating is not my thing. I have no clue and no art sense.
The cake we ordered from a good friend, who is a professional baker, is vanilla cake with strawberry and vanilla filling. That was a good and delicious combination. The decoration was also perfect, just as he wished: Olaf and Sven on the beach in summer. My little boy was very happy that day. All the joy in one day: Easter celebration, eggs hunting with other children, and singing happy birthday in front of the birthday cake.
However, since I usually baked for my family, it felt strange for me if I did not bake for his birthday. I felt that it was a bit unfair for him. That is why, I prepared the Lapis Surabaya cake two days ahead. The cake consists of 3 layers: 2 yellow and 1 chocolate. I used my grandmother passed down to my mother passed down to me recipe.
The butter cream is a bit tricky. I wanted to try another way to make Swiss Meringue Butter Cream (SMBC). I sometimes managed to make it, but many times also failed. With the easy foolproof SMBC was posted by Summer in her blog. Using her tips and method, I managed to make my SMBC.
Below you can find the recipe of the Lapis Surabaya. I will post the SMBC method from Summer in my next posting.
*I am using 22 x 22 x 7 cm Lapis Surabaya pan/square pan*
Ingredient A - For 1 layer of yellow
12 egg yolks
2 egg whites
150 gr butter (melted and cooled)
100 gr fine sugar + 1 tsp vanilla
60 gr cake flour (shifted)
Ingredient B - For 1 layer of chocolate
14 egg yolks
2 egg whites
150 gr butter (melted and cooled)
100 gr fine sugar
40 gr cake flour + 20 gr chocolate powder (shifted together)
Method
The method is the same for both layers, only the cake flour in the yellow layer is subtituted with cake flour+chocolate powder
1. Prepare the cake tin, line the tin with margarine/butter and baking paper.
2. Preheat the oven at 200Celcius.
3. Melt the butter and let it cool
4. Whisk the egg yolks, egg whites and sugar until thick and leave ribbon traces.
5. Add the cake flour slowly. Remember the speed is at the LOWEST speed, or fold the flour until it mixes well.
6. Add the cooled melted butter, fold it using spatula in one direction. Do not over fold/mix it. But remember the butter should be mixed well. If you do not mix it well, the cake will not be fluffy.
7. Pour the mixture into the pan/tin and bake it at 200 Celcius for around 20 minutes using lower heat source. Around 5 minutes before it is fully baked, turn the upper heat to brown the surface of the cake if necessary.
8. When it is done, wait until it cool down in the oven with the door slightly open for around 5-10 minutes before taking the cake out of the oven.
9. Arrange the cake and use the filling you like: either jam or butter cream.
I managed to take a shot of the cut cake this time. My boys love it, but they sometimes put the butter cream away and do not eat it.
Happy Easter!
