This ube chiffon cake recipe is easy to make. Moist, light, and fluffy sponge cake made of real ube or purple yam. Great to serve for breakfast, snack, or dessert!
Ube chiffon cake is a popular cake in the Philippines and one of the favorite cake flavors to serve for every day or any occasion. It’s delicious with or without frosting. I like to eat it without frosting for breakfast or snack and with frosting for dessert.
Best Frosting for Ube Chiffon Cake
Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
Ube Chiffon Cake Ingredients
For the Dry Ingredients
All-Purpose flour
Cornstarch
Baking powder
Salt
For the Wet Ingredients
Ube root or purple yam – boiled then mashed. It can be substituted with the same ratio of Ube Halaya or Ube jam in a jar, then less than two tablespoons of sugar in this recipe.
Vegetable oil or Canola oil
Egg yolks
Granulated sugar
Milk or substitute with coconut milk
Ube extract enhances the ube flavor and it gives a deep purple color.
Meringue Ingredients
Egg whites
Cream of tartar substitute with ½ tsp vinegar
Granulated sugar
How to Make Ube Chiffon Cake
Prepare the Ube. Peel and boil the Ube root or purple yam until fork tender, then mash or puree. Set it aside to let it cool.
Measure and sift all the dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Mix them in a bowl.
Mixing the wet ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and oil. Add the mashed ube, milk, and ube extract. Mix until blended. Pass through a strainer. It’s optional but it will ensure to remove the grainy texture of Ube. Otherwise, puree the ube.
Make the cake batter. Combine and mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until blended and no lumps. To prevent overmixing the cake batter, add the dry ingredients gradually.
Make the meringue. Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar or vinegar until foamy. Then gradually add the sugar. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks and is glossy. See the photos below.
Folding the meringue to the cake batter. Using a spatula, add the meringue to the cake batter in 3 to 4 additions. Fold in the meringue using a circular motion. Cut straight down the center, across the bottom and up the side of the bowl. Do this until no streaks of meringue or until just blended.
Pour the Ube chiffon cake batter into an ungreased tube pan. To remove air pockets in the cake batter, use a cake tester or skewer and swirl into the cake batter.
Bake in a preheated oven at 345°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched with a finger.
Cooling the Ube Chiffon Cake. Invert the cake in a pan on a cooling rack, funnel, or bottle. Cool completely in a pan.
Remove the cake from a tube pan. With a metal spatula, carefully loosen the cake from the tube pan. Then for the center of the tube pan, I used a skewer to loosen the cake.
Place on a cake plate. Serve with or without frosting.
Store
Store for up to 2 days at room temperature in a sealed or airtight container. Then refrigerate for up to 4 days. Freeze for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
More Chiffon Cake Recipes to try.
More Ube Recipes
Ube Chiffon Cake
Watch How to Make It
Equipment
- Tube pan
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup ube or purple yam mashed
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 6 egg yolks
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅔ cup milk
- 1 tbsp ube extract
Meringue Ingredients:
- 6 egg whites
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar substitute with ½ tsp vinegar
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the Ube. Peel and boil the Ube root or purple yam until fork tender, then mash or puree. Set it aside to let it cool.
- Measure and sift all the dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Mix them in a bowl.
- Mixing the wet ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and oil. Add the mashed Ube, milk, and Ube extract. Mix until blended. Pass through a strainer. It’s optional but it will ensure to remove the grainy texture of Ube. Otherwise, puree the Ube.
- Make the cake batter. Combine and mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until blended and no lumps. To prevent overmixing the cake batter, add the dry ingredients gradually.
- Make the meringue. Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar or vinegar until foamy. Then gradually add the sugar. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks and is glossy. See the photos below.
- Folding the meringue into the cake batter. Using a spatula, add the meringue to the cake batter in 3 to 4 additions. Fold in the meringue using a circular motion. Cut straight down the center, across the bottom, and up the side of the bowl. Do this until no streaks of meringue or until just blended.
- Pour the Ube chiffon cake batter into an ungreased tube pan. To remove air pockets in the cake batter, use a cake tester or skewer and swirl into the cake batter.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 345°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched with a finger.
- Cooling the Ube Chiffon Cake. Invert the cake in a pan on a cooling rack, funnel, or bottle. Cool completely in a pan.
- Remove the cake from a tube pan. With a metal spatula, carefully loosen the cake from the tube pan.
- Place on a cake plate. Serve with or without frosting.
