Try This Ube Cake At Home; A Traditional Filipino Dessert

Ube cake is a classic Filipino dish made with ube, also known as purple yam. This lovely naturally violet-hued sweet potato is popular in Filipino cooking and is available in a variety of forms, including dry powder, frozen pulp, and extract. The cake is usually chiffon or sponge and is prepared into cupcakes, stacked cakes, or Swiss roll shapes before being filled or smothered with a generous amount of buttercream.

Because ube matches so well with coconut, this cake is more traditional in form, made with butter, coconut milk, and ube extract. The cake is then layered with Italian buttercream and macapuno strings, which are delightful jelly-like coconut strips found in young coconut seeds that provide a fantastic mouthfeel to the fragile cake and silky buttercream.

For The Cake

• Cooking spray

• 12 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

• 650g granulated sugar

• 505g cake flour, sifted

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• 1 tsp fine salt

• 5 large eggs

• 1 tbsp ube extract

• 1 1/4 cups full-fat coconut milk

For The Italian Buttercream

• 1 pound unsalted butter (small cubes)

• 300g plus 65g granulated sugar, divided

• 1/2 cup water

• 7 large egg whites

• 1/4 tsp fine salt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For The Assembly

• 1 cup coconut with macapuno threads, plus additional for garnish, if desired

Method-

For The Cake

1. Assemble the ingredients
2. Place a rack in each upper- and lower-third position and preheat the oven to 350°F. By drawing the outline of a cake pan onto a sheet of parchment paper, three 8-inch circles were created. Three 8-inch cake pans should be sprayed with cooking spray and should each have a circle of parchment in the bottom.
3. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed for two minutes, or until they are light and fluffy.
4. The sifted cake flour, baking soda, and salt should all be combined in a sizable bowl. Set apart.
5. After the butter and sugar have thoroughly creamed, stop the mixer and scrape the bowl's sides. Reset the speed to medium, then add each egg one at a time. Scrape the bowl's sides after turning off the mixer. Ube extract is then added, and the mixture is again paddled until flawless.
6. Add roughly one-third of the dry ingredients after stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides. Low-speed blending till nearly complete.
7. About half of the coconut milk should be drizzled in while the mixer is running on low. Until everything is combined, alternate the wet and dry ingredients, finishing with the dry ones. To make sure everything is thoroughly combined, scrape down the bowl's sides and paddle for an additional 10 seconds.
8. The three cake pans should receive an equal amount of batter; level the tops. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, turning the baking pans halfway through, or until the cake comes away from the sides and springs back to the touch (begin checking the cakes for doneness at about 25 minutes).
9. Allow the cakes to cool completely at room temperature for about one hour. To loosen the sides of each cake, use a paring knife around the outside. Flip the cake upside down onto a long piece of plastic wrap that you have spread out on your work table. Peel the parchment paper off and throw it away. The cake layer should be wrapped and placed in the freezer. In the same manner, freeze the remaining 2 layers for at least one hour.

For The Italian Buttercream

1. Assemble the ingredients.
2. The butter should be brought to room temperature. 1 1/2 cups of the granulated sugar should be placed in a small saucepan in the interim. Stir in the water after adding it. If there are any sugar crystals on the saucepan's sides, remove them with your fingers or a pastry brush.
3. Unattended, heat the sugar syrup over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, or until it reaches 238 F. (do not stir the syrup while it is cooking since this can cause the sugar to crystallize). Get rid of the heat.
4. Put the salt and egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer that has a whisk attachment while waiting. The whites should be whisked at a medium speed until foamy.
5. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar slowly and steadily while the mixer is running. Upping the speed to high, continue whisking until medium-stiff peaks are achieved in the mixture.
6. Low-speed down the mixer's speed. Until the sugar syrup is completely integrated into the meringue, softly stream the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl while the mixer is running.
7. The pace should be increased to medium-high, and whisking should continue for about 10 minutes, or until the meringue has doubled in size and the bottom of the basin is no longer heated.
8. Use the paddle attachment now. Set the mixer to medium speed and gradually add the cubed butter, a few cubes at a time, until the butter is completely mixed, creamy, and fluffy. As you add the butter, the mixture may appear to have the consistency of cottage cheese or thin out briefly. However, if you continue to beat the mixture, it will start to thicken and form smooth, firm peaks.
9. Add the vanilla and stir everything together until it forms a gorgeous, silky-smooth buttercream.

Assemble The Cake

1. If using, drain the macapuno strings through a mesh sieve.
2. Cakes should be taken out of the freezer. On top of your cake turntable, place one cake on a serving platter or cake board. Slice off any dome the cake may have with a serrated knife to create a level layer. Save the leftovers to make cake pops or use them as a snack. Slice the tops from the final 2 cakes.
3. Half of the macapuno strings should be arranged over the buttercream, which has been spread and smoothed with an offset spatula on top of the bottom layer.
4. Add a second layer of cake, additional buttercream, and the last of the macaroni strings on top.
5. Place the last layer of cake on top and push it down to seal.
6. Place a thick layer of buttercream on top, and while the turntable is spinning, use a large offset spatula to smooth the top. Any buttercream that overflows the top border should be pushed onto the sides.
7. More buttercream should be spread over the sides of the cake, and while rotating the table, create a crumb coat by smoothing it out into a very thin layer while holding your offset spatula vertically. To set up, place the cake in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes.
8. Add one more buttercream layer to the cake to complete it. If desired, add more macapuno strings as a garnish. Serve.

Storage Instructions

Ube cake can be kept at cool room temperature in an airtight container or case for up to three days; in the refrigerator for up to one week wrapped in plastic; or for up to six months in the freezer.