Hands-on baking lapis

I am a fan of kueh lapis. I will always buy them every time I go Batam or occasionally from Bengawan Solo. Occasionally because I heard that kueh lapis is very fattening and quite pricey, especially during Lunar New Year, a 7 x 7 inch lapis can cost $40 and more...unbelievable right?

Currently I saw Groupon and Deal.com had a few deals on hands-on baking lapis but I didn't really look into them until the deals were gone. Yearning to know why people said lapis is fattening and also the reason for the price, I looked at Phoon Huat website, hoping that they will teach lapis baking also..and Voila! They were indeed teaching lapis baking for one week and the week was ending! I immediately booked and attended last Friday..

IT WAS FUN! I was almost late for the class as I was not familiar with Clementi area..The studio is situated at Block 432, Clementi Avenue 3, #01-286.

 

Luckily, I made it on time, otherwise I will not be able to catch up. Chef Philip Lee was very thorough and definitely very very experienced. One thing about attending hands-on is the chef can brief you on the steps, tips and tricks, and ingredients reactions..it's like attending Chemistry course..you can't bake an excellent cake just by reading the recipe, but you have to keep doing trial and error..and my first trial and error is with the help of an experienced chef. 

Chef Philip said that kueh lapis required longer time to finish. The class was supposed to end at 10pm according to the website, but Chef warned us that it may end at 11 - 11.30pm. I was abit worried that I may not be able to catch the last train home..luckily, I shamelessly tagged myself to 2 pretty ladies who know what they were doing..(Vani taught me a clever way to reach mrt station and managed to catch all the last trains!)

 Suk Mei and Vani

Suk Mei, Vani and me. These 2 pretty ladies kept me company during the waiting time for lapis to be baked layer by layer.

I almost forgot the experience I had with Phoon Huat 7 years ago, it was in teams also..but this time, it was quite rush, the mixture have to be ready ASAP so that we have time to bake them layer by layer..thanks to my 2 partners, they guided me along the way and told me not to be stressed about doing it wrongly. I was worried that I will be scolded by Chef Philip because he really will scold one if you ask stupid question or make mistake in front of him! 

Chef Philip Lee. A very honest and super experienced chef.

Finally, the mixture was ready and split into 3 portions: Suk Mei's, Vani's and mine. We were ready to bake! Woohoo!

The tins were ready with greased baking sheet (thank you Phoon Huat), all we had to do is to scoop a bit of the mixture into the tin to make individual layers. Then Chef Philip helped us do the dirty job, i.e. monitor the temperature and readiness of the baking. He even placed the tin right to our tray based on our names! So nice of him right?

 

 Suk Mei and Vani taking notes..I always got to copy from them..hehe..attentive students they are..

My first layer done..

 Forth layer: put in the prunes and cranberries. All provided by Phoon Huat.

 Towards the end, I was free to take picture of the baking lapis..this belonged to Vani..no igloo!

 My lapis! 

 The only guy in the class: KY. He's cutting up the extra lapis baked for the student who didn't come in the end. Everyone had a chance to taste it..I didn't because I was busy taking pictures and after the hands-on, I think I should save my stomach for my own lapis.

Tada...my lapis got cut up once I reached home..It was moist and soft..Chef Philip said it will be better if we put into the fridge the next day onwards and for a week.

 My breakfast with Ah Huat white coffee...shiok!

So the reason why people said it is fattening is because of the amount of butter used to bake a 7 x 7 inch lapis, almost 3 cubes of butter. And I guess the effort for doing the mixture and layering them (each layer takes 8-20 minutes to bake) make up the steep cost.. 

In case you wonder how the black and white layers are done, the "black" layer is actually the skin of each baked layer..therefore there is no need a separate black colored mixture. All along I thought they are separate layers! hahaha...

So will I make lapis at home after this class? I don't think so because my family are not lapis fans and I can't possibly finish the whole thing by myself..(also don't want to sabo my gfs with the amount of fats) For the effort, I will rather buy a slice from Bengawan solo..hehe..I'm simply lazy.

5 more days to Lunar New Year! Yippee!

xoxo