The colourful, intricate patterns of kek lapis gulung make for a visual treat.
COLOURFUL cake layers come together in intricate patterns to form kek lapis, or Sarawak layer cake, presenting a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.
For kek lapis entrepreneur Hamisah Dollah, each cake is a work of art as she meticulously arranges the layers according to her own designs.
There’s the “Seri Dewi”, a cake of green and black layers with four red and yellow squares in the centre; or the “Samarinda”, featuring red, yellow, and green layers in a complex geometric pattern.
For this year’s Hari Raya celebration, Hamisah made 25 types of kek lapis to serve family and guests.
Then there is the “Diamond” with its striking diamond pattern in a kaleidoscope of colours.
These cakes are specifically known as kek lapis gulung, as they are wrapped with a thin outer layer of plain cake.
“Kek lapis gulung is more difficult to make than the usual kek lapis. How you design the colours and patterns depends on your creativity,” explains Hamisah, 51.
“For my designs, the ‘Seri Dewi’ and ‘Diamond’ are the most complicated to make because they’re assembled with small pieces.”
It usually takes her four to five days to make kek lapis gulung as she bakes them in big batches.
Hamisah (right) works with one full-time assistant in her home-based business at Kampung Hijrah Bako in Kuching.
“First, I will bake different types of kek lapis that make up the filling, which could take one or two days. It will take another day to cut the cakes into slices for assembly.
“On the third or fourth day, I will assemble the cakes, using condensed milk to bind the pieces together.
“Then on the fifth day, I will make the outer layer to wrap the cakes. So it takes a lot of time.”
For these cakes, Hamisah keeps track of the designs in her head when she’s assembling them. However, when she’s making special-order cakes featuring words for occasions like engagements and graduations, she will draft the design on paper first.
Hamisah, who started her home-based business at Kampung Hijrah Bako, Kuching, in 2007, also makes the usual kek lapis with horizontal layers of different colours.
Hamisah (standing, centre) serving kek lapis to her family members during Hari Raya.
What makes her cakes stand out is that she uses different flavours for each colour instead of the same batter in different colours.
“For example, I may add jam to one colour, santan to another, maybe chocolate or Nutella to the others.
“But you can’t simply add any flavour; you must know how to use flavours that work well together and keep the cake’s texture soft,” she said.
Hamisah’s kek lapis typically has 15 to 16 layers, baked layer by layer for about five minutes each in a gas oven.
For her premium kek lapis, she uses butter along with other ingredients like sugar, eggs, milk, Horlicks, Milo, santan, and cream cheese. She also makes a budget version of the kek lapis using margarine instead of butter.
The Sarawak kek lapis comes in colourful layers and rich flavours. - ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / The Star
Her most popular cake is the “Mak Cun,” named after a TV drama, which has cream cheese, Nestum, Horlicks, milk, santan, Cadbury chocolate, and Oreo cookies.
“This is my own recipe. When I came up with it, I called it ‘Mak Cun’ as the drama series was showing at that time,” she said.
Besides kek lapis, Hamisah also makes traditional Sarawak cakes like hati parek (a dense, moist cake made with raisins), lumut (a rich green cake with Horlicks, condensed milk, and kaya), and belacan cake, so-called because its colour resembles shrimp paste.
“There’s no belacan in it!” Hamisah said. “The colour comes from chocolate, Milo, brown sugar, and cocoa powder.”
These traditional cakes are steamed rather than baked, with the hati parek taking eight hours and the others five to six hours.
“The hati parek is a lot of work. I use the traditional method of cutting the raisins with scissors as this gives the cake its distinct texture. Using a blender would make it too fine,” she said.
Hamisah makes kek lapis as well as traditional Sarawak cakes such as the belacan cake, seen here at top right. — Photos by ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
Hamisah always has a stock of kek lapis ready for customers but will make more to meet high demand during festive seasons like Hari Raya and Gawai.
“For me, what’s special about kek lapis is the taste, texture, and aroma, which are different from other cakes. The pattern also makes it unique,” she said.
Making the cakes is also a labour of love for her. She remembers working on a kek lapis once late at night.
“I didn’t want to do it in the daytime when there were a lot of distractions; I wanted to concentrate on it.
“I finished the cake at 4am. When I cut it and saw that the result was what I had planned, it was worth the sleepless night,” Hamisah said.
