The good old days - homemade kaya & bread

 

Homemade kaya on homemade bread or cream crackers. Simple indulgence. Homemade kaya is without preservatives and not too sweet, exactly what I want. I don't like my cakes and desserts too sweet. I guess it has to do with age. As you age, you don't want food that is overly sweet or heavy. If I yearn to have kaya spread and I don't have a homemade one at home, I would buy Hans kaya. It's not too sweet and without preservatives too. The only downside is you have to finish the whole bottle within about 5 days to enjoy fresh wholesome kaya.

With pandan leaves and coconut milk that's going to expire soon, I better do something with it instead of letting it go to the bin. Did not feel like baking a pandan chiffon cake or any sweet desserts. Then the idea of homemade kaya struck. The ingredients are simple and available - eggs, pandan juice, coconut milk and sugar but the time spent cooking it is long ..... You need to keep watching and stirring it to prevent it from being burnt.

 

This recipe that I have is from my church friend, Amy Chan. It uses the direct cooking method. I used the double-boil method this time and the result is wonderful. No danger of it being burnt. I've read from the The Little Teochew blog that you can use the crockpot or slowcooker to cook kaya the easy and painless way.  Will try that out next time.



 

Ingredients: (Adapted from Amy Chan's recipe for double-boiling method)

 

5 eggs

250g coconut milk

160g sugar

1 tbsp corn flour or tapioca flour

100g pandan juice

 

Method:

1. Prepare a double-boiler pot. Boil the water in the outer pot first and set aside the inner pot.
2. Beat all ingredients in the inner pot of a double-boiler pot.
3. Once the water in the outer pot has boiled, reduce the heat and put in the inner pot.
4. Stir occasionally and double-boil for about 1 hour or until the kaya mixture thickens. Remember to add water to the outer pot if the water level has gone down.
5. If you want your kaya to be smooth, you can use a handheld blender to blend the kaya mixture into a smooth paste.

 

** I've tested that the kaya can last for about 1-2 weeks if you double-boil it for longer than 1 hour. You can try it out.