Kaya

Ingredients
Coconut milk 100%
Palm Sugar    33-50% depending on your sweet tooth. (Gula Melaka is fine but I find it too overpowering so less is more. A mix of Gula Melaka and plain sugar might work well)
Egg yolks       50 %
Pandan leaves to flavor
Dash of sea salt
Method.
1. Caramelise the palm sugar in a heavy bottom pot together with the Pandan leaves. This will infuse the sugar with the Pandan flavor.
2. Add the coconut milk and stir.
3. Stir until all the sugar has been dissolved.
4. Remove the Pandan leaves.
5. Spoon the coconut-sugar mixture into the eggs slowly and stir.
6. When half of the coconut milk-sugar has been added, add the Sugar-milk-eggs mixture back into the remaining coconut-sugar mixture.
7. Heat the Kaya mixture in a double boiler, stirring continuously.
8. Stop when the mixture has thicken.


Making Kaya is not difficult. However, some precautions must be taken to make it successfully. Kaya is a form of custard and to make a smooth custard, the eggs must be tempered. Otherwise, adding the eggs to the hot coconut milk-sugar mixture will scramble the eggs. Personally, I prefer some whites with the egg yolks as this will give the kaya some texture. With less whites, the kaya is too smooth and is more like a paste. The mixture is best cooked in a double boiler as excessive heat will transform the proteins into a tight ball. This is the classic sandy texture of Kaya Fail. Using a blender to rectify coarse Kaya texture is also Kaya Fail in my opinion.

For my bake this week, I tried out a new malt bought by my wife. The smell of the bread was good when it came out of the oven and I am looking forward to tea time for my kaya toast.