Ube Cupcakes Recipe

Name: Ube Cupcakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 22 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 120 g butter, softened; 150 g caster sugar; 2 eggs, about 100 g; 2 tsp ube extract; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 180 g plain flour; 2 tsp baking powder; ¼ tsp salt; 150 ml coconut milk; 100 g butter, for the buttercream; 250 g icing sugar; 1 tsp ube extract, for the buttercream; 1 tbsp coconut milk, for the buttercream

Ube Cupcakes

Soft purple cupcakes flavoured with ube extract and coconut milk, topped with ube buttercream.

52 min prep and cooking plus time for cooling completely, which the recipe does not time at least 52 min start to finish Serves 12 servings Medium

The Case for Ube Cupcakes

The first sign it is right is the colour: a soft lilac purple that deepens only a little in the oven. Ube is a purple yam, and its flavour is mild, a little like vanilla with a nutty, almost pistachio undertone.

Use ube extract, which is sold in Asian shops and online, since it gives colour and flavour together. Many bottles are boosted with a little food colouring, so check the label if you prefer. Beat the butter and sugar until pale, beat in the eggs one at a time, and add the ube extract, vanilla and coconut milk. Fold in the flour and baking powder until just combined. Go gently with the extract. A little more colour is easy to add, but a bitter note from too much cannot be taken out.

Fill the cases two-thirds full and bake at 175°C / 345°F for 22 minutes. If your oven runs hot, check at 18 minutes. Cool fully before icing.

Beat the butter, icing sugar and a spoonful of extract into a buttercream and pipe it on top.

What to Put on the Table With Ube Cupcakes

Tea
Coffee
Coconut ice cream
Fresh mango

How to Make Ube Cupcakes

Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.

Heat the oven to 175°C / 345°F and line a 12-hole tin with cases. Beat the 120 g of butter and the sugar until pale.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the 2 tsp of ube extract and vanilla.
Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt alternately with the 150 ml of coconut milk until just combined.
Fill the cases two-thirds full and bake for 22 minutes until springy. Cool completely.
Beat the 100 g of butter with the icing sugar, 1 tsp of ube extract and the 1 tbsp of coconut milk until fluffy and pipe onto the cakes.

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Notes From the Method

Add the extract gradually.

Fold gently.

If your oven runs hot, check at 18 minutes.

Cool fully before icing.

Storing and Reheating

Keeps in an airtight tin for 3 days.

Ube Cupcakes: Your Questions Answered

How long does Ube Cupcakes take to make?

30 minutes of preparation and 22 minutes of cooking, so at least 52 minutes. The method also needs time for cooling completely, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 12.

What's in a Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

363Calories

3gProtein

45gCarbs

19gFat

0gFibre

34gSugar

150mgSodium

Vegetarian

Ube Cupcakes

What to Put on the Table With Ube Cupcakes

How to Make Ube Cupcakes

Notes From the Method

Storing and Reheating

Ube Cupcakes: Your Questions Answered

What's in a Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

What to Put on the Table With Ube Cupcakes

How to Make Ube Cupcakes

Notes From the Method

Storing and Reheating

Ube Cupcakes: Your Questions Answered

What's in a Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

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