Ya Kun Kopi… awesome lah!

A friend of mine took me to a cafe in Singapore called Ya kun Kaya– the birth place of Kaya toast! I didn’t know what to expect as always. In the mean time we were enjoying the coffee using a soup spoon.. that’s how the locals drink their coffee.

one more plate can-aaa?!

After a few minutes the toast was in our table and I still remember the very first bite.
That crunchy toast followed by a delicious coconut filling with a unique flavor and a thick layer of butter. I couldn’t resist and we had to order another plate.

From that moment I was eager to re-create this coconutty goodness. The unique flavor was obtained by a tropical leaf called Pandan leaves this is the first time I was hearing about this ingredient, so after asking few friends and some reading I was ready.

I used “Toast Box ” (another chain of cafe selling Kaya toast) jar of Hainanese  Kaya as a bench mark and really pleased with results.

The recipe was not complicated at all. There are plenty of them in web and set my mind on one and improvised it by using cane sugar and made three versions

The classic Kaya

The pandan leaves flavor was really prominent which  blended really well with coconut. I wonder how come  no one told me about this leaf earlier?

Caramel Kaya

This was my daughter’s favorite she kept on asking for more, the consistency of this particular one was bit thicker more like Nutella 🙂

Fresh Dates Kaya

This one needs more work as I was not happy with my choice of fresh dates (Karahi) even though I loved the bite of the fresh dates which gave a nice texture variation.

Ginger Kaya

This is my favorite as it was really refreshing as the spice gave nice zing.  Loved it.

Now I am really obsessed with Kaya as its so versatile I would like this used in many other ways than just on a toast.

For recipes I recommend the below
https://iamafoodblog.com/kaya-toast-coconut-jam-on-toast-recipe/
https://rasamalaysia.com/kaya-recipe-malaysian-coconut-egg-jam/