Egg Custard / Kaya (Pandan)

I have lots of pandan plants growing in my garden. With eggs, santan and sugar available in my pantry it was easy for me to whip up the pandan egg custard to spread on my bread. I do not add any preservative egg custard. It is very fragrant and less sweet compared to those store-bought ones.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 160 g sugar
• 250 ml thick santan (either fresh or from the box)
• 3 long pandan leaves (for a lighter kaya) or 5 (for a darker one)

Method:

• To obtain the green colour:
• Cut the pandan leaves into small pieces.
• Take a bit of the santan and blend it with the pandan leaves.
• Sieve to obtain the pandan juice.

• Beat eggs and sugar with a whisk till the sugar is dissolved.

• Add the santan and pandan juice to the egg mixture. Mix.

• Strain the mixture to ensure that there are no impurities.

• Pour the mixture to the top pot of the double boiler.

• Add water to the bottom pot of the double boiler.

• Put on the top pot.

• Turn on the fire (low heat). A high heat will curdle the mixture.

• Stir the mixture till the egg custard is formed. If you find that your custard is not smooth, you may add all the custard to a blender and blitz it till it is smooth.

• Let the egg custard cool down completely before keeping it in a glass bottle. Refrigerate the egg custard. (It can easily last for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.)

Pineapple Jam (For Spreading)

 

There are so many types of jam in the market, some with natural sweetness from the fruits used in making the jam while others with added sugar. I usually make my own jam as it is easy to do and I do not put any sugar into it. Pineapple jam is one of my favourite jam & I make it often for our consumption. As I do not add sugar into my jam, I will usually try to buy pineapples which are ripe to ensure they are sweet.

Ingredients:

• 725 g pineapple flesh
• 40 g lemon juice
• 20 g sugar (optional)

Method:

• Add the pineapple flesh, 1 third at a time, into a blender.

• Blend the flesh till they are fine..

• Transfer the pineapple p)uree to a sieve with a bowl beneath it.

• Let some of the pineapple juice runs off into the bowl. (I was left with 560 g puree and 165 g juice.)

• Pour the puree into a non-stick pan or pot.

• Add sugar (optional) and lemon juice to the pan or pot.

• Turn on the stove to medium heat.

• Keep on stirring the puree till it is of spreadable consistency. (I was left with 285 g of pineapple jam.)

• Let the jam cool down completely before storing it in a clean and dry glass bottle.

• Refrigerate the jam immediately. (It can last about 10 days in the refrigerator.)

Applesauce

 

Applesauce is a sauce made from apples. You can make it with either peeled or unpeeled apples. I prefer to peel my apples. You can sweeten it with white sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses or not put any of these i.e. just depend on the natural sweetness of the apples. I usually do not add sugar to my applesauce as I like the natural sweetness as well as the tanginess of the apples. If I do not add an sweeteners, my applesauce will be pale yellow in colour (3rd and 4th photo) instead of the brownish colour if I had added any of those sweeteners. I usually use Granny Smith to make my applesauce.

When I make applesauce, it is mainly to spread on my bread. However, you can use it as a one to one replacement for oil or melted butter called for in cakes, bread or other bakes. It will make them moist and tasty. 

Ingredients:

• 4 Granny Smith apples
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• lemon juice

Method:

• Remove the skin of the apples, core them and chop them up.

• Place all the chopped apple and water into a saucepan.

• Turn on the fire and cook the apples till they are soft and mushy.

• Add sugar, cinnamon powder and lemon to the saucepan.

• Transfer the applesauce to a bowl.

• Let it cool down completely.

• Store it in a glass bottle.

• Store the bottle in the refrigerator.

Egg Custard / Kaya (Caramel)

During this Covid 19 pandemic, it is very difficult to go out and buy the things that we need. I buy my fishes, meat, vegetables and groceries online. And in big quantities at a time. Some times I overlook the small items like the bread spreads (egg custard/kaya/jam) till they run out of stock. It would be easier to make it myself since I have the ingredients in my refrigerator.


Ingredients:

• Caramel
• 3 tbsp white sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 4 eggs
• 200 ml santan
• 170 g brown/white sugar (I use brown)
• 3 pandan leaves, knotted

Method:

• Make caramel by boiling sugar & water till golden brown.

• Beat the eggs & brown/white sugar till the sugar is dissolved.

• Add the santan & stir till all are well blended.

• Strain the mixture.

• Add water to the bottom pot of the double boiler.

• Add caramel, mixture & pandan leaves to the top pot of a double boiler.

• Put the top pot onto the bottom pot and turn on the fire (low heat).

• Stir the mixture continuously over low heat till the mixture is thickened & is cooked.

Red Bean Paste

 

Red bean paste are used as fillings for pau (Chinese steamed buns), breads and buns, sesame balls, sweet potato balls, Chinese pancakes, Japanese pancakes (Dorayaki), mochi and mooncakes. We can buy ready-made red bean paste from shops selling baking ingredients or we can choose to make it ourselves. However, we cannot control the sugar level in those store-bought one. So, usually I choose to make the paste myself. Some people like their paste to be very smooth while others prefer theirs somewhat rough with visible broken up red beans.

Ingredients:

• 200 g red beans
• 1 litre water
• 150 g sugar or to taste
• 35 g cooking oil (preferably corn oil)
• 20 g glutinous rice 
• 4 tbsp water          
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

• Wash and soak the red beans overnight.

• The next day boil 1 litre of water in a pot and add the soaked red beans to the pot. Check constantly to ensure that the water does not dry up. Top up the water if required. Boil the red beans till they are soft. (I use an electric pressure cooker to cook the red beans.)

• Wait for the red beans to cool down.

• Use a blender or grinder to blend or grind the red beans until it is thick, smooth and free of any lumps.

• Sieve the blended red beans. (I did not as I have a very powerful electric grinder which grinds the red beans till very smooth.)

• Transfer the puree to a non-stick pan.

• Mix the glutinous flour with water. Stir and ensure that the flour is dissolved.

• Add sugar, oil, glutinous flour solution and salt to the pan. Stir till all the ingredients are mixed evenly with the puree.

• Turn on the fire and cook the puree over medium heat. Stir the puree all the time to ensure that it does not burn.

• The puree will be reduced as it is cooked.

• The paste will be ready when it becomes smooth and shiny.

• When cool, you can cling wrap and freeze it till you need it.

Peanut Butter

Nuts are good as snacks. Almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, pecans, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and peanuts are the top nuts that contain various essential nutrients.

Some of the benefits that nuts provide are

1. Great source of many nutrients.

2. Loaded with antioxidants.

3. May aid in weight loss.

4. May lower cholesterol and triglyceride (a type of fats found in our blood) levels.

5. Beneficial for Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

6. May reduce inflammation.

7. High in beneficial fiber.

8. May reduce risk of heart attack and stroke.

(You may read about these in greater depth in https://www.healthline.com.)

Besides eating nuts as snacks, we have been making our own spreads with them as we can choose the nuts that we want to use and we can control the ingredients used to make them, especially the amount of sugar and salt and the type of oil used. We have been making peanut butter, almond butter, cashew nut butter as well as a mixture of pumpkin seed and almond butter. The method of making all these butter are the same.

Ingredients:

• 350 g peanuts (net, after roasting and removal of membrane)
• to fill my bottle fully as seen in the photo
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (may not need to use all the oil)
• Optional (according to taste):
• 30 g sugar, or
• 2 tbsp honey
• Note: I did not add any sugar or honey in my peanut butter.

Method:

• Wash the peanuts and let the water run off.

• Roast the peanuts at 180 degrees C for 45 - 60 minutes till they are brown and fragrant. You may also fry the peanuts in the kwali without oil if you do not wish to use the oven or air fryer.

• Let the peanuts cool down.

• Remove the membrane from the peanuts.

• Put the peanuts into a grinder or food processor and add salt to the peanuts.

• Add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil initially and start grinding the peanuts. Keep adding the olive oil until you get the consistency you want.

• You would require less olive oil if you want a smooth peanut butter consistency. This is because as you grind the peanuts longer, oil will be released from the peanuts.

• If you would like to have chunky peanut butter, you have to put more olive oil as you will be grinding the peanuts for a shorter time and little oil will be released from the peanuts.

• (Add the sugar or honey into the peanut butter.)

• Stop grinding once you have achieve the consistency that you want.

• Transfer the peanut butter to a clean bottle.

• Let the peanut butter cool down before you cover the bottle.

• Keep the peanut butter refrigerated.