Ube/Purple Yam Chiffon Cake

By SweetnSpicyLiving on August 2, 2016 • ( 2 Comments )

Ube Cake or Purple Yam Cake is one of Filipino famous dessert. We have variety of dessert in the Philippines that uses purple yam, like Ice Cream, Tarts, Swiss Roll, Cookies , Cakes and Jams. The vibrant purple color of desserts made from purple yam makes it attractive and intriguing to those who have not seen or tried it.

This is one cake that I missed from time to time, although there are Filipino Bakery that sells this cake here in Canada. I had always been fascinated with this cake and I had always been wanting to try to make it. The cake itself taste good and the vibrant color is so appealing to me, although I am not a fan of using food coloring in my bake products. This is one challenged I had while I was creating this recipe. All of the recipes I saw online uses food coloring which is something I wanted to avoid.

I had a plan in my mind on how to do it, luckily enough I did not have to execute. It turned out that the Purple Yam here in Canada (or at least the one type that I bought) has a very intense and dark purple color. Very much different from what we have in the Philippines which is light purple. When I saw the color while I was pealing the skin of the yam, I knew immediately that there is no need for me to use food color. True enough, the cake came out in perfect purple color without the use of any food coloring.

This cake is so soft and moist, it is a chiffon cake after all. Although, this is more moist than the usual chiffon cake because of the addition of grated purple yam. I used White Chocolate Buttercream Whipped Frosting but I added more whipped cream to make it softer and lighter and less sweet. I decorated the top with additional plain whipped cream too.

I have to say, I love how this cake turned out! It’s so good! I cannot be even more happier and pleased. You have to try to make this all natural Ube Cake, you will not regret it 🙂 Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

3 large Eggs (separate egg yolk and egg white) – room temperature
2/3 cup Cake flour (sifted: sift first before measuring)
1/3 cup packed grated Purple Yam (Put the grated purple yam in 1/3 cup pressing it every time you add more. This way, it will be compact. When you remove it, it should hold the shape of the measuring cup)
1/2 cup granulated Sugar (allocate 1/3 for the egg yolk mixture, and the remaining for the egg white mixture)
4 tablespoon Vegetable Oil or any Flavorless Oil
4 tablespoon Full Fat Milk
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar (or 1/2 teaspoon flavorless white vinegar or fresh lemon juice)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Prepare the Purple Yam: Wash and scrub the purple yam. Pour water in pan and transfer the cleaned purplem yam. With the skin still on, boil the purple yam for about 10-15 minutes of until soft. Depending on the size of the purple yam you are using , you might need to cook it longer or shorter. You know that it is already cook when you can easily insert a toothpick in the center all the way to the bottom. Set aside and cool until manageable to handle to remove the skin. Having the skin on while boiling will help retain the vibrant purple color of the yam. Remove skin of the purple yam.
Mash the Purple Yam: There are several ways that you can do this. I persoanlly like using a potato ricer to do this. The potato ricer produces a soft and fluffy purple yam. If you do not have a potato ricer, you can use a fine cheese grater to do this.
Make the Cake Batter: Using electric mixer or wire whisk, mix egg yolks, half of the sugar, milk and vegetable oil Add the grated purple yam and continue mixing until fully combined.
Add the Dry Ingredients: Sift the cake flour and baking powder onto the mixture. Carefully fold the flour until fully incorporated and no more lumps.
Whisk the Egg Whites: In a separate clean bowl, add the cream of tartar and egg whites and whisk until frothy/bubbly, around 30 seconds. Gradually add the remaining sugar (in 3 additions to allow the sugar to dissolve). Continue whisking in medium speed until stiff peaks (more or less 8 – 10 minutes). You will know if it is already stiff peaks when you turn the bowl up side down, the egg whites will not fall and the texture should be stiff and glossy. Gradually fold the egg whites (in 3 addition) to the flour and egg mixture.
Pour into a 6″ round pan. Tap 3-4 times on the counter top to release the bubbles.
Bake for 43 minutes or until tothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. The sides will slowly turn brown, and it will start to lift away from the side of the pan.
Cool: Take out from the oven and let cool completely before decorating.
Decorate as desired. My personal frosting preference is just a simple whipped cream frosting to keep it light and not too sweet. I would suggest stick to something nuetral, buttercream frosting or whipped coconut frosting works great too. You can add small amount of purple yam coloring to give it a light share of purple or you can skip the coloring all together. This cake is tall enough to divide into 3 layers. You will need about 3 cups of whipped cream to coat the inside and outside of the cake.

Serves 4

Frosting Options:

Recipe Notes:

To retain the vibrant purple color, boil or bake the purple yam without removing the skin.
The purple yam I used has a very intense and dark color, this allow me to avoid using food coloring. If your purple yam is pale purple, you might need to use food coloring. Add the food coloring in both the egg yolk mixture and egg whites mixture

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