Ube Chiffon Cake

I've made a few chiffon cakes in my time but this one takes the cake.  I love ube and all things ube.  Ube (pronounded "oobe") in English is purple yam.

In Philippines, ube is used in sweets, mostly in cakes.  Ube cake is a very popular cake eaten by Filipinos during parties and celebrations.

This week, mum and I decided to take the challenge and make an ube cake complete with the traditional filling and butter frosting.

We used fresh ube that we bought from the local Asian grocery store.  In order to use it in the cake, we first peeled, chopped and steamed for about 1 hour until it was soft and cooked through.

When the ube is cooled we put is through a potato ricer and mashed it until it was smooth.  Then it was ready for use.  If you don't have the time to steam the fresh ube, you can buy frozen grated ube in a packet.  It does, however require some cooking.  You can do this by placing it in a pan and carefully cook over low heat, stiring to ensure not to burn.

Cake:

2 cups self raising flour

1 tbl baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

1 cup boiled and mashed ube

1/2 cup corn syrup

7 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/2 cup oil

1 cup egg whites (about 5-6 eggs)

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup sugar

few drops of purple food colouring

Ube Filling:

1 cup coconut milk

1 kg boiled and mashed ube

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 can condensed milk

Ube frosting:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/2 tsp purple food  colouring

1. Preheat oven to 180deg

2. Prepare 2 x 20cm round pans.

3.  Sift the baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl and set aside.

4. Mix together vanilla, milk and ube until smoother, Add the syrup, egg yolks and oil.  Stir until well blended.           Add this mixture to the sifter ingredients. Mix until smooth.

5.  Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks, then add sugar gradually, beating continually until stiff .  Fold in the ube mixture and food colour.

6. Pour into the prepared pans

7.  Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes.

8.  Invert cakes on wire racks to cool.

9.  Prepare ube filling by combining all the ingredients but not including the coconut milk.  Mix well then pass through a sieve

10.  Boil the coconut milk, then add the ube mixture.  Continue cooking over low heat until thick for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

11.  Prepare the ube frosting by creaming the butter until soft and fluffy.  Add the sugar alternately with milk and beat continuously until smooth.  Blend in the food colouring

12.  Slice both cakes in half and top each layer with the ube filling.  Place each layer on top of each other

13. Frost  the top and sides of the cake with the ube frosting.

But that's not all, I just recently bought myself a Madeleine pan and I was so excited to try it out, so I put some of the cake batter in the tray and baked for 12-15mins.

It turned out great but I will try to make a ube cake batter especially for the madeleine tray.  Watch this space!

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie