Ube Halaya

Ube Halaya is a yummy Filipino sweet dessert made with purple yam, condensed milk, sugar, coconut milk, butter and vanilla extract. Ube is one of the most prominent and distinct Filipino flavours. People loved colourful desserts and with ube’s vibrant violet colour. Follow our recipe to make this yummy dessert in your home.

Ube Halaya

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Course: Desserts

Servings

3

servings

Ingredients

• 500 grams purple yam, peeled and cubed

• 1 can condensed milk (390 grams)

• ½ cup white sugar

• 1 ½ cup coconut milk

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• In a pan, place the purple yam pieces. Add water to the pan, enough to cover the purple yam pieces. Turn the flame into high heat. Cover the pan and allow the purple yam pieces to boil until soft.
• Poke the purple yam pieces to check if they are soft enough for mashing. Drain the water and let it cool.
• Once cooled down, mash the boiled purple yam using a food processor or a blender. Add the coconut milk. Blend until smooth. Grab a large bowl and a strainer. Strain the blended purple yam to remove large bits to make the ube halaya smooth.
• Place the ube mixture in a pan. Add the condensed milk. Add some white sugar depending on your sweetness preference. Mix well until fully combined. Heat the mixture under medium heat.
• Cook the mixture while stirring continuously for around 20 minutes. As the mixture thickens, scrape the sides of the pan and to avoid the bottom part of the mixture from burning.
• Continue cooking and stirring for about 15 minutes. An optional step, you can add butter or margarine and vanilla extract to the ube mixture. Mix until well-combined. Cook for a few minutes until the mixture is not sticking to the pan.
• Transfer the ube mixture into molds or containers. Let the ube halaya cool down and set its shape. You can add some toppings before serving. Enjoy it!

Notes

• 1There are available ube extracts in the market which you can use to intensify the ube flavor of your ube halaya.
• If you want to use ube halaya to other recipes, you can modify its consistency by adding some water before cooking and you can use it as ice cream flavoring or cookie filling.

UBE HALAYA

Ube halaya is one of the staples in a Filipino celebrations, especially during the New Year’s Eve. Aside from being a sweet dessert, ube can also be used as one of the toppings and ingredients of other dishes. You’ll know a halo-halo is special when it includes ube as one its toppings. Ube can be used as a flavouring for ice creams, cakes and cookies. You can eat it as it is or in add toppings like latik or grated cheese.

The star ingredient in making ube halaya is the purple yam. This starchy violet root vegetable is commonly confused with taro which is also a root vegetable. Commonly, the purple yam is used for desserts while taro is used for savoy dishes like how you use potatoes. Using purple yam as the main ingredient in the ube halaya makes this dessert a carbohydrate-rich one. Traditional ube halaya jam recipe is very delicious and authentic.

HOW TO COOK UBE HALAYA

This ube halaya recipe will only require you a few simple steps but will take you quite some time before you can indulge in this wonderful treat. Make sure to exercise your arm beforehand as you will do a lot of continuous stirring in the process.

The most important ingredient for the best ube halaya is the ube or the purple yam. There are a lot of versions in preparing the purple yam for the ube halaya. Some recipes use grated purple yams and some use them as chunks. In this recipe, we will use the chunks. Prepare the purple yam by peeling and chopping into big chunks. Allow them to boil until they are ready for mashing. The easy way of mashing the boiled purple yam is to use a food processor or a blender. If not available, you can mash it using a fork or a manual masher.

This next step is very important to make sure that the ube halaya will be smooth and fine. After mashing, let the ube mixture pass into a strainer. This will remove the large bits and small roots from the purple yam. You will need to scrape the bottom part of the strainer as the fine ube mixture will stick on it.

This next part is where you will need to do a lot of arm work. Transfer the ube mixture in pan then add the condensed milk and sugar and then mix to combine. Heat the mixture and continuously stir to prevent it from sticking and burning. This step may take you around 20 minutes of stirring. The mixture will thicken after around 15 minutes and you must scrape the sides and bottom of the pan. An optional step would be adding butter and vanilla extract to enhance its flavor more. Mix until well combined and then continue cooking. The mixture is done when it is already not sticking to the pan. Transfer the mixture into moulds or containers. A llanera is common used as a mould for ube halaya. When the ube halaya warms, you can add your desired toppings and start enjoying this sweet treat! All our kids want to know how to eat halaya . They can eat it with any items they desire. Ube Halaya recipe without coconut milk is also an indication of well made dessert.

Ube Halaya Recipe (Tagalog)

MGA SANGKAP:

• 500 gramo o kalahating kilo ng ube (nabalatan na at nahiwa ng malalaki)
• 1 lata ng condensed milk (390 gram)
• ½ tasa ng puting asukal
• 1 ½ tasa ng gata
• 2 kutsarang mantikilya o margarin
• 1 ½ kutsaritang vanilla extract

PAANO LUTUIN:

1. Pakuluan ang mga mga piraso ng ube hanggang sa lumambot. Kapag malambot, itapon ang tubig at hayaan itong lumamig.
2. Kapag malamig na, gumamit ng blender o food processor para madurog ang mga pinakuluang ube. Ilagay ang gata ng niyog. Kapag pino na, kumuha ng strainer at ng isang malaking bowl. Padaanin sa strainer ang ube mixture para mas maging pino.
3. Kumuha ng kawali at ilagay ang ube mixture. Sund na ilagay ang condensed milk. Pwede mong dagdagan ng asukal base sa gusto mong tamis. Haluin ito ng mabuti at pakuluan gamit sa katamtamang apoy.
4. Lutuin ang mixture habang hinahalo ito ng tuloy tuloy sa loob ng 20 minuto. Kapag malapot na, dahan-dahang kayurin ang gilid at ilalim mixture gamit ang spatula para hindi ito masunog.
5. Lutuin ang ube mixture ng 15 minuto pa habang hinahalo. Ilagay ang mantikilya at vanilla extract sa ube mixture (optional na step lamang ito). Lutuin pa ang ube mixture hanggang sa hindi na ito dumidikit sa kawali.
6. Ilipat ang ube mixture sa llanera o sa kahit anong lalagyan. Hayaang lumamig ang ube halaya. Maari mong lagyan ng paborito mong toppings bago kainin. Enjoy!

Watch how to Cook Ube Halaya