This is the easiest and most delicious ube cake you can make at home. Moist and tender crumb, infused with ube halaya and frosted with the dreamiest ube frosting.
Easy Ube Cake Recipe
The cake batter itself is easy to make–simpler than making a chiffon cake. It yields a moist, tender cake texture with the delicious taste of ube halaya. Best of all? Decorating is a breeze with no need for fancy embellishments. A perfect recipe for aspiring bakers and beginners!
Ingredients
And here are the ube cake ingredients:
- All-purpose flour and Cornstarch is the secret to a cake with a light and delicate texture. Essentially, we are using homemade cake flour.
- Vegetable Oil keeps the cake moist. Use neutral-flavored oil like canola, vegetable oil, or grapeseed oil. Yes, you don’t need butter to make this ube cake 🙂
- Ube Halaya – For the best flavor, I recommend using homemade ube halaya or buying directly from Filipino restaurants that make ube halaya from scratch. Trust me, it’s a game-changer!
- Ube Extract – to make the cake purple and improve the ube flavor.
- White Sugar or caster sugar so it will easily blend with the rest of the batter ingredients.
- Whole Milk – use fullfat milk for best results.
- Whole eggs – no need to separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
- White vinegar – this will help the cake rise properly and prevent it from being dense.
How to Make The Best Ube Cake
Here’s how to make the cake batter:
A few tips:
- Use room temperature ingredients. This includes milk, eggs, and ube jam.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix all the wet ingredients, including the ube halaya (purple yam), ube extract, and sugar. Adjust the amount of ube extract according to your desired intensity of purple color. This step ensures even distribution of flavor and color throughout the batter.
- Sift the dry ingredients. You can do this directly into the wet batter using a colander.
- Whisk until just combined. Do not overmix as it will make the cake dense and tough. For convenience, you can also use a stand mixer if available.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (180°C) until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
What Pan Size to Use
To make this cake “easy” and “beginner-friendly”, I used a rectangular glass casserole dish. It’s presentable straight out of the oven.
No need to cut slice or shape the cake. Once the cake has cooled, you can decorate it straight from the baking dish with minimal effort.
Here are the recommended sizes:
- 4.2 to 5 quarts casserole dish – for a single-layer, ready-to-serve sheet cake.
- 9 x 13 inch / 23 x 33cm baking pan
- Two 8-inch round or square pans – for 2 cake layers.
How to Frost and Decorate
This ube cake can be frosted with any of the following:
1. Ube Buttercream Frosting
This is an ermine buttercream frosting flavored with ube. It’s silky-smooth, creamy, fluffy, and much less sweet than your regular frosting. It’s firm enough to hold its shape and pipes beautifully on ube cupcakes and ube cake.
2. Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Frosting (what I used)
This frosting is also known as stabilized whipped cream in the baking world. Made of cream cheese and whipping cream sweetened with powdered sugar. This light, fluffy, and cloud-like frosting is perfect for cupcakes, pies, and layered cakes.
How to use: Divide your frosting into two bowls. In one, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of ube extract for a vibrant purple color. Keep the other bowl plain for classic white piping and decorations. Now you have two frosting options to create stunning contrasts and eye-catching decorations!
3. Cream Cheese Frosting
Made of cream cheese and pure butter. It’s creamy, smooth, and not too sweet.
How to use: Double the recipe i.e. use 8 oz full-fat cream cheese and 1/2 butter. Divide into two bowls, reserving more for the ube flavor. Then use the remaining frosting for decorating.
Make-ahead Tips
For the ube cake, you can prepare it in advance by allowing it to cool completely. Once cooled, wrap it tightly with freezer-safe plastic wrap and store it in a container. It can be frozen for up to 2 months or refrigerated for up to 1 week.
As for the frosting, it can also be made ahead of time. Simply refrigerate it for up to 4 to 5 days, storing it in an airtight container until ready to use. This way, you can conveniently prepare components of your cake in advance and assemble it when needed, ensuring a fresh and delicious treat whenever you desire.
Storage and Shelf-life
Store your frosted cake in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 1 week. But here’s a secret: the flavors really come alive after a day or two, so don’t be surprised if it tastes even better on the 2nd or 3rd day! Enjoy the peak of deliciousness at your own pace.
Ube Cake Recipe (easy & delicious!)
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 cup ube halaya (homemade or store-bought, note 1)
- 1 cup vegetable oil (or coconut oil)
- ½ cup full-fat milk
- 3-4 teaspoon ube extract (adjust as needed)
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- drops of violet or purple food color (optional, note 2)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch (note 3)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Frosting Options (choose 1)
- Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Frosting (note 4 & 6)
- Ube Buttercream Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting (note 5 & 6)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 9×13 baking pan or a glass oven dish of similar size.
- Combine all wet ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk until well combined. Adjust ube extract or food color based on preference.1 1/4 cup white sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup ube halaya, 1/2 cup full-fat milk, 3-4 teaspoon ube extract, 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- Sift dry ingredients into the wet mixture using a fine-mesh strainer. Whisk until well combined. Do not overmix.2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Pour batter into the baking pan. Bake for 38 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check doneness at 38 minutes (see note 7).
- Cool the cake completely before frosting. Meanwhile, make the frosting.
Frosting
- Spread the frosting on top as evenly as you can using a spatula.
- Optional: Decorate with macapuno, ube wafers (stik-o), and even white chocolate shavings. Another option is to use a portion of the frosting and decorate with a piping bag with a pastry tip.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Ube Halaya – For the best flavor, I recommend using homemade ube halaya or buying directly from Filipino restaurants that make ube halaya from scratch.
- Food Color – add only if the color from the ube extract is not sufficient to achieve the desired ube color.
- Cornstarch – is also known as cornflour in the United Kingdom. Please do not confuse it with cornflour in the U.S. which is made with maize kernels.
- Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Frosting – Use option 2 which uses a whole block (8oz) of cream cheese.
- Butter & Cream Cheese Frosting – Double the recipe i.e. use 8 oz full-fat cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter.
- Decorating tip – Divide frosting into two bowls, setting aside more for the ube-flavored frosting. In the larger portion, mix in 1 to 2 teaspoons of ube extract. Then, use the plain white frosting for decorating with a pipping bag with a pastry tip.
- Baking Time for 2-layer cake using two 8-inch round or square pans is 25 to 30 minutes. Check doneness at 25 minutes.
- Nutrition: per serving of the cake, frosting is not included in the calculation.
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