Pandan Coconut Braided Bread

What Is Pandan Coconut Jam?

It's a jam or spread that's made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar. This coconut jam is popular in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei. It's also known as Srikaya with kaya meaning rich in Malay language.

There are several flavours to this coconut jam and one of them is pandan flavoured. It's very easy to prepare, the only thing you'll need to invest is a bit of time. To stir until it thickens. That's all.

This coconut jam is nothing new to me. My family used to have it in our house all the time. Nobody was that into sweets in our family but yea, this jam was always there in case anybody wanted some sweet spread. It was like peanut butter in our Asian house.

I didn't even bother to know how it was made since this jam was (still is) so easy to find in my home country. Until I moved and anything Asian is so difficult to find, everywhere.

You know that feeling when you only miss something when it's not there? Yep. That's how I would describe almost all of my Asian stuff. Ok, let's not even go there.

My point is, living far from home doesn't mean we should stop enjoying our home countries food. Or not living/ever travelled to a country doesn't mean we can't try that country's food. Food is the cheapest way to travel. Don't you agree?

Anyway, moving on to the bread.

Braided Bread

Make way for the new braided bread in town! Or as my husband calls it, green hulk bread.

I'm using my go-to sweet buns recipe for this sweet bread. It's so easy to make and works every time for me.

Don't be scared about the breading. It looks more complicated than it really is. You can watch it in the video above. The thing with this braid is, you don't need to make it perfect at all. However you twist the bread and braid it, it's going to come out beautiful. Oh, believe me.

Besides, who's going to go to your kitchen and start inspecting the level of perfection of your bread. Right? Let's just have fun and make some bread. I mean braided bread!

More Bread Recipes

• Raspberry twisted buns
• Braided Nutella star bread
• Soft & fluffy milk buns
• Nutella babka buns
• Savory monkey bread

Video

Pandan Coconut Braided Bread

An Asian sweet braided bread with pandan coconut jam. The bread is so simple to make and it turns out so soft. The coconut jam gives it that special touch.

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Servings: 2 loaves

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

The Bread

• ⅔ cup milk (160 ml), warm

• 2 tbsp honey (35 gr)
• 2 ¼ tsp dry yeast (7 gr)
• 2 ½ cup bread flour (325 gr)
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar (25 gr)
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 egg , room temperature
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter (30 gr), melted

Others

• some pandan coconut jam , see the link above for recipe
• some coconut flakes
• 1 egg for egg wash
• splash of milk for egg wash

Instructions

The Bread

• Mix honey with warm milk and then sprinkle dry yeast. Stir and leave it for 3-5 minutes until it gets foamy.
• In a standing bowl mixer, add in the rest of the ingredients for bread including previously prepared yeast mixture. Mix to incorporate and then knead for 10 minutes.
• The dough will be sticky, don't worry it's fine. Place it in an oiled bowl and coat the dough with some oil to prevent crust forming on its surface. Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and leave for the dough to rise double its size in a warm and draft free place.

Assembling

• After doubled its size, place the dough on a floured working surface. Cut it into 2 equal pieces. Take 1 pieces and lightly knead it into a ball. Flatten and roll it into a 8x12 inch (20x30 cm) rectangle, more or less.
• Spread some pandan coconut jam on it, leaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) empty around the edges. Don't put too much jam as it will leak out as you roll it later. Now sprinkle some coconut flakes on top. Gently roll it tightly into a log of 12 inch (30 cm) length. Pinch the seams at top end. Using a sharp knife, cut the log lengthwise into 2, leaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) top end uncut.
• Now twist the 2 cuts on top of each other, forming a braid. Pinch the seams at bottom end. Repeat with the other piece of dough. Place on a baking tray with baking sheet that has been sprinkled with some flour beforehand. Cover loosely with cling film and leave for 30 minutes or until they puff up a bit. Gently brush with some egg wash and then sprinkle with some more coconut flakes.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 340ºF (170ºC) for 25 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked. Enjoy with more pandan coconut jam on the side!

Notes

If you don't have pandan extract/essence then simply use some green food coloring and vanilla extract. It's not exactly the same but at least you can still enjoy the wonderful coconut jam!

Tried this recipe?Mention @elmundoeats and tag #elmundoeats!