Easy Ube Cake with Ube Extract - Sweet Mouth Joy (2024)

✏️ Recipe creation

I love ube, it’s such a popular Filipino flavour for desserts and sweet treats, like in these best ube dessert ideas.

Ever since I tasted Red Ribbon’s ube chiffon cake, I’ve always wanted to make my own easy version of the classic purple Filipino cake using a more western-style sponge with that same great ube taste.

This moist purple yam cake makes one of the best ube desserts. It uses ube extract for an easy ube cake rather than faffing with real ube puree or mashing the purple yams yourself. It’s also a gorgeous purple colour and an ube dream!

A homemade ube layer cake is great served after a family dinner, taking to potlucks or serving for parties and special occasions. Personally, I love it as an easy ube birthday cake!

🥘 Ingredients

This ube cake recipe calls for the following ingredients:

1. Ube cake:

• Unsalted butter: room temperature for a softened butter that’s easier to mix.
• White sugar: finely granulated such as caster sugar.
• Vegetable oil: or other neutral flavoured oil.
• Eggs
• Coconut milk (or other milk)
• Ube extract: this can be found online or from specialist Asian grocery stores.
• All-purpose plain flour: sieve for a smooth cake batter.
• Baking powder: always check the expiry date before use or the cake won’t rise.

2. Ube buttercream:

• Unsalted butter: room temperature for a softened butter that’s easier to beat.
• Powdered icing sugar: sieve your confectioners’ sugar for a smooth frosting.
• Ube extract
• Coconut milk (or other milk)
• Salt

See the recipe card for quantities.

Top tip: For accuracy, it’s best to weigh your ingredients rather than using cups.

♻️ Substitutions / Variations

Ingredient substitutions

You can swap the all-purpose plain flour for self-raising flour and reduce the baking power to using only 1 teaspoon instead.

Coconut milk gives the best flavour for this ube cake, but you can swap this for another milk of your choice in both the cake batter and frosting.

For a richer coconut flavour and creamier texture, you can swap the coconut milk for coconut cream instead for both the cake mix and buttercream.

Flavour options

For a stronger purple yam ube flavour, you can add a few tablespoons of ube halaya (ube jam or halayang ube) as a cake filling between the cake layers along with the ube frosting.

You can also use coconut macapuno as a cake filling and topping idea too.

📖 Method

Ube cake

Preheat oven: 180°C / 160°C (fan) / Gas Mark 4 / 350°F

Step 1: For the sponges, cream together the butter, sugar and oil using a spatula, electric hand mixer or stand mixer, until light and pale.

Step 2: In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, milk and ube extract until combined.

Step 3: Beat half of the wet ingredients mix into the butter mix.

Step 4: Sieve in half of flour and beat in until smooth.

Steps 5 - 6: Stir in the remaining wet mix and then sieve in the remaining flour and the baking powder, folding in until only just combined.

Step 7: Divide the batter evenly between two greased and lined 8-inch cake tins and bake in the oven for 25-30mins until risen and skewer comes out clean from the middle of the cakes.

Step 8: Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 20mins before removing and transferring them to a wire rack while you make the frosting.

Ube buttercream

Step 9: Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.

Step 10: Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat this with the remaining half of the icing sugar.

Steps 11 - 12: Add in the ube extract, milk and salt (if using) mixing until only just smooth.

Assembly

Step 13: Once the cake sponges have cooled, cut each layer in half so that you have 4 thin layers in total.

Step 14: Place one onto a flat plate or cake board and spread roughly ⅕ of the frosting on top.

Step 15: Sandwich another cake layer on top and frost, repeat until you’ve stacked and frosted all four layers. Cover the cake in the rest of the frosting, smoothing lightly with a spatula.

Step 16: Add the remaining frosting to a piping bag and swirl the frosting on top. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and enjoy!

💭 Top tips

• For a soft and fluffy ube cake sponge, try not to overmix your cake batter once you’ve added the baking powder.
• Position your cake pans in the centre of the oven for an even bake and don’t open mid-bake to prevent sinkholes.
• Your sponges are cooked once they’re risen and springy to the touch. An inserted toothpick or skewer should also come out clean from the middle.
• For creamy frosting, beat your butter until it’s pale, light and fluffy first. This could take several minutes with an electric mixer.
• Decorate your ube cake with shredded coconut, toasted coconut flakes or a generous helping of sweet macapuno.

❔ Recipe FAQs

🧁 Other goodies

Looking for some more easy desserts?

If you’re a fan of Asian-inspired desserts like this purple ube cake, you might also like these best ube recipes and these tasty desserts:

• Ube no-bake cheesecake using ube extract
• Ube buttercream (just like the one in this ube cake recipe!)
• Fudgy ube brownies
• Easy matcha green tea brownies
• Green tea matcha no-bake cheesecake
• Green tea cupcakes - uses this tasty matcha buttercream!

Check out these easy layer cake recipes for more delicious dessert ideas for birthday and special occasions:

• Matcha layer cake with white chocolate ganache
• Raspberry white chocolate cake
• Lemon curd cake
• Vanilla cake with strawberry filling and frosting

For more tasty cakes check out my full collection of the best cake recipes.

Other Related Recipes:

Ube Cake

Kachina

An easy ube layer cake with ube buttercream frosting. Made with ube extract for a simple purple yam cake!

Rate this recipe here:

Nutrition

Calories: 799kcal | Carbohydrates: 99g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 175mg | Sodium: 183mg | Potassium: 86mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 79g | Vitamin A: 1339IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.