This is a very rich cake. Read up about it from wiki here -> kek lapis

Kek lapis Sarawak or Sarawak Layer Cake is what is known to me when I was growing up in Kuching. It is a cake normally reserved for serving during Chinese New Year for us Chinese. However I remembered being offered them when I visited my kawan Melayu (Malay friends) during Hari Raya time and they always have a lot of choices. In Sarawak during all special celebrations and occasions you will see a lot of kek lapis being served. They are of amazing ‘batik’ designs and some are multi coloured and of many flavours.

Kek Lapis Legit main original ingredients is the spice mix known as – Spekkoek, which is a mixture of spices consisting of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and cardamom

Historically the Sarawak layer cake has its origin in a form of layer cake with various spices found in Indonesia called lapis legit or kek lapis Betawi or Batavia, the old name of Jakarta. This spiced cake is thought to have derived from a form of European spit cake which was made by the wives of Dutch administrators in Batavia during the colonial period and served during evening tea. It is believed that this type of spiced layer cake was introduced to Sarawak in the 1970s and 1980s by people from Jakarta. The Sarawak people then added new ingredients, flavour and colour that resulted in a new version of the layer cake being introduced and named as Sarawak layer cake. In addition, modern Sarawak layered cakes were inspired by Western cake-making in the early 1980s, later modern design to the traditional layer cake, along with new flavours were introduced.

Interestingly only in my research for this post I learned that in Malaysia, kek lapis Sarawak (Sarawak layer cake) has been a protected geographical indication since 2010. This means that any product may only be called “kek lapis Sarawak/Sarawak layer cake” if it is manufactured in Sarawak according to the specifications of the Sarawak Layer Cake Manufacturers Association. It is illegal to label a similarly-manufactured cake “kek lapis Sarawak/Sarawak layer cake” if it is not actually made in Sarawak, and strictly speaking, producers outside the state may only legally name their products “Sarawak-style” layer cake.

A standard 8 x 8-inch cake Sarawak styled layer cake may contain up to 30 egg yolks, copious amount of butter and sugar and condense milk not to mentioned the special spice that gives it the unique aroma.

Not only does the cake uses an amazing amount of these few ingredients, it also takes up a lot of time as one needs to stand next to the oven and not move away, adding the batter in each and grilling each layer by layer. I used a half cup for each layer. The pics showed the steps by steps.