Filipino Ube Macapuno Cake

The first I've heard of and seen this amazing Filipino ube cake was at Dahon Tea Lounge. What is an ube cake, you ask? It is a purple yam cake with coconut frosting and it is so very delicious.

Super miss Dahon's amazing ube cake! :')

The chiffon layer is fluffy and fragrant; but when paired with the sweet cream cheese frosting and small shredded pieces of the macapuno (like gelatinous coconut flesh), it is out of the world yummeh!

Dahon unfortunately closed down late last year, and I truly missed this ube cake, so I knew I had to make it. Lucky for me, I did not have to go looking high and low for a recipe as Thanh from I Eat Therefore I Am have tested out a recipe and swears by it!

The Boyfriend was so super duper nice to drive me all the way to the Pilipino Sari Sari store in Springvale to pick up the key ingredients required (ie. frozen purple yam and ube flavouring) which aren't easily available at other Asian grocery stores.

The recipe that Thanh has up on his blog makes a 4 layer cake, so I halved it and modified accordingly to make either a two layer 9 inch round cake, or a 13x13 inch layer cake (Swiss roll).

And tadahhhh, this is the finished product! :) I made it for my cousin's birthday, and it was really good, if I may shamelessly say so myself.

Ube Macapuno Cake
Recipe adapted from I Eat Blog and modified by The Bakeanista
Makes either one 9 inch round cake (2 layers), or one 13x13 inch sheet cake

Ingredients - Chiffon Cake

(A) Dry Ingredients

• 95g cake flour 
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 75g caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

(B) Wet Ingredients

• 3 extra large egg yolks (approx. 63g)
• 1/4 cup vegetable/canola oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup (about 50g) grated ube/purple yam
• 1 teaspoon ube flavouring
• 1/2 teaspoon violet food powder/gel paste, optional

(C) Meringue

• 3 extra large egg whites (approx. 105g)
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 75g caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Line one 9 inch round cake tin with baking paper. Do not grease sides.
2. In a large bowl, combine and mix well all the dry ingredients from (A). Add in the wet ingredients from (B) and beat until smooth and well incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar from (C) until frothy. Gradually add in the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.
4. Fold in egg white mixture into wet cake batter until very well combined. Pour cake into prepared pan.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Invert pans onto a wire rack immediately and let cool completely. This will help the chiffon stay tall and high.
6. Carefully run a thin knife around the sides of pans to release cakes. Using a serrated knife, cut cake in half horizontally. Set aside cake halves for assembly later.

The Bakeanista's Notes: For the corn flour, you may opt to substitute with 77g plain flour + 22g cornstarch, sifted thrice together.

Ingredients - Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 cups thickened cream
• 125g cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3oz jar of macapuno (preserved coconut strips)

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. When the mixture is smooth, slowly pour in the thickened cream and continue whipping until the cream can hold a stiff peak. Don't over beat the frosting as you want it to still be a little bit soft rather than lumpy.

To Assemble

1. Drain some of the syrup from the macapuno. This ensures the cake doesn't get soggy and also to prevent the cake from becoming too sweet.
2. Place one of the cake layers cut side up and spread and level some frosting onto the cake layer until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Scatter the macapuno on top of the whipped cream.
3. Carefully place the other layer over.
4. Frost the sides of the cake, spread a layer of frosting over all four layers of cake.
5. For the birthday writing, I mixed some cream cheese frosting with a little ube flavouring - love the purple and it also tasted amazing!
6. Dig in and enjoy your yummy ube cake!!! :)

You may use the similar recipe to make a Ube Swiss Roll cake too! :)

Or even cupcakes! I think, from memory, this recipe made about 15 medium sized cupcakes. And as you can see in the above picture, it is sooooooo fluffy, I'm gonna die!

I can't wait to make this ube cake again sometime soon. Good luck for those of you who are going to attempt this recipe, and I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Thanh and I do. :)