Bahasa Indonesia
Lebaran Cake Nastar
Lebaran Cake – Pondan.com – Nastar cookies are no stranger to Indonesian taste buds. Made from a dough of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, nastar cookies are usually round shaped with extra cloves or raisins on top. Stuffed with pineapple jam, these cookies are a necessity for big occasions, especially Eid al-Fitr. Chatting with relatives would be less fun if you couldn’t pick up some of these crunchy and savory cookies. Before you devour a jar of nastar by yourself, let’s find out the history of nastar.
Origin of Nastar
Did you know, the term ‘nastar’ (lebaran cake) only exists in Indonesia? If you search on the internet, the word ‘nastar’ will only display articles and recipes in the Indonesian language. Nonetheless, nastar cookies do not originate fully from Indonesia. Nastar has existed since the Dutch colonial era and so this Dutch cookie recipe has remained close to Indonesians’ hearts.
Originally the nastar cookies on the lebaran cake recipe was inspired by a European pie that is usually made in a large baking dish containing strawberry, blueberry, or apple jam. Because those fruits are difficult to find in Indonesia, pie stuffing was replaced with pineapple jam that has a similar sweet and sour taste. The name itself comes from two word abbreviations, namely ‘ananas’ meaning pineapple and ‘tart’ meaning tart. The combined two words were finally abbreviated and the word became ‘nastar’.
Internationally, nastar can be associated with ‘pineapple tarts’, ‘pineapple cookies’ or ‘pineapple pastry’. They are not much different from nastar in Indonesia as these desserts similarly use pineapple jam as the filling.
Specially Made for Big Days
This sweet and crunchy cookies was made only during the celebration of big days and only served for the nobles or the prijayi and the rich ones. Eventually, this cookie recipe has become a treat for everyone, but still exclusively served for big celebrations.
Although you may see more nastar cookies during Eid, this pastry is served on other big days like Christmas and Lunar New Year. For Chinese citizens, these cookie treats symbolize the arrival of luck. In Hokkien, nastar is called ‘ong lai’ or gold pear. The golden yellow color and the sweet and soft taste of the pineapple, symbolize the sweet and abundant sustenance.
Although the nastar cookies is now present in various forms and choices of filling, the original nastar cookies with pineapple jam filling is always a mainstay and a favorite of many people. No wonder Pondan comes with cake mix of various Eid’s cookies, such as nastar and kastengel. Making Eid’s cookies becomes easier and you cannot fail with recipes by Pondan. Also, you won’t need a lot of additional ingredients. All you need to do is add eggs and margarine to make crunchy and tasty nastar cookies. Come on, make your own nastar with Pondan!
Source:
https://style.tribunnews.com/2017/06/26/asal-usul-nastar-dan-kaasstengels-kue-lebaran-yang-selalu-eksis-tapi-kamu-gak-tahu-artinya?page=all
https://cantik.tempo.co/read/886416/lebaran-mesti-ada-kue-nastar-ketahui-asal-usulnya
