Looking for a fun and delicious dessert? You are in the right place! Today we will show you how to do it role: a classic Filipino pie roll filled with purple yam, AKA ube. It’s so sweet, fluffy and delicious. You will love it!
Cake buns are super popular in Southeast Asia, and stuffed roulades are a real hit in the Philippines. And for a good reason!
Ube Rolls bring together a light and fluffy sponge cake with the Philippines’ popular purple yam spread, AKA Ube Halaya. All in one cute looking swirled dessert!
Are you using ube for the first time? Ube is the Filipino name for purple yams, a root vegetable with a striking purple flesh and a barky, brownish skin.
This wonderful tuber tastes good sweet and nutty, with a touch of vanilla and even white chocolate!
Ube is traditionally used to make ube halaya, a custard-like dessert that contains milk, butter, and sugar.
Ube halaya is also the basis of many colorful desserts such as cakes, donuts, flans and puddings. And yes, this Ube cake roll too!
Whenever a recipe calls for Ube, you have two choices:
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Get the pre-made ube halaya at your local Asian grocery store or online;
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Make an ube spread from scratch with purple yams (fresh or frozen).
We have a quick and easy ube spread recipe if you want to try it!
It is non dairy and made with less sugar and a little coconut oil for creaminess. It’s cheaper and healthier than store-bought!
And if you want to try the recipe but can’t get Ube, you can use purple yams instead. They’re so similar to Ube that they’re basically interchangeable!
Once you’ve got the ube spread sorted, all that’s left to do is prepare the cake batter, bake it, and roll it up with the ube filling.
The dough for cake buns is very light and airy. Made with a little bit of sugar and flour, it basically sets up beaten eggs for structure and fluff.
Many roll cake recipes suggest rolling and cooling the sheet of cooked sponge cake first, then rolling out and filling. In our recipe we have instead immediately filled and rolled the Ube cake while it was still warm.
In our experience, the less time you spend handling the cake, the less likely it is to tear!
Ok, now it’s time to go ahead and let that swirly Ube curl up!