30-Minute Homemade Pandan Kaya 自制香兰咖椰酱

I attempted this Homemade Pandan Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam) 自制香兰咖椰酱 twice in a day. I tried using the bread maker the first time. Alas! I could not regret more! 

Do learn from my genuine mistakes :

• I should not add gula melaka into my bread pan before they dissolve completely. The screeching sounds - when the palm sugar bits hit the walls of the bread pan were traumatising! I thought the non-sticking bread pan would damage totally after just a few seconds. I definitely made a wise decision to switch off the machine immediately.

• Unlike my previous jam making experiences, this Pandan Kaya mixture was splattering wildly within the bread pan. I had a hard time cleaning the bread maker (inside out) thereafter. It was still attracting ants hours after the machine had been cleaned.

I must say that there are many successful bread maker's Pandan Kaya recipes that one can find online. It was my fault that I did not do sufficient research. I jumped the queue and relied wrongly on my instincts.

Nevertheless, my second attempt was a successful one! I used a simple saucepan to do the job instead. In my personal attempt to make the Pandan Kaya more authentic, I replaced white sugar with gula melaka (palm sugar) in hope to achieve a more fragrant and traditional aroma. This Homemade Pandan Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam) 自制香兰咖椰酱 is easy to make and would take only 30 minutes! More importantly, it received thumbs up from everyone at home! 

Ingredients (enough for a 255 gm or 9 oz bottle) :

Download Printer Friendly Recipe

• 150 gm fresh coconut milk
• 2 large egg yolks
• 125 gm gula melaka/palm sugar (adjust in accordance your taste)
• 1.5 tbsp pandan juice (learn how to DIY Concentrated Pandan Juice here)
• 1/2 tsp pandan essence (optional)
• 2 tsp corn/potato starch flour
• 2 tbsp water

(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon)    

Tip 1 : Omit egg yolk so that the cooking timing can be shortened by increasing heat. This would avoid lumpy jam caused by the egg whites.

Tip 2 : Use gula melaka (aka palm sugar) instead of white sugar for the traditional flavour.


Method : 

• Pound gula melaka/palm sugar to bits.

• Beat egg yolk and sieve to ensure egg mixture is smooth.

• Add gula melaka/palm sugar, egg mixture, coconut milk, pandan juice and pandan essence to saucepan and cook at low-to-medium heat. Evenly stir the mixture in the saucepan while cooking so that gula melaka/palm sugar would be completely dissolved. Continue to stir to prevent lumpy mixture.

• Add starch mixture (by combining 2 tsp corn/potato starch with 2 tbsp water and stir till all flour dissolved in water) to saucepan after 15 minutes.

• After few minutes of continuous stirring in the saucepan, the pandan kaya would be cooked down. It would look thick and rough.

• To achieve a smooth and silky texture, use an electric blender to blend the pandan kaya mixture with just a few quick pushes (do not over blend).

• Once blended, the pandan kaya should achieve a smooth and silky texture. Use a spoon to scoop pandan kaya from the blender. The mixture should not drip (meaning the thickness and texture is correct) if it is blended just nicely.

• Transfer pandan kaya to a sterilized bottle. It is important to have it completely cooled down before capping to avoid condensation in the bottle. Condensation would result in mouldy kaya. Never consume mouldy kaya. 

Store the freshly made Pandan Kaya 香兰咖椰酱 in refrigerator subsequently. The Pandan Kaya 香兰咖椰酱 has a short life span due to the usage of fresh coconut milk and eggs. That explains why my recipe is meant for a smaller serving. We would not be in time to consume anything more in a short time frame. Try to consume within few days of preparation.

My favorite butter and kaya toast......here I come.....

P.S. - If you prefer to make a larger portion, you would not go too wrong with a 1:1:1 rule. That means almost equal portion of coconut milk (e.g. 200 gm) vs egg yolks (e.g. 200 gm) vs gula melaka (e.g. 200 gm) although I personally prefer to cut down on gula melaka.