This easy ube cake has four layers of soft ube sponge cake with a simple ube buttercream frosting. Made using ube extract for an easy purple yam ube dessert recipe with a delicious hint of coconut too.
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✏️ 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!
🎥 Recipe video
Check out the recipe video below for how to make the best ube cake!
💭 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
Your ube cake should last for up 4 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If it’s hot where you live, store your cake in the fridge instead.
Yes! You can freeze your frosted or unfrosted ube cake cut into pieces and wrapped in two layers of cling film and a layer of foil for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge and enjoy!
Ube is a purple yam that is popular in Filipino cuisine.
Ube tastes like a slightly nutty and vanilla sweet potato. It has a distinctive flavour and a strong purple colour.
No, cake flour is actually different to both plain flour and self-raising flour. It has a different composition and your cake will have a different consistency if you use it.
If your ube frosting is too thin, you can try chilling it in the fridge for 10-20mins before use. Alternatively, you can beat in a few more tablespoons of butter to thicken it.
If your ube frosting is too thick to spread easily, then you can stir some more coconut milk or coconut cream (½ tablespoon at a time) to thin the consistency.
🧁 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:
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📖 Recipe
Ube Cake
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Equipment
Ingredients
Ube cake
- 270 g (1 ¼ cups) unsalted butter room temp.
- 285 g (1 ½ cups) white sugar finely granulated or caster
- 1 ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- 5 eggs large
- 5 tablespoon coconut milk
- 3 teaspoon ube extract
- 285 g (2 ⅓ cups) all-purpose plain flour
- 3 ½ teaspoon baking powder
Ube buttercream
- 325 g (1 ½ cups) unsalted butter room temp.
- 675 g (5 ⅔ cups) powdered icing sugar
- 3 ½ teaspoon ube extract
- 1 - 2 tablespoon coconut milk
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Ube cake
- Preheat oven: 180°C / 160°C (fan) / Gas Mark 4 / 350°F
- For the sponges, cream together the butter, sugar and oil using a spatula, electric hand mixer or stand mixer, until light and pale.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, milk and ube extract until combined.
- Beat half of the wet ingredients mix into the butter mix.
- Sieve in half of flour and beat in until smooth, then stir in the remaining wet mix.
- Sieve in the remaining flour and the baking powder, folding in until only just combined.
- 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.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 20mins before removing and transferring to a wire rack while you make the frosting.
Ube buttercream
- Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
- Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat this with the remaining half of icing sugar.
- Add in the ube extract, milk and salt (if using) mixing until only just smooth.
Assembly
- Once the cake sponges have cooled, cut each layer in half so that you have 4 thin layers in total.
- Place one onto a flat plate or cake board and spread roughly ⅕ of the frosting on top.
- 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.
- Add the remaining frosting to a piping bag and swirl the frosting on top. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use softened room temperature butter for ease of mixing.
- 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.
- Swap your plain flour for self-raising flour and reduce the baking powder to only 1 tsp.
- You can swap the coconut milk for coconut cream or another type of milk.
- You can use any neutral-flavoured oil for the cake batter.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.
Deborah Edwards says
Hello, Can I fold in some Ube jam into the sponge cake mix to give a more concentrated Ube flavour? If so do I need to reduce the amount of sugar?
Thank you.
Kachina says
Hiya! To keep your sponge light and fluffy, I'd recommend adding the ube jam between the cake layers as a filling instead. Happy baking!
Natalie says
Hi! I've never worked with Ube before and I intend to make it as a cake for a birthday. Is there a way to modify the ingredients to make a tiny cake for a taste test?
Kachina says
Hiya! If you divide the cake recipe ingredients by 5 and times it by 2 (so you'll only be using 2 eggs) you can make a single layer 6 inch cake to try it out the flavours. You'll only need to bake it for around 15mins too. Happy baking!