It’s been awhile since I’ve had time to cook/bake anything of interest. Truth be told, G and I have been so busy with the baby countdown and personal to-do checklists (buy baby stuff, clean baby clothes, change jobs, more baby stuff) before D(elivery)-Day that we’ve eaten out a bit too much (also on our to-do list: top 10 ramen joints, Andre…). Still, I did find some time last week to try and make a more “local” macaron.
Kaya is a spread (made from coconut milk, egg, sugar, and pandan leaves) that is great with butter on toasted bread. The first time I ever tried it was actually back in SF. G was so excited to find it available at our local Ranch 99. Here in Singapore, there are definitely more varieties of kaya that range in taste and color, from brown to green. I’m not enough of a connoisseur to tell you where to find the best kaya, and so I normally just reach in the fridge and grab whatever is available.
Since I had some desiccated coconut handy, kaya macarons sounded good. The problem was that we were fresh out of the store-bought variety, but I did happen to have all the necessary ingredients handy. If you note the presence of egg in the ingredients, then you’ve probably guessed that there is a custard component to making kaya. A quick search online yields a number of recipes, which all have the general – stir frequently, don’t overcook the eggs directions. Call me impatient, but I really don’t have the time to nurse custard for a few hours. So, for those of us with sous vide machines…
Kaya ingredients:
- 200 ml coconut milk (store bought is fine)
- 150 g sugar
- 4-5 pandan leaves
- 3 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
- green food coloring (optional)
Directions:
Beat the eggs thoroughly and add the coconut milk, sugar, and pandan leaves in a food-safe bag. Toss in the sous vide machine, set at 79 °C. Come back in a few hours.
Your kaya will be runny, but will thicken a bit when chilled. You can now raise the temperature in the sous vide to 84 °C and manually stir your kaya. Remove when the sides show signs of the egg proteins setting. For a macaron filling, I’d also suggest adding a thickener like xanthan especially for warmer climates.
To make the macaron tops you can refer to my previous post on macarons. Instead of food coloring, I sprinkled the desiccated coconut flakes after piping. Don’t sprinkle too much on each top or they won’t rise (seriously). Bake as normal, combine with the fresh kaya and enjoy!