Oh ube - the quintessential purple yam from the Philippines that imparts a striking purple color and unforgettable flavor on all dishes it touches. If you've tried it, you're probably here to find out what types of recipes are available for you. These modern and traditional Filipino ube recipes will tempt you into making your own ube-flavored food at home!
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Why You'll Love This List
This post is unlike other ube recipe lists because it showcases more traditional Filipino food containing this popular purple yam. This means you can get to know ube better through discovering more food from its home, the Philippines. Don't worry - I also included some current takes of ube-flavored recipes!
You'll see popular ube cake recipes, ube cookie recipes, and even ube butter mochi. But moreso, this list goes over some traditional recipes with ube such as Filipino pandesal, puto, and kalamay.
How to Read this Ube Recipes List
- Links: Check out the caption under each image to go directly to the recipe page and food blog. Alternatively, each recipe name goes to the same link.
- Special Ingredients: In addition to fresh ube, the purple tuber also comes in many forms such as powder, jam, and extract. To save you time, I show you what type of ube ingredients you'll need for each specific recipe.
Traditional Filipino Ube Dessert Recipes
Ube Halaya
Let's start with this ube jam recipe because it's a common ingredient for other ube desserts and you might need it for the following recipes! This jam is a classical Filipino spread with coconut and condensed milk. To eat it on its own, you can spread it on toast.
Special Ingredients: fresh or frozen grated ube, ube extract
Ube Kalamay
Ube kalamay is the original ube mochi before there was ube mochi! If you like chewy goodness and something that's not too sweet, this is a great recipe to try. It comes with latik, a crispy and nutty coconut topping made of coconut milk curds.
Special Ingredients: fresh ube, ube extract
Ube Pastillas
These are sweet, soft candies made by combining condensed milk and ube. They taste milky with lots of ube flavor and they melt in your mouth!
Special Ingredients: fresh ube
Ube Polvoron
Polvoron is a soft and crumbly snack with a sweet and nutty taste. Many stores in the Philippines carry polvoron in a variety of flavors including ube, which is a crowd favorite.
Special Ingredients: ube powder
Ube Puto
This steamed rice cake with purple yam is a gluten-free snack that is also perfect for portion control! It is soft, fluffy, and sweet and you'll find it often topped with grated coconut or cheese.
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Ube Biko
Biko is a sticky dessert made with glutinous rice, coconut milk, and brown sugar. Adding ube to this Filipino dessert adds a more aromatic and unique flavor!
Special Ingredients: ube extract, ube halaya (jam)
Ube Pandesal
Pandesal is an essential breakfast food you will find in every Filipino pantry and it's even better with ube! This ube pandesal recipe gives you an array of classical filled options, from savory with cheese to sweet with ube jam.
Special Ingredients: ube extract, ube halaya (jam)
Ginataan Halo-Halo (Binignit)
Halo-halo (mix-mix) is a well-known Filipino dessert with crushed ice and several ingredients including milk, jellies, and fruit. The final topping is usually ube ice cream. But did you know there is a warm version?
Ginataang halo-halo is a warm dessert soup made with coconut milk, jackfruit, tapioca pearls, and a variety of tubers including ube.
Special Ingredients: fresh ube
Ube Buchi
Buchi is the Tagalog (Filipino) word for deep-fried glutinous rice balls coated with white sesame seeds. It's a popular snack across Asia that goes by many names. In China, they call it jian dui and fill it with lotus or red bean paste. In the Philippines, they fill it with ube halaya.
Special Ingredients: ube halaya (jam)
Ube Flan Cake
This layered dessert is a Filipino dish that combines two traditional Filipino desserts - cake and flan. In this recipe, the flan sits on top of a fluffy ube-flavored cake. It's a decadent treat that everyone enjoys on special occasions.
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Ube Hopia
Hopia is a dense, sweet snack made of buttery pastry layers and each one comes with its special filling. The ube halaya in hopia is a thicker version of itself.
Special Ingredients: ube halaya (jam)
Ube Cake
Filipinos take ube to another level with this version of ube cake. If you know someone obsessed with ube, this cake will surely impress. Every element of the cake has ube-flavors in vibrant varying colors of purple.
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Ube Cake Roll
Thanks to the European colonization in the Philippines, the locals were able to take foreign recipes and make them their own. Pianonos or cake rolls have long been synonymous with Filipino dessert culture. Over the generations, the ube-flavored cake roll became a favorite for special occasions.
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Ube Champorado
Filipino champorodo comes from Spanish colonization that was also adapted by the Filipino over centuries. It's a sweet rice porridge with a chewy texture served as a warm dessert or snack. The local version uses a bitter dark chocolate that you sweeten with lots of milk, but the ube one is milder and lighter.
Special Ingredients: fresh or frozen grated ube, ube extract
Ube Ice Cream
The name says it all! Filipinos usually purchase ube ice cream, but you can also make this at home. This ube ice cream recipe is great because it takes away the hassle of hand-churning your ice cream, but it's also unique with ube-flavoring.
Special Ingredients: ube powder, ube extract
Ube Ice Candy
One of my favorite childhood memories was to go to a sari-sari store and but a piece of ice candy on a hot day. These ice candies are always homemade by the store owner and come in different flavors. This recipe makes a base that you can flavor yourself including ube.
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Creative Takes on Ube Sweets
Ube Crinkle Cookies
These soft, chewy cookies with powdered sugar are a sight to behold! These crinkle cookies are popular because of their gorgeous color. But this recipe really takes it up a notch by adding halaya so that you get double the dose of ube flavor.
Special Ingredients: ube halaya (jam), ube extract
Ube Cupcakes
This cupcake recipe makes a moist and soft ube-flavored dessert. Every part has ube in it, from the cake to the buttercream frosting to the crumbled topping!
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Ube Cheesecake
This gorgeous ube cheesecake is tangy, nutty, and filled with coconut flavor. It's also made with an Oreo cookie crust and topped with coconut cream that perfectly contrasts each other. The texture is luscious and rich.
Special Ingredients: ube extract, ube halaya (jam)
Ube Pancakes
Trader Joe's has popularized ube with its pancake mix but you can also make ube pancakes from scratch! This gluten-free ube pancake recipe uses sweet rice flour to make a delicious and astoundingly purple breakfast.
Special Ingredients: ube extract, ube halaya (jam)
Ube Butter Mochi
Butter mochi, like all Hawaii local food, is an amalgamation of Asian ingredients coming together to make its own unique dish. In addition to ube, butter mochi also has coconut and a special sweet rice flour to make a sticky, chewy, and sweet snack.
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Ube Waffles
This ube waffle recipe make a crispy waffle on the outside that is chewy and soft on the inside.
Special Ingredients: ube extract or ube halaya (jam)
Ube Cinnamon Rolls
These cinnamon rolls are flavored with ube, but it doesn't stop there! The easy-to-make purple glaze also uses ube extract to create a unique flavor that is nutty, earthy, and sweet.
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Ube Lava Cake
You don't need a lot of ingredients to make this ube lava cake. If you do it make, get ready to impress people with its soft and gooey purple inside!
Special Ingredients: ube extract, ube halaya (jam)
Ube Brownies
This ube brownie recipe is awesome because it doesn't steer too far away from more traditional fudgy brownies recipes. It uses white chocolate and ube extract to achieve a nutty flavor that's balanced with its classic brownie texture.
Special Ingredients: ube extract, ube halaya (jam)
Ube Pot de Creme
I know it sounds like I'm boasting, but I truly believe this ube pot de creme is one of the most underrated ube desserts out there. It's got a rich consistency, and the combined flavors of white chocolate and ube is a taste you'll remember forever!
Special Ingredients: ube extract
Did I Miss Something?
Let me know if the comments if you feel I missed something or you'd like to add your favorite recipe to the list!
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