Kuih Lapis and Chocolate Cupcakes Day

Maybe my state of temporary immobility is a blessing in disguise after all. Less time spent on supermarket aisles means less snacks at home. Hubby buys only 'the necessary basic groceries', so it's not surprising that the kids have started to whine after failing to find last-schoolday-of-the-week treats today. "Mom, please make me some kuih lapis", begged the eldest. "No Mom, I want cupcakes", said the youngest. In the end, I had to make both, and the one who didn't ask for anything (the middle child) got busy with me.

I baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes, with the last of my ingredients. (I really need to go shopping soon). For some reason, I couldn't make my cupcakes look perfect. Talk about being a permanent novice. But at least they taste yummy (ehem, otherwise they wouldn't get demolished that fast, unless of course, the kids have picked up the garbage-bin syndrome from somewhere).

At least I think I've perfected my kuih lapis (steamed layered cake) recipe. Since Hubby has a fondness for this particular kuih, I've always enjoyed making it whenever I have the time. This time, I only used a bit of red colouring to create the pink colour, instead of using red and green like I used to do. Since I couldn't get my hands on fresh pandan leaves, I modified the taste with some vanilla essence. It would have been much better with pandan leaves though.

The ingredients:
(boiled together and cooled)
2-4 pandanus leaves
2 cups water
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh coconut milk (sometimes I used a box of KARA instant coconut milk)

(mixed)
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix coconut milk with water. Add little by little to the flour mixture so as to avoid lumps. Divide into two or three portions. Use red and or green coloring for the two portions and leave the other one white. Place a greased 8 inch round steaming pan on a steaming rack. Heat up for 5 mins. Pour about 1 cup of one of the portions and steamed covered till set (2-4 minutes). Repeat, alternating the different color portions. Steam the last layer for about 8 mins. Make sure to wipe the water off the lid from time to time so that the kuih remains intact. Cool thoroughly before cutting.

This recipe is, at least, perfect for my family :)