Indonesia Beef Rendang and Layer cake

Ingredients

 600g beef, cubed
 6 cups water
 1 thumb-sized piece old ginger, smashed
 1 thumb-sized piece galangal, smashed
 1/2 a piece fresh turmeric leaf, shredded and knotted
 1 stalk lemon grass, smashed
 2 kaffir lime leaves, torn
 1 tomato, halved
 1 fresh red chilli, halved and seeded
 1 lime, squeezed for juice
 4 tbsp oil Ground ingredients (combined)
 14–15 dried chillies, soaked and seeded
 10 shallots
 6 cloves garlic
 1½ cm piece ginger
 5 candlenuts
 1 star anise
 3 cloves
 3cm cinnamon stick Seasoning
 1 tsp sugar or to taste
 1/2 tsp salt
 1 tbsp fish sauce
MethodPut beef in a heavy-based saucepan. Add ginger and water. Bring to a low simmering boil, then cook over a gentle heat until meat is cooked. Heat oil in a wok and fry ground ingredients, star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick until oil rises. Add tomato, chilli, galangal and lemon grass. Fry until fragrant. Pour cooked sauce ingredients into beef. Add turmeric leaf and continue to cook, stirring frequently until sauce thickens. Squeeze in lime juice and add seasoning and kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a boil and dish out and serve.

Specot (Indonesian Layer Cake)
Ingredients
 450g butter (use good quality butter)
 275g fine castor sugar
 1 tsp vanilla essence
 1 tbsp brandy
 20 egg yolks
 10 egg whites
 85g fine castor sugar
 225g Superfine flour
 1/2 tsp baking powder
 2 1/2 tsp mixed spices
MethodLine and grease the base of a 23cm (square) loose-bottomed tin. Preheat oven to 180°C.Sift flour, baking powder and mixed spices into a bowl then divide into three equal portions.Beat egg yolks until creamy with a hand-held electric mixer.Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light. Add brandy and continue to cream until fluffy. Blend in creamy egg yolk mixture slowly and gradually.Fold in sifted dry ingredients in three batches, one-third portion at a time. Mix well with a metal spoon.Whisk egg whites with sugar until stiff. Fold meringue into the creamed mixture until well-combined.Spoon 4 tablespoons mixture into prepared tin and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or till golden brown. Remove cake tin from oven and turn off the oven. Heat up the grill.Brush each layer of the cake with a little melted butter. Use a skewer to prick the bubbles on the surface of the cake then press lightly with the flat bottom of a glass container. Continue in this manner until all the batter is used up.Spoon 3 tablespoons of mixture over the first layer and spread evenly. Grill at 220 °c for 2 to 3 minutes or till brown. Repeat layer after layer till all the mixture is used up.For the final layer, preheat oven at 150 °c and bake the entire cake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.Leave cake in tin for a while before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Cut the cake only when it is completely cooled.
NoteThis cake will turn out beautifully only in an oven with two elements -- a bottom heating element and a grill element. The flavour of the cake will be further enhanced after a day or two; it keeps well in an air-tight container for up to a week.