Gula Melaka Kaya/Palm Sugar Coconut Jam

Making kaya takes time so I don’t make it often and if I do I will make a big batch of it. I will mail some to Diana and keep a couple of jars for myself. It usually will last me a couple of months. I usually will make the regular caramel or pandan kaya but this time I tried using gula Melaka or palm sugar. Since I have a lot of egg yolks leftover from my macarons I decided to use only that in this kaya. It gives the kaya a thicker and richer consistency. For those who are not familiar with kaya you can read about it here .

The kaya turns out really good. It is thick and creamy with the heavenly fragrant of the palm sugar.

Oven Baked Jelly Donuts

This is by far one of the best baked donuts I ever made. They came out so light and fluffy. I know some of you might not believe me but just look at the last pictures. That’s the look of the texture inside the donut. They were light and airy. This dough is a bit stickier which is what makes them so light and also I let it proof the second time for over 2 hours. I shape, cover them and went for my zumba and baked them only when I got home. I tweak this recipe from the previous recipe and I like this better. I understand these may not be for everyone but it is perfect just for me to get over my donut craving. I filled the donuts with homemade jam but you can fill it with lemon curd, custard or even melted chocolate.

Homemade Mixed Berries Jam

Come summer I look forward to all the berries that I can get from the farmer’s market or supermarket. I will buy loads of them when the price it right. It will be the time that I make jam out of it. I prefer homemade jam than the store bought kind as I find them way too sweet. I still put quite a bit of sugar in my jam but not as much as the store bought kind. Well, jam is a way to preserve fruit with sugar so please doesn’t ask me how to make it sugar free or low sugar as I don’t know how but I did use organic sugar here. So I would like to think it is much healthier ha ha..Anyway, you should consume anything in moderation.

I normally just made 2-3 jars at a time to last us for 2 -3 months but this time I made a bit more since I got a very good bargain on the fruits from the vendor. I gave a few jars away to close friends. This is refrigerator jam and not intended to be sealed and stored in the pantry. So make sure you refrigerate it.

Plum Jam

I picked the very last plum from the tree today. I feel kind of sad that I have to wait till next year to taste the sweet plums again. We truly enjoyed it very much. I picked lots of it 3 weeks ago as it all ripen at the same time. I decided to make homemade plum jam with it. I actually like homemade jam as I didn’t want to use a lot of sugar in it. I am happy with this pectin-free and not overload with sugar jam. It is tangy, sweet at the same time with great plum taste. I like it on toast, scones and Carlos like it over his plain yogurt. I still have a jar in my fridge and maybe I should make rugelach with it. Stay tune for it. I might bake it only when I am back from New York. I will be away from my blog for a while so I might not be able to reply to your comments but I will get to it as soon as possible.

Meyer Lemon Curd

The neighbor behind my house has a Meyer lemon tree and it is bursting with fruits. I can see them from my bedroom windows and thinking of all my favorite lemon treats to make from it. The neighbor sister brought me a big bag of it a couple of weeks ago. I have to say, they are the best Meyer lemon I ever had. There are so fragrant and with high volume of juicy. The Meyer lemon fruit is rounder than the common lemon, with a slight hint of orange and not as tart as regular lemon. I used it to make some lemon curd. Lemon curd is great for toast, scones, cookies, tart filler, to name just a few. If you can’t find Meyer lemons, use regular lemons instead. Do stay tune and see what I make with the rest of the lemons.

Strawberry Jam

Strawberries are abundance now and it can be really cheap. I bought a few pounds of it the other day. Some I had it fresh and some I made it into jam. This recipe yield 2 jars and it will last me for some time. I usually have it with toast or scones.

Coconut Egg Jam/Kaya

Diana and I love our morning toast slather with butter and rich Kaya or sometime we simply eat it with our crackers. We are able to buy this jam from the Asian market but they are not as good as the homemade one. That is why I prefer to make it myself. Make from coconut milk, some eggs, sugar and a few pandan leaves. Sound simple enough? Making kaya need a bit of patience as you have to stand at the stove, constantly stirring it for over an hour. In the end you will be rewarded with a pot of rich, sweet and fragrant jam to eat it with your toast. ENJOY!!

(From Wikpedia.org)

Kaya, or coconut egg jam, is made from coconut milk, duck or chicken eggs which are flavored by pandan leaf and sweetened with sugar. The spread originated in Southeast Asia, most likely Indonesia or Malaysia. This is reflected by its tropical ingredients santan (coconut milk) and pandan leaf. Kaya is sweet and creamy, available in golden brown or green colored spread depending on the amount of pandan and extent of caramelization of the sugar. As with other jams, kaya is typically spread on toast and eaten in the morning but is enjoyed throughout the day. Kaya is also used as a topping for dessert like pulut tekan, a dessert of glutinous rice.

Ingredients :

8 extra large eggs
400 ml thick coconut milk
380 grm sugar
6 Pandan/ screwpine leaves

1. Whisk the egg and sugar until well combined. Strain through a sieve. Then add in the coconut milk.
2. Pour the mixture in a thick heavy bottom saucepan. Tie the pandan leaves into a knot and put it into the mixture. Cook the mixture over the lowest heat on the stove. Cook and stir constantly until smooth and mixture thickens. (do not turn up the heat or else the mixture will lumpy or become scramble eggs. You can also cook this kaya in a double boiler)
3. Store in the fridge once it’s cool.

Note : 1. If you like your kaya to be really smooth, just put it in the blender and blend it for a few second when it is cool. 2. If you like caramel colored kaya, just take 100 gram of the sugar and cook it until it turn into caramel, then add about ½ of the coconut milk. Stir till sugar dissolves. Set it to cool and add into the egg mixture before cooking. Since I can't get fresh coconut milk here I just used the can coconut milk.