Ube Chiffon Cake
My mother requested I make a chiffon cake for her a few weeks ago. Since my brother had driven down for the weekend, I was able to make and it and have him bring it back to her.
I decided to play around with a new one and work with ube again, which I haven’t done in a while. Ube is a purple yam used a lot in Filipino desserts. I love the light pinkish purple color of the cake from the ube.
Appearance-wise, this cake was the best chiffon I’ve made to date. It came out in one piece from the pan without any parts getting stuck. It rose evenly all around.
Taste-wise, it was slightly dry. I think it was a combination of too much ube paste and not enough liquid in the batter, and also I think I overbaked it by a few minutes. My previous avocado chiffon cake, I had underbaked it slightly, so this time I tried to overcompensate.
Next time I’ll add a little less ube, or add a few tablespoons of milk. I’ll also take it out of the oven a little sooner.
I still love how it looks though and I like that this recipe has a thinner chiffon cake skin. The older recipes I used developed a thicker brown layer which I didn’t like as much since it isn’t as light and airy as the rest of the cake.
If you like chiffon cake you might like my Vanilla Chiffon Cake, too.
Ube Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
- 70 g mashed ube, (see note)
- 3 egg yolks
- 50 g white sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 45 ml canola oil
- 4 tbs water
- 85 g cake flour
- 4 egg whites
- 50 g white sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites, 50 g white sugar and cream of tartar until stiff and glossy peaks formed. You should be able to hold your bowl upside down without the egg whites falling out.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, the rest of the white sugar, salt, water and oil until combined.
- Add the ube mash and beat until blended and smooth. Gradually sift in the flour and beat in mixer until smooth.
- Take about half of the egg white mixture and fold it into the batter (stir in the same clockwise motion with a spatula) until no egg white streaks remain. Then add in the remaining egg whites and fold until no streaks remain.
- Pour the batter into the ungreased 7-inch angel food cake pan.
- Put cake in oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the cake’s surface is golden brown. When you touch the cake it should spring back.
- Remove cake from the oven and revert the cake pan upside down on top of a plate to finish cooling and rising. The cake should still remain in the pan.
- When the cake is completely cooled, gently run a plastic knife around the rim of the cake and then remove cake from pan.
Notes
- You can use frozen grated ube and turn it into a paste in food processor or use powdered ube and mix it with water to make it an ube paste.
Thank you for the Recipe, i had been looking for this ube chiffon cake for so long, I just baked one and is yes successful!! I used homemade ube paste with coconut oil and coconut milk, and follow all ur measurements. Turned out great!!
We’re so glad you loved this recipe!!
I made this recipe tonight with ube yams I grew in my garden. The cake fell as soon as I took it out of the oven but it is still quite tasty and moist. I did not add any ube paste or gel color, so my cake turned out blue instead of purple.
No baking powder for this recipe? Is 1/2 tsp cream of tartar enough to make the cake rise?
chiffon cakes don’t usually use baking powder. instead it relies on the whipped egg whites to get the cake to rise. the cream of tartar is actually to help the egg whites
Hello! if im gonna use powdered ube, how much should i use?
You’ll want it to measure out to be the same amount as what’s stated in the recipe. Basically use the powdered one and form a paste, and then measure out the paste to be 70g (so not 70g of powder, cuz that would be too much)
hi, I tried it today, i strictly followed the procedure but my cake turned out to be hard not chiffon type
I’ve never had the cake turn out hard. I’m sorry, I don’t know where it went wrong without having watched you make the cake.
Love taro!! Beautiful chiffon cake with amazing color. Would love to try one day when I found the taro powder or fresh taro. 🙂
I found the ube powder at my local Ranch 99 in their baking section
Hi, just wondering if you made changes to your published recipe from what you started out with?–because you mentioned how your cake was a little dry and that you’d add more milk, take it out of the oven sooner, etc..
Yes, the recipe includes the modifications.
I have baked one again this evening since the one I baked the other day was already devoured by my family and myself and still wanting more 🙂 Now I do not have to buy the Ube Cake from the Filipino bakery since I can now do it on my own! One more thing I loved about your recipe is it is simple and easy to follow. I am so grateful that you have shared this recipe which gave me the texture that I wanted in an ube cake. More power to you!
Thanks for this positive comment! I’m so glad to hear your results and happy you found a recipe that works for you and one that your family can enjoy often without having to buy it.
I have tried your Ube Chiffon Cake recipe and was really praying that it would turn out all right but it turned out very good! I actually just baked it for 23 minutes only even when the surface was not brown yet but light purple. I also added violet gel color and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla flavour and iced it with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, superb! My kids adored it!
The first time I tried another version of the Ube Cake Recipe, I was frustrated since it turned out to be hard and nobody wanted to eat it 🙁 (can’t blame them though 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe and will bake one again this weekend!
I’m so glad to hear this turned out well for you!
i do like the taste of ube. my mom used to make this ube dessert but it takes a long time to make it, becuase you have to stir it continuously for nearly an hour! who has time for that! it involves ube, sugar, and either evap milk or condensed (i forget which one). it’s like a thick paste, when done. haven’t had it in years and am too lazy to make my own!
Oh that sounds good, but definitely time consuming. I don’t have that kind of patience to be stirring for that long! It’s one of the reasons I haven’t made any custards yet.
ube is one of my favorite flavors! the color is so pretty for this cake.
I love the color too. And I like eating ube stuff but I think it’s mainly because I like the color. haha
hi, i was wondering – we have plain flour or self raising flour in australia, what is the Equivalent to your ‘cake flour’
Cake flour isn’t either one. It’s closer to plain flour, but it’s a little lighter and finer. You can try using plain flour for the cake.
Oh I know why I keep confusing the two.. in Chinese, taro is yu tou (??) and ube is xiang yu (??), and I just thought the “yu” means they’re the same.. oops!
Oh thanks for the lesson! I actually didn’t know the chinese word for ube since I never knew what ube was until I started eating Filipino food.
I love the color, too. Such a pretty shade of purple! (And really matches your blog banner hehe). Is ube the same thing as taro? I always thought they were the same thing.
No they are not the same thing. Though a lot of times you’ll see a label that says ube (taro) or something which I think is why people think it’s the same. But they taste and look totally different. Ube is a deep purple shade and has a rougher texture.