Lapis Pisang Salai (Smoked Banana Lapis Cake)

I baked this Lapis Pisang Salai last weekend. I baked 2 of them.... 1 for my mum & 1 for my mother- in-law. I had wanted to try this recipe a few months ago... had bought the pisang salai from jb but we ended up snacking on them. Bought the pisang salai again recently & I was determined to bake the cake for this hari raya.

I had cut out this recipe from the local Malay newspaper many many years ago. I thought it was quite interesting.... was quite intrigue by how it would taste.... Actually, because the cake has loads of pisang salai, when I took a bite,  it's like eating the pisang salai itself except it's not chewy.... The cake is soft & moist, & unlike all the cakes I've ever tasted before, this has a tinge of smoky flavour......

Lapis Pisang Salai 
(Smoked Banana Lapis Cake)

Ingredients:
200g pisang salai (smoked banana) - sliced
100g hot water
1 tbsp honey or golden syrup

400g butter
170g Nestle cream (Pure dairy sterilised cream in a can.)
1/2 tsp banana essence (I used vanilla essence.)

20 egg yolks
3 egg white
180g caster sugar
100g Hongkong flour
25 ml ice water
1 tbsp cake stabilizer (I used ovelette.)

Method:

1. Combine banana, hot water & honey. Mix & leave overnight in a fridge.
2. Preheat oven (grill or top heat only) at about 180 deg C. (Refer to my post here for more tips on baking lapis cakes.) 
3. Grease & line the bottom of a baking pan. (10x7 inch or 8x8 inch.) 
4. Combine butter, cream & essence in a mixing bowl. Beat until pale & creamy. Add the banana & mix thoroughly.
5. In another mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, flour, ice water & stabilizer, beat on high speed for 7-10 minutes until thick & fluffy. Add in butter & mix thoroughly using a hand whisk.
6. Pour 2 big spoonfuls or 85g of  batter into baking pan. Spread the batter evenly & bake for about 3-5 minutes or until the layer turns golden brown. Remove the pan & press the layer with a lapis cake presser to even out the layer & pop any bubbles. Continue with the rest of the batter until finish.
7. After baking the last layer, bake the whole cake using top & bottom heat at 200 deg C for about 10 minutes.
8. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool on a cooling wire rack before serving.

Recipe by Aini Salam.
Source: Berita Harian (Singapore)