What is ube ice cream made from?

Ube ice cream is a Filipino ice cream flavor prepared using ube (purple yam) as the main ingredient. This ice cream is often used in making the dessert halo-halo.

Why is yam ice cream purple?

That's because it's made of ube (pronounced ooh- be), a purple yam with a mild, sweet flavor .

What is the secret ingredient to ice cream?

It's the fat. The milk fat in ice cream is mostly what gives ice cream that creamy rich taste and feeling in your mouth. The creamiest ice creams have about 16% fat and the least creamy have about 10% fat.

Are ube and purple yam the same?

Ube is a starchy vegetable also known as purple yam — which is not the same as purple sweet potatoes, though they are similar and can be substituted in recipes. Yams, for one, grow on vines, while sweet potatoes grow underground. Ube is often confused with Stokes Purple sweet potatoes or Okinawan sweet potatoes.

What is ube purple yam Flavouring?

Ube is known for its distinctive purple color and unique flavor, which is sweet and slightly nutty with hints of vanilla and floral notes. Butterfly Ube Flavor is used to add the distinct taste and aroma of ube to a wide range of culinary creations, including desserts, baked goods, beverages, and other dishes.

How to make ice cream for kids?

Step-by-step Measure the cream, sugar, and vanilla extract into the quart-size bag. Zip it up tightly. Fill the gallon-size bag with ice. Add the salt. ... Shake and shake the bags to make ice cream! It will take about 5 minutes until the cream hardens. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one.

Is purple yam ice cream healthy?

Approach that purple ice cream with caution, though: While ube is full of beneficial nutrients, this one ingredient doesn't outweigh all of other not-so-healthy ingredients that are added to your dessert , says Keri Gans, R.D.N., author of The Small Change Diet.

Can you freeze purple yam?

When properly stored in the freezer, yams keep for 10–12 months . Can't get enough starchy veggies in your life?

Is ube Hawaiian or Filipino?

Ube is Tagalog – the national language of the Philippines – for the purple yam native to Southeast Asia that has since been naturalized in South America, Africa, Australia, and the southeastern United States. It is also known as the “winged” or “water” yam in English.

What is the forbidden ice cream?

A tantalizing fusion of vanilla ice cream, our legendary Forbidden Chocolate® and ribbons of decadent fudge . It's a pleasure worth sharing.

What are the 3 most important ingredients of ice cream?

If you have ever made ice cream, you already know what goes into it, ingredients such as milk, cream, and sugar . But there is one main ingredient that you may not have thought about, probably because you can't see it—air.

Is ube ice cream healthier?

While ube desserts can be made with nutritious, plant-based add-ins, like coconut or almond milk, other recipes use ingredients like sweetened condensed milk . And a purple yam wrapped around a pastry crust made from refined carbs and sugar definitely doesn't qualify as health food.

What is the flavor of ube?

What Does Ube Taste Like? The distinct ube flavor is slightly nutty with a hint of vanilla . It has a coconut-like aroma that lends itself well to dessert items. Ube is most often boiled, mashed, and mixed with condensed milk to bring out its sweetness.

How to Make Ube Ice Cream (Purple Yam Ice Cream) (2024)

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A quintessential Filipino ice cream made with purple yam.

Yana Gilbuena

Yana Gilbuena was born in the Philippines. She's a chef that educates others about Filipino food and culture through pop-up dinners, recipes, and cookbooks. She published her own cookbook in 2019, No Forks Given.

Learn about Serious Eats'Editorial Process

Updated August 23, 2021

Why It Works

Using coconut cream and corn syrup adds a creamy texture.
Adding ube halaya (purple yam jam) lowers the water content and results in a less icy ice cream.
A small amount of vodka makes the ice cream softer and easier to scoop.

In the Philippines, ice cream is better known as sorbetes or “dirty ice cream,” largely because it’s peddled by street vendors and the conditions of their wooden carts can be deemed unsanitary (although, to be fair, I think calling it “dirty” was how my older relatives attempted to dissuade me from buying it). I remember patiently waiting for the tinkling of the cart’s bell to echo down my street on a daily basis.

The sorbetero, or ice cream man, usually carries a rotation of three flavors, such as cheese, chocolate, strawberry, avocado, or ube (purple yam), which are housed in individual metal canisters, surrounded by crushed ice, sprinkled with salt, and covered with rice husks to help keep the sorbetes frozen in the sweltering heat. The sorbetero scoops the ice cream into cups, cones, or bread buns like pandesal or monay (a dense bread).

Vibrantly purple ube—which features a smooth, creamy texture and sweet, earthy flavor with subtle notes of vanilla—is one of the country’s well-loved flavors of ice cream. While it can be enjoyed as a standalone flavor, it is equally popular in other combinations, like ube macapuno (ube plus coconut) and ube and cheese (a match-made in heaven due to its balance of savory and sweet flavors).

For my version of ube ice cream, I set out to develop a recipe that honors the flavors of home by using a combination of coconut cream and milk, which complements the ube’s earthy sweetness and coincidentally results in a vegan ice cream. During my testing, I discovered that incorporating homemade ube halaya, or purple yam jam, produced a less icy ice cream and tasted superior to a version using store-bought halaya, a product that can contain artificial coloring and preservatives (if you do choose to use store-bought halaya, look for ones with ube and sugar as the primary ingredients). The addition of corn syrup and a small amount of vodka yields a soft, scoopable ice cream with a plush texture that’s akin to a full-dairy version. Once churned and frozen, I highly recommend enjoying ube ice cream on its own, scooped into pandesal, or as a topping for halo-halo.

Recipe Details

Ube (Purple Yam) Ice Cream

Prep4 hrs 10 mins

Cook10 mins

Freezing Time5 hrs

Total9 hrs 20 mins

Makes1 quart

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (355ml) coconut cream
3/4 cup (175ml) full-fat coconut milk
2 3/4 ounces turbinado sugar (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons; 75g)
2 ounces light corn syrup (3 tablespoons; 60g)
2 1/4 cups (610g) ube halaya (see note)
2 teaspoons (10ml) coconut or unflavored vodka
3/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume
3/4 teaspoon ube extract (see note)

Directions

In a 2-quart saucepan, whisk together coconut cream, coconut milk, sugar, corn syrup, and ube halaya. Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until mixture comes to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in vodka, salt, and ube extract.
Transfer mixture to a blender and process until smooth, about 30 seconds (alternatively, use an immersion blender to purée mixture directly in saucepan). Strain mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large heatproof bowl. Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until no warmer than 40°F (4°C), about 4 hours.
Churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions, until thick and fluffy (about 10 minutes, but the timing will vary depending on the type of machine).
Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ice cream is firm enough to scoop, about 5 hours.

Special equipment

2-quart saucepan, ice cream maker, immersion blender, or countertop blender

Notes

Store-bought ube halaya is available at Filipino and Asian specialty markets and online. Choose one that has no more than two or three ingredients and is primarily made from ube and sugar, with minimal preservatives.

Ube extract, a great source for adding or increasing ube flavor, is available at Asian specialty markets and online. For a deeper ube flavor and color, you can add an additional 3/4 teaspoon ube extract to the ice cream mixture.

Make-ahead and Storage

Ube ice cream can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.