Kue Pepe

I came from a foodie family. There, I’ve said it! I grew up in a house filled with fragrance from the kitchen, but no, I was not allowed in my mother’s “territory” most of the time. 

Since moving out from home, I was introduced to the wonderful world of food preparation and creation (thanks to my many foodie friends!). Like many things in life, learning comes at a costs (and at times, bruises and bumps), but the journey has been full of joy, surprises and nonetheless rewarding! Here I am, humbly sharing my love for food and culinary adventures with you. Hope you will enjoy it!

Let’s begin with the little recipe I’ve made over this weekend - Kue Pepe. Kue Pepe originated from Indonesia. It is very similar to Kuih Lapis from Malaysia, only better in taste with fragrance and flavour from kaffir lime leaves and pandan leaves. Texture wise, it is more chewy compared to Kuih Lapis. The best part is - you can still separate the layers one-by-one when eating (my favourite thing to do when eating kuih lapis as a child!).

My children love this desert and could not stop eating it! 

My two tips for making Kue Pepe are:

• Steamer must be boiling before starting on the first layer.
• Timing to add each layer must be just right to have distinct layers yet sticking together. I use a skewer to test poking the steamed layer to ensure it is not watery and a bit sticky before gently adding the next layer.

To make this desert, I used My Blue Tea’s kaffir lime leaves powder, pandan powder and rosalle powder. Feel free to use this code (15Grace) to enjoy 15% discounts when purchasing from their website (applicable for Australia only, sorry). 

Kue Pepe

Ingredients

Ingredients (A):

230g sugar

750ml coconut milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp kaffir lime leaves powder

2-3 pandan leaves (or 1 tsp pandan powder)

Ingredients (B):

300g tapioca starch

30g rice flour

Green:

1 tbs pandan powder 

Pink:

1 tsp rosalle powder

Oil to apply on the mould

Methods

1. Mix ingredients (A) in a saucepan and bring to medium to low heat. stir until the mixture sizzles for 2-3 minutes. Turn off and remove from heat.
2. Let ingredients (A) mixture cool down while preparing ingredients (B) in a big bowl.
3. Slowly pour ingredients (A) into ingredients (B). Stir until the mixture is smooth and there is no lumps.
4. Scoop 2-3 scoops of mixture into a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of My Blue Tea rosalle powder to make pink colour mixture. 
5. Scoop out half of the remaining mixture into a separate bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of My Blue Tea pandan powder to make green colour mixture.
6. Oil the mould thoroughly. Let the steamer boil, place the mould in the steamer.
7. Pour a layer of white colour mixture (2 scoops). Steam for about 5 minutes.
8. Pour the next layer of green colour mixture (2 scoops). Steam for about 3-5 minutes. Vice versa, until the last layer. Pour in pink colour mixture to make the final layer. Steam for 3-5 minutes until the kue is cooked.
9. Take the mould out from the steamer, let it cool down completely before de-mould and cut.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and share with me your results!