What is ube? Ube is purple yam grown in the Philippines. It has a distinct bright purple colour and belongs to the sweet potato family. Ube has a sweeter, more mellow taste than its orange relatives and is popularly used in desserts in Filipino cuisine. I think every Filipino living overseas buy jars of ube jam to take back with them every time they visit the Philippines. I know I do!

When I go home, I normally hunt down a specific brand of ube jam. It’s from North Luzon, and is called Mountain Maid, but is more popularly know as the Good Shepherd ube jam. This specific brand is part of a social enterprise by the Sisters of Charity of the Good Shepherd, and the proceeds from the sales of the products send the less fortunate youth to school.

I take a couple of bottles–okay, maybe 4–home with me and chuck them in the freezer. They last forever in the freezer, as long as you don’t pop the seal. Now, not everyone travels to the Philippines, so if you want to try and make these today, head to your nearest Filipino/Asian store and ask them if they have ube conserve or jam. Some of them would have frozen mashed ube and that works too, just thaw completely and drain excess liquid before using.

Now, ube has a very mellow flavour profile. So, aside from the amount of ube conserve in this recipe, I added ube flavouring as well. Again, this is available in your nearest Filipino/Asian store.

Super easy and quick to whip up, try this as your next baking project. Crunchy top and soft inside, next time you’re catching up with a Filipino mate, you can impress them by making a batch!

 
Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 10 Mins Cook Time: 28 Mins Total Time: 38 Mins

Ube (purple yam) Muffins

Makes 5 extra large or 12 standard muffins

What is ube? Ube is purple yam grown in the Philippines. It has a distinct bright purple colour and belongs to the sweet potato family. It has a sweeter, more mellow taste than its orange relative and is popularly used in desserts in Filipino cuisine.

Ingredients

Instructions

0/3 Instructions
  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.
  • In a large bowl, mix flour, cornflour, sugar and baking powder. In a separate bowl mix milk, olive oil, egg, flavouring and ube conserve until smooth. 
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and stir in wet ingredients just until combined. 
DO NOT OVER MIX. 

  • Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle coarse sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 


Notes

You can normally buy ube flavouring and ube conserve or ube jam from Filipino stores globally. Sometimes they even have frozen mashed ube, which you can also use. If you have access to fresh ube, you can make your own. Just peel and cut into smaller pieces and boil until super soft then drain and mash. The mashed ube should be 150g in weight.

Tags

#filipino  #muffin  #ube