This ube flan cake recipe comes to us from the Philippines. It’s a wonderful amagalm of textures and flavors – a mild, soft ube cake topped with a thin layer of leche flan (Filipino creme caramel or flan).
What is Ube?
Ube is a purple yam originally from the Philippines. It has a mild sweet texture and is often incorporated into sweets in ube extract or ube powder form. Ube has been gradually increasing in popularity in the United States since a New York restaurant, Manila Social Club, introduced ube doughnuts in 2016. In the United States, it can be difficult to find fresh Ube, so bakers typically use ube extract or ube powder mix. Bake this cake and find out for yourself!
Is Ube healthy?
Ube is the Tagalog word for tuber. So, you would think that it would be as healthy as any tuber. And, like any tuber, it depends! Are you mixing it into a cake that contains a lot of butter and sugar? Yeah, probably not…
OK, OK, You Convinced Me to Buy Ube Extract. What Else Can I do With It?
Stay tuned! We plan on incorporating it into pancakes, waffles, and more cakes!
Show Me More Interesting Cakes!
OK, here you go!
Tell Me More About This Ube Leche Flan Cake Recipe!
We’ve never been to the Philippines, but apparently the flan cake (a chiffon cake topped with a flan) is a popular treat that comes in many different flavors, not just Ube.
The Romans first domesticated chickens and, for the first time faced with a surfeit of eggs, began to develop new and interesting ways to consume them. A milk and egg-based baked custard was among their many innovations. The “flado” as it was known, traveled Roman colonial routes to Spain, where it was perfected over the centuries. Perhaps the only good thing to come from Spanish colonial ambitions was the spread of the gospel of Flan.
Flan is very popular today in both the Philippines and Mexico. So called “Manila Galleons” linked the Philippines and Spain throughout the Spanish colonial period, bringing spices and other luxury items via Mexico to Spain. The dish evolved in completely different but equally delicious ways. Mexican flan is typically made with plain milk and whole eggs, while Filipino flan contains condensed milk and egg yolks – so it has a more toothsome texture, and sweeter flavor. In this recipe, the light chiffon cake is a bit of a relief (from a texture and sugar quotient point of view) to the density of the thin layer of flan on top.
Useful Tools for Making this Ube Flan Cake Recipe
Ube Flan Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 1 8 x 8 inch square pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the Caramel Layer
- 3 tbsp sugar
For the Leche Flan Layer
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 3/4 cup condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
For the Ube Chiffon Cake
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp ube flavoring
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
Prepare the cake pan:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan or an 8 x 8 inch square pan and line it with parchment paper.
Prepare the caramel:
- Put the sugar in a small sauce pot over low heat on the stove and allow the sugar to melt. Swirl the pan to distribute the melting sugar evenly. The melted sugar will slowly turn from a clear color to a golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat and pour caramel into cake pan.
Make the Filipino Leche Flan:
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, evaporated milk, and condensed milk. Continue whisking until the mixture is evenly colored.
- Place a strainer over the cake pan and pour the leche flan mixture through the strainer into the cake pan over the top of the cooled caramelized sugar.
Make ube chiffon cake:
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, placing the yolks in a large bowl, and the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a separate large bowl.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, combine sugar and egg yolks. Beat until the color is lighter and the mixture is bubbly. Stir in the milk, oil, and ube flavoring.
- Sift the dry ingredients (cake flour and baking powder) into the the egg mixture. Combine cake flour and egg mixture until it is smooth and free of lumps.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer using a whip attachment, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup of sugar to the egg whites and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold the beaten egg whites in three additions into the ube mixture until it is streak-free and uniform in color. Pour the ube cake batter over the flan layer in the pan. The pan will be almost full.
- Place the cake in the preheated oven. Bake the ube flan cake for 25 minutes, or until the cake is set and springy.
- Allow the cake to cool. To unmold, gently run a thin knife around the edges of the pan . Turn the cake over onto a serving plate.
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