Ube Cake ala Red Ribbon
“This gorgeously looking ube cake is as delicious as it looks, with rich ube flavor inside and out, frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream, you will definitely love it. The perfect cake for all occasions!”
Ube or commonly known as purple yam is traditionally being used by Filipinos in many recipes to add flavor and lovely color. From ice cream, pandesal or breads, to purple jam, to snack bars and even cakes, ube flavor is always present. You cannot deny the versatility of this root crop as it really tastes delicious in every recipe it is added in.
This ube cake recipe is no exemption. It is moist, slightly sweet and delicious. In the Philippines, Red Ribbon is a popular store selling best tasting cakes. And this recipes look and appearance resembles their popular ube cake.
Though complicated as it looks, this recipe is actually easy to make. The ingredients are also conveniently found in the local grocery stores (or Asian store, if you are living outside the Philippines) and are very affordable.
How to make ube cake ala red ribbon
In making this cake, we need to do a 3-step process. Prepare the batter, whipped the meringue, and do the frosting. This ube cake is similar to yema cake recipe which is already posted in this blog. Both cakes folded meringue in the batter. Most chiffon cakes usually do this step due to the high proportion of eggs used versus the flour and mainly leavened from the air beaten into the egg whites also known as meringue.
Chiffon cakes are commonly baked in tube pans since the inner tube provides the needed support to the center as the cake rises. However, we will use a regular round baking pans in this recipe. Without the inner tube, your chiffon cake will most likely to shrink around the middle as it cools. Check out my tip below to prevent your ube cake from shrinking.
To make this ube cake, you will just have to mix the batter ingredients to make the batter. In making the meringue, simply beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar until it forms stiff peaks.For the frosting, you can use your own whipped cream frosting or any frosting recipe you know. But in this recipe, I will be using Swiss meringue buttercream frosting.
I chose Swiss meringue buttercream as frosting because it is silky, pipes beautifully and is very stable. In making this frosting, you need to have a stand mixer since you need to beat the egg whites and sugar mixture until it comes to room temperature. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Although you can do this using your hand mixer but it will be tiresome for your arms.
Tips in making this ube cake
In making our meringue, you have to make sure that there are no traces of egg yolks in the egg whites. Also, your bowl and mixer should be clean and dry, and free from any grease or water. This is very important because your meringue will not form into lovely stiff peaks.
Fold your meringue carefully into the batter to prevent air bubbles to form. You can fold in two to three batches but not more than that. This will prevent the meringue from collapsing and incorporating too many air bubbles.
If you want a vibrant purple color for your ube cake, you can use purple food color (liquid or gel). I didn’t add any food color in this recipe because personally, I find the color pretty good.
When you remove the cake from the oven, it will normally shrink a bit. You will notice that the cake sides will start detaching from the pan once it is taken out of the oven. So after taking the cake out of the oven, immediately run a knife on the sides of the pan and turn the pan upside down to release the cake. The more it sits in the heated pan, the more it will shrink. So you have to immediately transfer the cakeinto the cooling rack.
Bake this cake in any upcoming celebration, your family and friends will surely be delighted! Please leave a comment down below if you made this cake and let me know what you think. Happy tummy!
Other ube recipes you might like:
Pichi pichi with ube flavoring
Ube Cake Ala Red Ribbon Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing bowls and rubber spatula
- Electric mixer and stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Double boiler/ deep pan
- 9-inch round pan (2 pcs)
- Serrated knife, palette knife and piping bag (cake assembly and decorating)
- Lazy Suzan and cake board (optional)
Ingredients
Batter:
- 8 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
- ½ cup ube halaya or jam
- 1 tablespoon ube extract
- 2 and ½ cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Meringue:
- 8 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
Swiss meringue buttercream frosting:
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 and ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 and ½ cups (340g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or essence
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Making the cake:
- Pre-heat oven to 180 °C/ 350 °F.
- Line 2 9-inch round baking pan with parchment or baking paper. Do not grease.
- In a big bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar. Then add milk and oil, ube halaya and ube extract. Place a sieve over the bowl and sift cake flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until just combine and set aside.
- In another bowl, beat egg whites in medium-high speed until foamy. Then add cream of tartar while beating. Add sugar little by little and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
- Fold meringue carefully into the batter in 2-3 parts. Do not over mix the mixture to prevent forming too much air bubbles.
- Divide the mixture into two 9-inch round baking pan. Tap pan few times to release air bubbles. Bake for around 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake out of the oven and place in a wire rack. Immediately run a knife on the sides of the pan and turn the pan upside down to release the cake. Remove parchment paper to cool completely.
Preparing the Frosting:
- In a heat-proof bowl, combine egg whites and sugar. Whisk until combine. In a pan with simmering water, place bowl on top, making sure that the bowl seal the pot completely and doesn't touch the water. You can use a double boiler if available.
- Whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved and temperature reaches 160 °F (around 3-5 minutes) using a candy thermometer. Or scoop a little mixture and rub between fingertips, if you feel that there are no more sugar granules, then it is ready.
- Remove the bowl over the pan and transfer mixture to a clean and dry stand mixer bowl. Start to beat in medium-high speed until stiff glossy peaks form (around 15-20 minutes) and the bottom of bowl feels completely at room temperature and not warm (note: warm meringue will melt the butter).
- Once at room temperature, reduce speed to medium and add around 1 tablespoon of butter at a time, in interval of few seconds or just as fast as is it absorbed by the meringue. Once butter is all used up, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and continue to beat until it reaches a thick whipped consistency, around 3 minutes on medium-high speed. If it looks liquid, keep beating until smooth, thick and whipped.
- Add vanilla and salt and beat on medium-high speed for another minute until well combined.
Assembling the cake:
- Using a serrated knife, trim the top and sides of the cake to level and reveal the lovely color of the cake. Divide cakes into two and set aside trimmed portion and half of the cake for decoration use.
- Place one layer of the cake layer on a cake board. Spread frosting over the cake and level until it is around ¼ inch thick.
- Place second and third layer using the same procedure in the previous step.
- After layering the cake with frosting, start frosting the sides of cake. Put just enough for the cake crumbs to stick to it. Remember to leave some frosting for decoration on top.
- Grind the trimmed portion and half of the cake into a blender or food processor. Transfer into a bowl.
- Cover the entire cake with the cake crumbs and pipe out rosettes around the cake with the remaining frosting.
- Chill for about an hour before serving.
- Share and enjoy!
Video
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