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Love Letters

Ingrediënten

Baking tool:

 

Batter (makes 18):

To grease:

Kuih Kapit (cupid cookies) or Love letters. These are the names the Peranakan – Chinese in Penang – have given such wafers; in Borneo they are called Kuih Sepit (Semprong in Indonesia).  It is said that the names date back to a distant Chinese past. Army battalions fighting against the Mongols would have sent each other messages in this type of small rolls. Lovers would also have used them for secret communication. Could be, because the more common name Kuih Belanda points to love relations that were once deemed improper. Belanda stands for Hollands and recalls the 17th century influence of the Dutch in Malaysia.

The wafers are made over a charcoal fire in wafer irons that are romantically decorated with flowers and birds. The recipe is clearly based on Dutch knieperties (squeezed cookies), but has become wonderfully exotic. What a special message to receive from your secret love..

 

You can make them in that electric wafer iron that stays in your cupboard most of the time. Try to buy a few pandan leaves in an Asian shop and grease the iron with a bundle of them. Smells great! If pandan is not available you can come close to the original taste by adding a pinch of vanilla seeds to the batter and use an oiled rag for greasing.