Monday, May 4, 2015

Ube cupcakes

What a long day it was yesterday!  We invited friends over for the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.  Naturally, I had to wake up early to start cooking and preparing.  I used up all my grated ube on hand to make puto and totally forgot that a friend had asked me to make ube cupcakes for today (Monday).  So after all our guests had left (which was already late afternoon), I had to make a quick trip to the Asian shop to buy grated ube.

To be honest, I have not made ube cupcakes before.  I told my friend that if she really wanted ube cupcakes, I would have to experiment.  But really, I had no time to experiment at all! It was a risk. I had to make good in one go as I could not afford and had no more extra time for mistakes!

After dinner last night, even if I was already so tired and sleepy, I went ahead and made the cupcakes.  I have been asked many times if the vanilla cupcake recipe I posted here before can be altered to make them ube.  This is my first time to try.  Well, let's see how it went...


How does it look to you?




The cupcake was moist with a tight crumb.  Even if I added a bit more baking powder, I really did not expect it to be the super soft and fluffy type because of the added ube.  Even my ube chiffon cake is a bit more dense (though still soft) than plain chiffon cake.  The cupcake did taste very much like ube though which I guess is the most important thing.  One other thing I especially liked is that the cupcakes were purple all the way through, from the tops, to the sides, to the insides, to the bottoms. No browning whatsoever that is very typical with other ube cupcakes I've seen on the web.


I paired the cupcakes with the usual whipped cream frosting, the same I use for my ube cake.  This is the only kind of frosting I like with ube.  Buttercream with ube doesn't quite work for me personally.

I'm not going to claim that this is the best ube cupcake you can make.  I know it can still be improved somehow.  For now, however, it's worth a try if you are up for some experimenting.  Let me know if you do.

UBE (PURPLE YAM) CUPCAKES (makes about 20)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
3 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon ube flavouring
1/4 tsp violet powdered food colour or gel paste
100 grams grated ube
1 cup buttermilk

Procedure:
1.  Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.  Line muffin trays with baking cups.
2.  In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk to combine.  Set aside.
3.  Using an electric mixer,  starting from a low speed gradually increasing to high, cream butter and sugar together until very light in colour and fluffy.  
4.  With mixer turned down to medium-low speed, beat in eggs one at a time.  Add in ube flavouring, violet food colour then the grated ube .
5.  In three additions, alternately add in flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour mixture.  Scrape bowl as needed to ensure that everything is incorporated well.  After the last addition, beat at high speed for the last time for about 45-60 seconds.
6.  Fill each baking cup with the cupcake batter about 3/4 full.
7.  Bake for about 22-25 minutes.  Transfer each cupcake immediately to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make 3/4 recipe of the Whipped Cream frosting here.  Use to frost each cupcake.  If desired, crumble one cupcake and use the crumbs for garnishing.


PS. Hope all of you readers are doing well!  It's been a long time.

For other things UBE: chiffon cake, puto, cake roll.

43 comments:

  1. yey! at last ube cupcakes!! thanks so much corrinne!!! it would've been a great day yesterday if the pacman won ey? anyway, he's still our champ =)

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  2. They look wonderful, thank you Corinne. God bless you.

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  3. corinne, did you use raw or pre-cooked ube here?

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    Replies
    1. I steamed the frozen grated ube (sold in packs) before using.

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    2. most ubes sold here are really big root tubers. should i boil them first and then grate and steam them later? i ask this because we make halaya by cooking ube twice: once by boiling the whole root and then another time after grinding/grating the boiled root.

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    3. What I would do if I had fresh ube is just simply peel it then boil till tender, after which I will grate or mash. This now is cake ready. For halaya, yes, it is twice cooked because the second time is when you mix in the milk and sugar.

      The only reason I steam the already grated ube is because I am unsure if the packed frozen one is already cooked.

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    4. Ate how much is 100 grams of grated ube in cups po?

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  4. Just my 2 cents about using fresh ube from experience...

    It's better to steam the fresh ube than to boil. First, steaming keeps the vibrant color. When it is boiled, a lot of the color leeches into the water; the water turns a deep purple hue but the ube turns more a lilac color. Second, ube tends to absorb a lot of water when it is boiled. Think about making ube halaya, a lot of liquid--mostly in the form of dairy--is added and you end up with a thick consistency at the end. Some of it is caused by evaporation, but the starches in the ube absorb much of the liquid. In baking, if the ube absorbs a lot of water from the boiling process the your measurement will be off. Some of the mass that's supposed to be ube will be water.

    Also, better to keep the skin on while steaming and peel after. They're easier to pickup after they've cooked. Just make sure to wash them well at the beginning.

    Glad to see you're doing well! Will have to try this recipe when I get a chance.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for all the suggestions. I have no access to fresh ube here so have been using the packed frozen grated ube ever since. Would you happen to know if this is actually cooked?

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  5. I'm not sure if the frozen grated ube sold in stores is already pre-cooked. I assume not because tubers' texture turns gummy when frozen and defrosted. Regardless, I still heat frozen ube when I have to use it. Heating it up gets rid of the funky flavors it picked up in the freezer. I'm too lazy to drag out a steamer, so I just measure the desired amount and microwave the frozen ube with a damp cloth or paper towel until it's hot--maybe 2 minutes for 100 grams. If it looks a little dry after microwaving, you can add up to 2 tablespoons of water to moisten. It all depends on the brand of frozen ube--some need none, some need more. Also, I find dissolving the ube in the liquid part a recipe, whether fresh or frozen, helps to more easily in a batter/dough. For instance, when I make your ube chiffon, I add the ube to the oil and water/milk and dissolve it before adding to the batter. It helps insure that the ube doesn't go lumpy. I guess it matters less the ube cupcake recipe since it involves the use of an electric mixer.

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  6. Hi Corinne. Where have you been hiding! I miss seeing your baked creations. The Ube Cupcakes look perfect to me. Wish I could have one right now.
    Happy Mother's Day! ~ Mela~

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  7. hello Corinne!
    just want to know if i can use powdered purple yam? if yes, how many grams?
    thanks for all your wonderful recipes!

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    Replies
    1. I have never used powdered ube. What you might have to do is reconstitute the powder in water (as per package instructions) then measure out the 100 grams needed for the recipe.

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  8. will definitely try this one soon.thank you for the recipe corinne! you are heaven sent! more power to you

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  9. Corrine should i make the whole recipe for the frosting? Magagamit po ba lahat?thnx!

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    Replies
    1. As stated above, 3/4 recipe of the frosting is enough to frost the cupcakes.

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    2. One more last question corrine ..can i use only ube flavoring and omit the grated ube? Thnx

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    3. If you are hapoy with an artificially flavoured cupcake, sure, omit the ube and double the amount of flavouring.

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  10. Hi, Corinne! I just made a batch of this last weekend. Unfortunately for me, some browning came out on the surface. I think it could be because I didn't use real buttermilk; instead I used soured milk (low-fat milk pa).

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  11. Corinne, I turned this recipe into carrot cupcake. I used half white sugar and half muscovado. It came out fine, but I think all-muscovado or all-brown sugar would have made it better.

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  12. Hi Corinne, can I use self raising flour instead of cake flour? Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. No. Self raising flour is plain flour with baking powder already.

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  13. Hi Corrinne,

    I made these cupcakes today and they were great! I didn't have two ingredients readily available (butter milk and cake flour), so I substituted. Although the cupcakes did not rise (could have been my baking powder) cupcakes came out really good, fluffy and very airy!! Your recipe is a keeper! Thank you!

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  14. Hi Corrinne,

    Your Ube cupcakes are very pretty. I am going to follow your Ube cake recipe for my Tatay's Birthday.

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  15. Hi Corrinne,

    Do you know if I can use Vanilla cake mix to Doctor it into ube cupcakes?

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    Replies
    1. I suppose it can be done but cannot give you advice on something I have not done, sorry.

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  16. Hi,

    I would like to ask if I wanted to bake the ube mocha chiffon and half the recipe, can I just use 4 eggs? To half the recipe seems similar to the vanilla chiffon.

    Thanks.
    Pam

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  17. If I half the recipe do I still have to use the same amount of food coloring to keep it a vibrant purple?

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  18. Hi Corinne..I will be attempting to make these today and I was wondering..Do you think gluten-free flour would work in this recipe?

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    Replies
    1. I don't have experience baking with gluten-free flour. Don't know if it will work, sorry!

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  19. Have you tried making this with ube powder?

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  20. Hi!
    I only have ube jam at home so how could i use it instead of ube flavoring?

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, I cannot recommend using ube jam as I have not tried it for these cupcakes. Ube jam already has milk and sugar and I assume has some added colouring and flavour as well.

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  21. Can I make this into a cake?

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    Replies
    1. I have not tried that but I don't see why not.

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  22. Hi Corinne!

    I just want to ask, do you know how long I can store the purple yam in the fridge once it is steamed? I thaw and steam the whole pack (16 oz.) Of the frozen purple yam, and I only use 1/4 or 1/2 of it everytime I do your Ube Cake/cupcake recipe. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. I don't store my ube in the fridge. What I do is portion them pre-weighed, pack them in small ziploc bags and freeze them. That way, I only have to thaw the exact amount I need when I have to bake.

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    2. Oohh, okay. Thanks Corinne for that tip. I will also do the same next time. I really love your recipes. I tried your Ube Cake, Matcha Cake and Mocha Cake. All were a hit! Thanks again and more power! 😊

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