Chrisy Mum’s Kaya (Egg & Coconut Jam)

Nothing like a good homemade Kaya! I remember how I used to complain when I have to stand in front of the stove and continuously stirring the pot of Kaya for 2 hours. And having to use a sieve to break down the lumpy Kaya into a smoother paste….. A lot of hard work! Nevertheless the end result is always sweet and tasty - especially when I get to lick the spoon.
Kaya is best eaten with a piece of soft white bread or on toast; crispy toast with caramelised custard-like jam with salty butter / margarine…and a cup of coffee……. That is just heavenly!

Ingredients:-
Eggs 5 (approx 70g each)
Castor Sugar 150g
Brown Sugar 50g
Coconut Milk* 400ml
Pandan Leaves 3 knotted (optional)

*I will usually use KARA brand Coconut cream and dilute it with a little bit of water. The next best option is the Ayam brand coconut milk.

Method:-
Lightly beat eggs, sieve to filter it. Mix eggs with coconut milk with a whisk.
Use a non-stick pot, gently boil the coconut and eggs mixture together with the knotted Pandan leaves at medium –low heat.
On a separate smaller non-stick pot, add castor sugar to heat over low heat till the sugar melts into a golden brown thick caramel.
Continue stirring eggs and coconut mixture with a hand whisk and slowly add the golden brown caramel into the mixture. At this point, the mixture will sizzle and become a lumpy and rough texture as the hot caramel cooked the eggs in the mixture, don’t worry about the texture.
Continue to cook and stir the Kaya for another 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the Kaya cool for 10 minutes then carefully (the mixture is very hot) use a hand blender (on low speed) to blend the Kaya into a smooth paste.
Once the Kaya texture is smooth, turn the heat back on to medium-low heat, add the brown sugar and continue stirring and cooking for another 1½ hours.
It is important to keep stirring the mixture to prevent curding…no short cuts!
Cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

Tips: -
Repeat blending with the hand blender if the texture is still lumpy. Be cautious when using the hand blender in hot food!
If you prefer the ‘Green’ Kaya, just pound 5 Pandan leaves to extract the juice and sieve into the coconut milk before mixing it with the eggs.