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Thursday 6 March 2014

Richness...wrapped in a bun


Rich is Kaya in the Malay language and strangely it is also what we called a local jam made with coconut milk, eggs and sugar, probably it got its name from the 'richness' in the jam.  It's interesting to note that it is also known as Kaya in the Chinese dialects spoken here :)

Kaya toast has long been (and still is) a popular Malaysian (and Singaporean too i think) breakfast item.  It is said that it has its origins back to the days when the Hainanese worked as kitchen hands on British ships.   Some of them started their own business of opening coffee shops selling similar food that they prepared for the British when they settled down.  Instead of western jams they served toast with kaya.  A thin slice of cold butter is also slathered in to give it a sweet savoury taste.  If this is something new to you, don't give this a miss when you are around this part of the world.   Sheer heaven, i promise!

Now, what you are seeing here is not exactly the kaya toast that i have just mentioned.   These are buns but with kaya in them instead.  That green belt that they have around them is a pandan leave, it's not just to make the buns look pretty, it infuses its fragrance on the bun too.  The pandan fragrance blends very well with the kaya filling in the bun.


Instead of butter i played around and added a small piece of cheddar cheese on top of the kaya just before wrapping up the bun.  

Soft milky buns with a rich coconut jam infused with pandan fragrance...Mmmm!

Recipe
Source: Bread Magic by Alan Ooi for bread dough

Ingredients

Bread Dough

Part A
  • 300g high protein flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp milk powder
  • 50g sugar
Part B
  • 125ml water
  • 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1 medium size egg (1 used 2/3 of a large egg and left 1/3 for glazing)
Part C
  • 40g butter
Part D (for glazing)
  • Mix 1 tablespoon fresh milk with 1/3 egg from Part B (I like using this as the glaze, it's not too glossy when egg is used solely or too matte and browns easily when only milk is used) 
Filling
  • Store bought kaya 
  • 1 slice of cheddar cheese, cut into small rectangular pieces
Method
  1. Combine ingredient A in a mixer and mix well.  Add in ingredient B and beat till a dough is formed.  Add in ingredient C and beat till dough is smooth and elastic to touch.
  2. Leave dough in a big bowl, covered with a damp cloth.
  3. Let it rise in a warm place until double the size.
  4. Divide dough into 50g portions (managed to get 11 pieces). 
  5. Flatten dough then wrap with some filling starting with 1 tablespoon of kaya followed by a piece of cheese. It's easier to wrap if it's not too full. 
  6. Arrange on greased tray if not using paper liners.
  7. Cover and rest buns until double the size again.
  8. Wrap a pandan leave around the bun (loosely)
  9. Glaze with Part D.
  10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-17 minutes until golden brown.

Note: I combine all the ingredients and let my breadmaker handle steps 1-3.

37 comments:

I knowfor sure these buns must be really good and yummy! And my first time come across filling with kaya cheese!

Kaya toast has always been one of my fav. Be it bfast it for tea time or late super, this is it. To get good kaya is when you make it yourself. Your kata buns look just heavenly..

Hi, your kaya bun look so good, very well baked. Texture so soft and fluffy. Wish I can have 2 now with coffee. :))

Have a nice day.

At a glance, I thought it is a lovely kuih. Thumbs up that it's a yummy baked bun.

Your kaya buns look so good, I love the texture of your bread, very soft and beautiful. I can imagine how delicious they taste especially with a cup of steaming hot kopi-o.

that's a very soft looking bun you've got there.... yum yum

Gosh, how I love the texture of your buns. They do look so soft and yummy!

una realizaciòn hermosa se ve precioso y el relleno una maravilla,abrazos.

Cheese and kaya filling in bun is new to me. Got to try it one day. Thanks for sharing! Have a great weekend ahead :)

Wow, the buns looks so yummy and what a great way of wrapping pandan leaves around the buns! Cheese and kaya filling sure sounds super yummy no doubt it sounds new to me. Thanks for sharing, LTB. Am bookmarking this super recipe of yours. Cheers :)

These buns look so pillow soft and fluffy. Excellent!

These buns look amazing! I love learning about different foods/traditions from other countries and today visiting your blog has taught me about kaya cheese - thank you!

Ade , how's the water supply ? It's up and running then ? :D Another gorgeous bread , just finished drooling over your blueberry pull-apart bread lol

I made some kaya too last week, can make these buns:D Looks so lovely with the pandan leaves!

hmm..cheese with kaya sounds " kaya" ..and delicious!! they look 'kampung style ' too wrapping them over with pandan leaves. nice! btw, nice to see your comment on my blog after away for so long , thx!

Looks perfect. My son is gaga over kaya, he spreads it on toast/biscuits/crackers.

@Mel: Thank you kind compliments. The idea of adding cheese came about because occasionally i add a piece of cheese after spreading kaya on a slice of bread :)

@Jenn: Thank you for the kind compliments. Yes, totally agree about that bit on homemade kaya, but it's a bit time consuming :)

@Amelia: Thank you for kind compliments!

@Kimmy: Got you tricked for awhile huh ;) Thank you for kind compliments!

@Veronica: Thank you for kind compliments and i totally agree with you that they go very well with kopi-o!

@Victoria: Thank you for kind compliments!

@Cheah: Thank you for kind compliments!

@Rosita: Thank you for kind compliments!

@Vivian: Kaya and cheese, a twist from kaya and butter :) Hope you like it!

@Ivy: Thank you for kind compliments, i hope you will give it a try :)

@Angie: Thank you for kind compliments!

@Sonia: We malaysians do love our kaya and roti huh :)

@Shashi: Nice to have you visiting, thank you for kind compliments. Glad to have given you an insight to some of our local food, but it's mostly kaya and butter, it's me here giving it a twist with some cheese instead :)

@Anne: Still facing water issues, unfortunately :(((

@Jeannie: I remember seeing your homemade kaya, nothing beats homemade. I hope you give this buns a try, the pandan leaves wrapped around them does make a difference :)

@Lena: Haha, yes 'rich' indeed and hopefully they don't get deposited in the wrong place! Yes, a little kampung feel like how banana leaves are used as liners :)

@Yen: Thank you for kind compliments. Your boy is very clever to spread it on biscuits and crackers!

Oh mine...they look so fluffy and delicious! :) ela

I can never resist anything that has kaya in it especially milky soft buns!

The way that you baked and presented your kaya buns is like food art... It brings out the beauty of these buns :D

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