Ube Cake Recipe: Soft Ube Chiffon Cake

01 // The recipe

Ube chiffon cake (one 23 cm / 9-inch tube tin)

Chiffon needs a tube tin without any grease, because the batter climbs up the sides as it rises. After baking, it cools upside down so it can't sink. Separate the eggs while they're still cold, which is easier, and let them warm up while you weigh everything else.

Prep time
30 minutes

Baking time
50 to 55 minutes

Cooling
at least 1.5 hours

Serves
10 slices

Ingredients

Ube milk

14 g Big Moca ube powder (about 1 1/2 scoops)
110 ml whole milk, warm

Yolk batter

140 g cake flour, or 125 g plain flour plus 15 g cornstarch
6 g (1 1/2 tsp) baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
5 egg yolks (from large eggs)
50 g caster sugar
70 ml sunflower oil or another neutral oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Meringue

5 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar, or 1 tsp lemon juice
100 g caster sugar

Ube cream (optional)

5 g ube powder
15 ml whole milk, warm
250 ml cold whipping cream
25 g icing sugar

Method

Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 165°C (325°F) without fan. Have a 23 cm (9-inch) tube tin ready. Don't grease or line it.
Bloom the ube. Whisk the ube powder into the warm milk until smooth and leave it for 10 minutes.
Make the yolk batter. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. In a large bowl, whisk the yolks with the 50 g sugar until pale, then whisk in the oil, the ube milk and the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and whisk just until the batter is smooth.
Whip the meringue. In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. Add the 100 g sugar a spoonful at a time and keep whisking until the meringue is glossy and holds firm peaks that just bend over at the tip.
Fold. Stir a third of the meringue into the yolk batter to loosen it. Fold in the rest in two batches with a large spatula, turning the bowl as you go, until you see no white streaks. Pockets of unmixed meringue turn into holes in the cake, so keep folding gently until it's even.
Bake. Pour the batter into the tin and run a skewer through it in a circle to break any large air bubbles. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. The cake is done when it's well risen, the top springs back when you press it and a skewer comes out clean.
Cool upside down. Turn the tin upside down straight away. If it has no feet, rest the tube on the neck of a bottle. Leave it for at least 1.5 hours, until completely cold, then run a thin knife around the sides and the tube to release it.
Ube cream (optional). Bloom the 5 g ube powder in the warm milk and let it cool completely. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks, add the ube paste and whip briefly until it holds its shape. Spread it over the top and sides, or serve it on the side.

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02 // Color and flavor

What to expect.

A chiffon made with pure ube powder bakes to a soft purple inside a golden crust. You only see the color properly once you cut a slice. Many bright purple ube cakes get their color from ube flavoring with added coloring. We don't use any, so this cake looks like what it is.

The flavor is gentle, somewhere between vanilla and pistachio (more on that in what does ube taste like?). If you want more of it, make the ube cream. Cream carries the ube flavor better than the sponge does, and it's where the color shows most.

For this cake we bloom the powder in the warm milk instead of mixing it into the flour. It dissolves completely that way, and the crumb comes out evenly purple without specks.

03 // Tips

Tips for a tall, light ube cake.

Keep every trace of yolk and grease out of the egg whites, or they won't whip up. Plastic bowls can hold on to grease, so glass or metal is safer.
Whip the meringue until it's firm but still glossy. If it turns dry and lumpy, it won't fold in smoothly and the cake bakes up with holes.
For a layer cake, slice the cold chiffon horizontally into two or three layers and fill them with a double batch of ube cream.
Without cream, the cake keeps for 2 days at room temperature under a cake cover. With ube cream, keep it in the fridge and eat it within 3 days.

04 // The ube

Start with pure ube powder.

Our ube powder is dried purple yam, ground fine, with nothing added. That includes sugar, which is why the recipe has plenty of its own. A 100 g pouch covers about five of these cakes. You can order it on our ube powder product page, or read our guide to buying ube powder first.

New to ube? What is ube? explains where it comes from and how it differs from taro. Our guide to baking with ube has the ratios we use for other cakes, cookies and batters.

100% pure ube powder

05 // Questions

Ube cake questions.

What does ube cake taste like?

Mild and a little nutty, with notes of vanilla and pistachio. Our ube powder is unsweetened, so most of the sweetness in this cake comes from the sugar. The ube cream brings out the flavor more than the sponge does.

Can I bake this ube cake without a tube tin?

Yes, in two ungreased 20 cm (8-inch) round tins. Bake them for 30 to 35 minutes and cool them upside down on a wire rack. The layers rise a little less, but they are easy to sandwich with a double batch of ube cream.

Why did my ube chiffon cake shrink or sink?

Usually it came out of the oven too early, or it wasn't cooled upside down. A greased tin causes it too, because the batter can't cling to the sides as it rises. Bake until the top springs back and turn the tin over as soon as it leaves the oven.

How much ube powder do I need for an ube cake?

About 10% of the flour weight. This cake uses 14 g of ube powder for 140 g of flour, plus 5 g for the cream. A 100 g pouch covers about five cakes.

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