It isn’t Christmas if we don’t have an ube dessert like this Ube- Purple Yam Pound Cake with Ube Glaze at our holiday table. My family loves purple yam. Its sweet, almond-like flavor in ube halaya (the jam) is enjoyed during the summer in halo-halo, the Filipino icy layered dessert. All year round, we enjoy ube jam or ‘halaya’, ube pastillas (sweet milk candies), homemade ube ice cream, ube pan de sal, ube-blueberry tarts and even ube short bread cookies.
Ube or purple yam is a tuber that grows on a vine, above ground. In the Philippines, it is a major vegetable crop and an important source of food. It is more abundant in the last months of the year. And this is why during the Christmas holidays, a lot of desserts and snacks in the Philippines are made of ube (purple yam). Purple yam also grows in other Asian countries, South America and Africa. In the USA, it grows in Hawaii.
If you see a purple yam in the Asian markets, you’re likely to walk past it. It looks nondescript. The ube or purple yam looks like another large potato, with a dark brown, rough outer skin. When sliced, the insides reveal a light pink flesh, so light you wonder where the dark purple color comes from when cooked.
What makes ube special is its sweet floral flavor and fruity aroma. There is nothing quite like it in any other tuber. When cooked with milk or coconut cream, it gains a rich, dairy-like flavor that enhances desserts. Once you taste ube, you’ll want it again and again.
This year, I turned to a reliable source to try a new recipe for an ube pound cake. Nancie MacDermott’s eighth cookbook “Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations” had an amazing Sweet Potato Pound Cake Recipe. Her readers and friends shared their sweet potato cake results on Nancie’s Facebook page. I was intrigued. I told Nancie about the wonders of ube (purple yam) and since it had nearly the same texture as sweet potato when boiled, I wanted to try baking it into a pound cake, with her original recipe which used sweet potato.
Well, here is my Ube Pound Cake with an Ube Glaze drizzling downward the rich, moist slice. I could not believe I never tried this before. Filipinos are more familiar with the classic ube chiffon cake, a lighter version of this ube cake. But it is the pound cake texture of this one that got me all excited. I finally found use for the boiled, frozen ube always available in Asian markets year round. In addition to the jam and pies I have made, there’s a special place for this ube pound cake at our holiday table this year.
Celebrations start out like this, with recipes shared among friends, then passed around the family, like we do at holiday dinners. May your holiday table be as festive and plentiful as ours. Have a wonderful holiday season, dear friends and readers of my blog!
Ube-Purple Yam Pound Cake with Ube Glaze
Equipment
- Round Tube cake pan - 10-inch
- Cake Mixer
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons McCormick's Ube flavoring from Asian stores or online sources
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 4 whole large eggs
- 2 cups mashed boiled ube frozen (from Asian markets)
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar for glaze
- 1/8 cup milk for glaze
- 1 teaspoon McCormick's Ube Flavored Extract for glaze
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for glaze
Instructions
- To prepare the ube: Thaw the frozen ube or purple yam at room temperature. The boiled yam must be mushy and not frozen. Place the frozen ube in a colander, some liquid may melt as it is thawed. *Note: Do not microwave to defrost. Allow the frozen ube to thaw out naturally. Set ube aside.
- To bake the ube cake: Preheat oven at 350 F. Prepare and grease a 10-inch round tube or Bundt cake pan.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk. Set aside.
- Separately, in a small bowl, mix together the milk and ube flavoring (bottled). Set this aside for use later.
- In a large bowl, using a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugars on high speed till combined well.
- Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each egg is added.
- To the egg and butter mixture, add the mashed ube. Mix this on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Make sure the batter is mixed well and the ube is distributed evenly.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk-ube flavor mixture into the batter. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Beat for about 5 minutes till the batter has a thick, smooth texture and is colored light lavender.
- If cake pan has a removable bottom, place heavy duty aluminum foil underneath the removable bottom so the batter will not spill out while baking.
- Pour the cake batter into the round tube cake or Bundt pan. Bale at 350 F for 60 to 75 minutes. Test the cake for doneness by inserting the tip of a sharp knife in the center of the baked cake. If knife comes out clean, cake is done.
- When the cake is done, remove from the oven. Cool on counter for about 20 minutes by covering the cake with a cloth towel. When cake has cooled, invert on a cake rack and allow to cool thoroughly.
- How to make the ube icing glaze: Using a hand mixer, mix on high the confectioners’ or powdered sugar with the milk. Add the ube flavoring and almond extract. Continue beating for 3 minutes more or till ube icing is smooth. Let this icing cool in the refrigerator while the ube cake is on the cake rack.
- How to frost the ube cake : Using a clean, sharp knife, carefully run slice a thin layer off the top of the cake to trim and scrape off any dark green cake parts. (Ube cake tends to come out dark green on the top and sides after it is baked). Smoothen the ube icing glaze with a spatula on the top of the cake. Slice and serve. Store this cake in the refrigerator.
- Cook’s comments: Nancie McDermott, prolific author, is a friend I trust for her foolproof recipes and amazing cookbooks. I previously baked an Egg Custard Pie from another cookbook she wrote and it’s in a past blog post here. Ms. McDermott’s stories, recipes and cookbooks are on her site or on Amazon. For my readers’ convenience, I have a “Shop For It” tab which brings you directly to my Amazon page with one click. Click here.
- Recipe notes: For this recipe I used frozen boiled ube (in the photo above) which can be found in Asian markets. Regular ube is seasonal and not always found in the markets here in the USA.
- Ingredient notes: I use the McCormick Ube flavoring for this recipe's ube glaze. It adds a light purple color and mild ube flavor. It can be found in Asian markets or online sources like Amazon.
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Nutrition
Notes on Nutrition: The nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.
Did you like this recipe? I have more classic recipes inspired by my late mother’s cooking in my popular cookbook: My Mother’s Philippine Recipes. If you’re learning how to cook Filipino food or a fan of Philippine cuisine, buy my cookbooks and books on Amazon.com sold worldwide in paperback and Kindle format.
Copyright Notice: Hello, Friends! Please DO NOT LIFT OR PLAGIARIZE my original recipe, stories, photos or videos. All the images and content on this blog are COPYRIGHT PROTECTED and owned by my media company Besa-Quirino LLC. This means BY LAW you are NOT allowed to copy, scrape, lift, frame, plagiarize or use my photos, essays, stories and recipe content on your websites, books, films, television shows, videos, without my permission. If you wish to republish this recipe or content on media outlets mentioned above, please ASK MY PERMISSION, or re-write it in your own words and link back to my blog AsianInAmericaMag.com to give proper attribution. It is the legal thing to do. Thank you. Email me at [email protected]
how to make the ube glaze icing .. tnx
I am intrigued by these yams. I will definitely get some next time I am in the Asian market.
Thanks, Lisa. You can also find frozen boiled purple yams all year round in the Asian market — it’s the frozen boiled yam I used for this recipe.
Hi! Can I use a round pan (9in) instead of he bundt pan? Thanks
All I could find was fresh frozen ube. Any suggestions on how long I should boil them? Do you think it will make a difference if I throw them in the water frozen? Thank you!
Thanks, Giara. If the frozen ube you found looks like the one I have in the photo here — like mashed ube, then it’s already pre-boiled and you can add it to the recipe, follow my directions. But if the ube is whole, peel it if needed, boil for at least 40 minutes in a stockpot filled with water till it is soft and easy to mash. Add to the cake batter as directed. Let me know how it turns out. Good luck 🙂
Hello, I would like to refer to your link please as I am doing a story in my blog regarding my attempt to make an ube cake wherein I used your recipe (with a twist to match my novice skills). I hope you don’t mind 🙂 Thank you!
Thanks, Jenni. Yes, please link to my blog post. Best of luck to your project!
My post has been done thanks! Feel free to visit and see my acknowledgement of your recipe please: https://memoirsofasassygirl.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/how-to-make-ube-cake.html?m=1
Thanks, Jenny! Your Ube cake looks so delicious. Congrats! Thanks for the mention and glad I was able to help.
Hi!
Mabuhay! From the Philippines….Would like to say thank you for sharing your recipes! I did this recipe twice and my family and friends loved it… also, I did not use the glaze, instead I patterned my frosting from your Mango cake which is the first recipe I tried which was so loved! Next time I’ll take pictures so I can share them with you!
Thanks, June. You made my day. So very happy you tried this Ube Pound Cake recipe 2x and it turned out great. Yes, please share photos with me. You can find me on Facebook — Asian In America blog by Betty Ann Besa-Quirino. I’ll re-share your photos there for other kababayans to see. Maraming salamat po and mabuhay!
Can I substitute all purpose flour with cake flour?
Hi Shirley, I’ve always baked this ube pound cake with all-purpose flour so I wouldn’t know the results if one used cake flour.
Just want to ask do I have to cook the frozen mashed ube? I mean like add the coconut before I do mix with the flour or leave it as it as mashed
Hi Theresa, first,there is no coconut used in this recipe so you won’t be adding any to the ube. Now if you’re using frozen mashed ube, you thaw it first and add it to the batter according to the recipe instructions I wrote down. Hope this helps 🙂
Hi I meant unflavored..not as mashed
hi, can i used ube powder instead of mashed ube? what is the measurement?
Hi Annie, since this is an ube pound cake I’ve always used grated boiled ube, which I buy frozen from Asian groceries. I have not yet used ube powder for this pound cake recipe, so I hesitate to recommend it for this type of cake.
Hi. your ube pound cake looks yummy and would like to try and bake it. May I just ask if I use ube halaya can I adjust the both the brown and white sugar?
Hi Keen, I’ve baked this recipe several times and never changed the measurements. So,since baking is chemistry, I wouldn’t know what happens if the amount of sugar is lessened. You are free to experiment, though.
YOUR RECIPE IS BOMB!! I made this for the first time when quarantine just happened and it was a HIT!!! Now my family wants me to make it all holiday gatherings. It comes out like a bundt cake should, nice and moist with the perfect amount of density. Your recipe is amazing I am looking foward to making other sweets or dishes of yours.
Thank you so much, Lorisa. This made my day. Enjoy the purple yam cake with you family and friends 🙂
Happy New Year! What’s the best milk to use for this recipe? Thanks
Hi Alleli, I used regular whole milk for this recipe.
Hi! Can I use a round pan (9in) instead of he bundt pan? Thanks
Hi Alleli, yes you can use a round pan if he batter fits. Keep in mind the cake rises, so give allowance for that when considering the depth of the cake pan. Hope that helps.