Kuih Kapit (Love Letters)

Another popular and must-bake wafer for Chinese New Year.  Also known as Love Letters, they are very crispy and delicious.

Traditionally, this wafer is "baked" in a special mould over charcoal fire.  This mould comprises of two round iron plates which are held together by thongs. These iron plates have designs on them which are transferred to the wafer. Before using, this mould is heated up over charcoal fire.  Then, it is opened and held over a bowl of batter.  Batter is poured onto one of the iron plates and at the same time, allowing excess batter to drip back into the bowl. The mould is then closed and returned to the charcoal fire.  After one minute, excess batter is removed from the circumference of mould by using a knife. Then, the mould is returned to charcoal fire for further baking until the kuih is golden brown in colour.

Hence, the name "kapit" (a Malay verb which means "to compress or press").  The next time I am in Singapore, I will buy my own traditional kuih kapit mould.  For this recipe, I used my electric kuih kapit mould which functions just as good.

Ingredients:
4 eggs (medium-size)
200 g fine sugar
200 ml coconut milk

100 g rice flour
20 g tapioca starch

Method:
In a bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until sugar is dissolved.  Add coconut milk and whisk well.  Then, add rice flour and tapioca starch a little at a time.  Whisk thoroughly and then, pour through a sieve into another bowl.

If using an electric mould, heat it up according to its instructions.  I am using an Iona electric mould as shown below.  One thing for sure, I will buy the traditional kuih kapit mould the next time I am back in Singapore.

Dab a little cooking oil onto the plates.  You need to do this only once.  There is no need to oil the mould each time you pour the batter.  By using a small sauce ladle, add a little batter to ONLY ONE of the moulds.  Move the mould maker around to evenly distribute the batter.  Don't worry, you will get the hang of it after a while. Close the mould for one minute before adding batter to the second mould. Once done, close mould and leave to bake for about 1 or 2 minutes.  Open up the lid and cut off the excess dough on the circumference, if any. Cover mould and bake until golden brown.  The baking process will take another 2 minutes.

Once golden brown, remove one kuih from mould by using a wooden chopstick, leaving the other kuih in the mould to keep warm.  Quickly fold the kuih into half and then, into quarter.  By using a meat stamper (shown below), press the kuih flat.  You have to be quick because the kuih gets hard pretty fast.

Another option is to roll the kuih into a cylindrical shape.  Be careful while rolling because the kuih is very hot to handle.  Repeat procedure until the batter is used up.

Note:  I made two portions of this recipe to fill up a medium-size plastic bottle to the brim.

Happy Baking!