Ube ice creamJulie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
It’s thrilling to get to eat something that’s naturally a brilliant purple. Ube (pronounced OO-beh), the Tagalog word for tuber, is a yam native to and a staple of the Philippines. It’s sweet and nutty, and its internal shades range from pale lavender to periwinkle to Barney purple.
Ube makes a delicious, visually thrilling soup, can be roasted or boiled and incorporated into pasta or bread dough (particularly pandesal), and is a much loved ingredient in desserts and other sweets. Ube halaya or halayang ube – a very thick, milky, deep purple jam made with sugar, sweetened condensed and/or evaporated milk and/or coconut milk and butter, is used in all kinds of pastries, cakes and other desserts, spread on toast and eaten by the spoonful.
U.S. grocer Trader Joe’s launched ube-flavoured ice cream in 2019, and its popularity spawned a collection of sweet treats.
In this ice cream, a batch of simple ube halaya is cooked until thick on the stovetop, then turned into an ice cream base in the same pot. Though many recipes call for eggs, there’s no need – the starchy ube thickens the custard on its own, lending a wonderfully creamy texture.
Recipe: Ube Ice Cream
Ube extract isn’t necessary, but will boost both flavour and colour; vanilla will add a creamier flavour. (Butter is traditionally used in ube halaya, but when I accidentally left it out, it was just fine.)
1 small ube/purple yam (about 1/2 lb/250 g), boiled or roasted, then peeled and grated or mashed, or an equal amount of frozen grated ube
1 can sweetened condensed milk (regular or coconut)
2 tbsp butter (optional)
1 14 oz (398 mL) can coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla or ube extract
In a large saucepan or skillet set over medium-high heat, combine the ube and sweetened condensed milk; cook, stirring more frequently and turning the heat down as it thickens to prevent burning, until the mixture thickens. Add the butter and stir as it melts in.
Turn off the heat and add the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla or ube extract; whisk until well-blended and smooth. Transfer to a bowl or container, cool, cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours, or until well chilled. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions, or in a baking pan or plastic container, pulling it out of the freezer several times as it freezes to break up the chunks of ice for a smoother texture.
If you froze it in a machine, transfer the ice cream to a container to store in the freezer. Makes about three cups.