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Lapis Legit | Traditional Cake From Java, Indonesia | TasteAtlas

Lapis legit

(Kue lapis legit, Spekkoek)

Lapis legit is a traditional layered cake originating from Indonesia, where it's been made under the influence of Dutch cuisine. The cake consists of 18 to 30 separately baked layers of egg yolks, sugar, flour, butter, and spices such as mace, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.


It's essentially the Indonesian version of the European spit cake – however, it's not baked on a rotating spit, but in square-shaped baking pans. It's important not to confuse this cake with kuih lapis (or kue lapis), because lapis legit is baked and not steamed as kue lapis.


In Indonesia, there are many versions of lapis legit, and the cakes are sometimes enriched with additional ingredients such as prunes, raisins, almonds, cashews, cheese, or chocolate. In the Netherlands, the cake is known as spekkoek.