Yema with Almond Nuts

I’m missing to eat these so called “Filipino sweets” and so I made my home made yema. Yema is a candy that is made out of condensed milk which you can also combine some fruits like jackfruit or you can use some nuts. Since I don’t have peanuts, what I used for this recipe was almond nuts.

Yema Balls with caramel


I just roasted the almond nuts before grinding it into the mixer. Yema is just so easy to do although you needed to stir most of the time so that it won’t stick at the bottom of the pan. So you better prepare your non-stick pan for making yema and a wooden stick to stir the condensed milk.

Some prefer to use fresh cow’s milk and include fine sugar into it. But this type of process would take so much time since you needed to make the mixture so thick and it needs more time for you to stir. So if you are not that patient enough to stir, you can do the short cut method by using sweetened milk instead of fresh cows’ milk.

Almond nuts that I used for yema


Cooking yema should be done on a medium to slow flame. You can easily know once the mixture is ready when the milk started to change in color, which is brownish in color. But before it turns into brownish, you should have already included the jackfruit bits or if not, the nuts. But what I prepared was almond nuts so this is the one that you can see on the picture.

Some like their yema as plain; some would prefer it to be coated with caramel. You can also shape your yema into a pyramid (the traditional shape) or in balls. What I just presented was for us to consume (at home) and that is why I did not prepare to buy a colored cellophane wrapper to present it to you the way they sell it in the market.

Cooling down the yema before shaping them and putting some caramel


This recipe is always a profitable business for home makers because they can sell this candy to their friends, officemates and neighbors. All you just needed is a good and clean presentation or packaging which is colored cellophane and shaping your yema into balls or into pyramid types. But as for me, for now I would just like to eat it together with hubby.

Kids would surely love to taste this chewy candy. I used to remember when I was a young kid; I helped a classmate of mine to sell yema in our classroom. The profit I made instead of buying something, I keep it for an investment to buy more yema to sell it to friends. I did not realize I was already a business minded person during those days! Well, anyway maybe I have already given you some ideas for you to start your own simple business at home especially if you are a mom or soon to be mom just like me. Cooking is indeed fun when you have the passion.