我一直以为九层糕是马来西亚专有的娘惹糕点, 出国后才发现其实很多国家都有类似的糕点，用的材料也都近似，不外是米粉和淀粉以不同的比例蒸制而成。

【佛山、南海一带民间喜庆节日，尤其春节，家家必做九层糕，取其“长长久久，步步高升”之意。九层糕是 一种甜米糕，做工讲究。民间用白米浸透，用石磨磨成水粉，搅拌成浆，加入糖水，用铜盘放一层薄水粉，加热蒸熟，然后逐层加粉至九层。蒸熟的九层糕层次分明，软滑可口。

有些人还用食用色素掺入，每层红白相间，十分好看。[1] 节日期间，人们将蒸好的九层糕切成菱形小块，每四块叠成一盘（三块在下，一块在上），先敬神、后敬祖先，然后是全家吃糕。取其吉祥之意。春节时，人们往往以松糕、年糕、煎堆、油角互赠亲友，但九层糕则不赠与别人，据说分给别人会把吉祥分薄，于己不利。[1] 层匀美观，软滑可口，乳香甜润。】资料来源：http://baike.baidu.com/view/121245.htm

我自从做了纯米肠粉之后，对自磨米浆有了新的认知和喜好, 自磨米浆做的糕点带有清新的米香，口感更柔滑，放置至第二天还是软软QQ的，简直让人欲罢不能。

今天做的这款九层糕用了南瓜泥，南瓜的甜香和漂亮的颜色让成品看起来更吸引人，是很好的天然健康色素呢！

 

 

I have always thought Kuih Lapis a local Malaysian snack, it was known to me as 9-layered kuih (九层糕 in Chinese）for a long time. I later learnt that not only the Malaysian, the Singaporean, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese all have similar versions of this cake, the difference are mostly on the ratio of rice flour and starches.

I have also learned that 9-layered cake is a specialty made in Hainan and Canton province in China during festive seasons. Its name implies "longevity and growing upwards" It is also something that is made only for prayers and serves only to family members. It is not to be shared with outsiders as luck and prosperity should be preserved within the family.

As its name suggested, there should be nine layers in this kuih, hence I designed my recipe based on that. It is normally made with food coloring (red being the most common choice) in my country. I made mine with pumpkin for its sweetness and bright color, I am really pleased with the color!

For those who has been following my blog, you would have noticed that I had been experimenting with ground rice instead of rice flour in recipes lately. My Chee Cheong Fun (steamed rice rolls) project got me obsessed to ground rice, the texture and taste a freshly ground rice provides is simply out of the world. It is truly worth the while and it is hard to go back to the ordinary rice flour now.

 


材料：
Ingredients：

1. 把大米洗净后泡水至少五个小时（我泡了一个晚上）。

2. 把320毫升/克水，120克糖，一点盐和香兰叶放到一口小锅里煮5-6分钟，取出香兰叶丢弃，糖水冷却备用。

3. 把南瓜丁蒸熟备用。

4. 把泡好沥干的米、椰奶和香兰糖水用搅拌机搅拌顺滑后加入木薯粉再拌匀。

5. 把一半(550 毫升)的米浆过滤到一个深碗里就是九层糕的白色米浆。

6. 剩下的米浆里加入蒸熟的南瓜再搅拌一分钟至顺滑，即为黄色米浆。

 

1. Washed and soaked rice submerged in water for at least 5 hours, drained the rice well.

2. Place 320 ml water, 120 g of sugar, salt and pandan leaves in a saucepan/pot, bring to boil and cook for 5-6 minutes. Remove pandan leaves and let cool.

3. Steamed pumpkin cubes for 10 minutes or until cooked.

4. Grind rice, coconut milk and pandan syrup together for a few minutes until smooth. Add tapioca flour and run the mixer for a minute until the flour well incorporated.

5. Strain half of the mixture (550 ml) through a sieve into a mixing bowl, this will be our batter for white layers.

6. Add cooked pumpkin into the remaining batter, run the mixer until smooth again, this will be our yellow layers.

 
7. 在一个八寸的烤盘里薄薄地抹上一层油后放到蒸笼里大火加热几分钟。

8. 取1/2杯 (125 毫升)的黄色/南瓜米浆倒入烤盘里加盖高火蒸3分钟或至定型。打开盖子把1/2杯 (125毫升)的白色米浆倒到刚刚蒸熟的南瓜层上，再蒸3分钟。

9. 重复相同的步骤交叉蒸制黄白两种米浆至所有米浆用完为止，记得每次倒入米浆前都要把米浆搅拌均匀。

10. 最后一层米浆倒入之后大火蒸13-15分钟。

11. 取出蒸好的九层糕，完全冷却（大约两个小时）后倒扣到案板上用抹上油的刀切块食用。

 

7. Grease an 8-inch baking tray and place it in steaming pot over high heat for few minutes.

8. Pour in 1/2 cup (125 ml) of yellow/pumpkin mixture, cover with lid and steam for 3 minutes or until the batter is cooked. Then add 1/2 cup (125ml) of white mixture onto yellow layer and steam for another 3 minutes.

9. Repeat the steps alternating white and yellow mixture until all the batter is used. Remember to stir the batter every time before pouring for steaming.

10. Steamed the last layer at 13-15 minutes to set the layers and to ensure the cake is fully cooked.

11. Leave the steamed Kuih Lapis to cool completely (around 2 hours), invert the pan to knock out the kuih. Grease knife before cutting.