Filipino ube desserts
Jam, brioches, breads, ice creams: ube runs through all of Filipino pastry. Here is an overview of the great purple-yam treats, with a link to each recipe.
An indulgent heritage
It's hard to sum up the richness of Filipino ube desserts, so vast is it. From family jam to festive iced dessert, by way of brioches and steamed cakes, ube slips in everywhere. Here are the essentials, each with its recipe to discover.
Most of these desserts start from ube halaya, the purple yam jam, which serves as the base or filling for countless treats.
The spoon classics
- Ube halaya: the purple yam jam, slow-cooked and creamy.
- Halo-halo: the festive iced dessert, where ube meets crushed ice and toppings.
- Ube cassava cake: a moist cassava-based cake, topped with ube.
Brioches, breads and small cakes
- Ube ensaymada: the soft, buttery, sweet brioche.
- Ube pandesal: the morning roll, in a purple version.
- Ube hopia: small filled pastries.
- Ube puto: a tender steamed cake.
- Ube bibingka: a traditional rice cake.
- Ube buchi: fried, filled glutinous rice balls.
Just starting out? Begin with ube halaya: once you've mastered this jam, it opens the door to most of the other desserts.
Your choice
Whether you love the meltiness of a jam, the softness of a brioche or the coolness of an iced dessert, there's a Filipino ube dessert for you. And they're all easy to make at home with our ube powder.
- Ube comes in jams, brioches, breads, cakes and ice creams.
- Ube halaya is the base of many desserts.
- Halo-halo is the festive iced dessert par excellence.
- They're all made with ube powder.
See everything about ube halaya, ube in Filipino culture, or all our recipes.
All these desserts, at home.
Our 100% Kinampay ube powder lets you recreate the great Filipino desserts at home. It's up to you which one to start with.
Your questions: Filipino desserts.
What are the best-known Filipino ube desserts?
Ube halaya, halo-halo, ensaymada, pandesal, hopia, puto, bibingka and buchi are among the most emblematic.
What is ube halaya?
A slow-cooked purple yam jam, creamy and sweet. It's a dessert in its own right and the base of many other treats.
What is halo-halo?
A festive Filipino iced dessert, a mix of crushed ice, toppings and often ube, enjoyed especially in hot weather.
Can these desserts be made with ube powder?
Yes, most are easy to make with ube powder, simpler to find and dose than fresh ube.
Which Filipino dessert to start with?
With ube halaya: it's the basic jam, easy to succeed at and the starting point for many other desserts.