Growing up in the Philippines, ube is readily available. You can go to the "mercado" and buy ube from there. Ube is very versatile; you can use ube in any pastry. You can use it in a cake (my favorite cake of all time), shake, bread and anyything you can possibly think of. Anyways, when my family moved to Cananda, one thing I missed the most is the food and the flavors of Philippines. It really sucks that alot if this pastries is not readily available where I live, so I made a vow to myself that I will re-create all of the food I remember growing up in my own kitchen.
Anyways, here it goes. This is my first ube recipe and I decided to make ube bread. You can buy frozen ube from any Asian or filipino store. So, the first thing you need to do is make your favorite sweet bread. Personally, I love challah bread it's a soft, eggy bread and not too sweet that works so well with ube. You can make ube loaf if you choose but for me I usually make individual roll or make it like a cinnamon bread but with ube. :) Here is my favorite challah bread recipe and it's super easy.
Challah bread recipe (taken from www.shiksa.com)
DOUGH INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, divided
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 1/2 to 6 cups flour
- Pour ¼ cup of the lukewarm water (about 110 degrees) into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 packet of Active Dry Yeast and 1 tsp of sugar to the bowl, stir to dissolve. Wait 10 minutes. The yeast should have activated, meaning it will look expanded and foamy. If it doesn’t, your yeast may have expired, which means your bread won’t rise—go buy some fresh yeast!
- Once your yeast has activated, add remaining 1 ¼ cup lukewarm water to the bowl along with the egg, egg yolks, honey, canola oil and salt. Use a whisk to thoroughly blend the ingredients together.
- Begin adding the flour to the bowl by half-cupfuls, stirring with a large spoon each time flour is added. When mixture becomes too thick to stir, use your hands to knead.
- Continue to add flour and knead the dough until it’s smooth, elastic, and not sticky. The amount of flour you will need to achieve this texture varies—only add flour until the dough feels pliable and “right.” If you plan to add raisins or chocolate chips to the challah, incorporate into the dough as you knead.
- Meanwhile, remove the dough from your mixing bowl and wash out the bowl. Grease the bowl with canola oil. Push the dough back into the bottom of the bowl, then flip it over so that both sides are slightly moistened by the oil.
- Cover the bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Place the bowl of dough on the middle rack of your oven. Take the saucepan full of boiling water and place it below the rack where your dough sits. Close the oven, but do not turn it on. The pan of hot water will create a warm, moist environment for your dough to rise. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
- Take the dough bowl out and punch it down several times to remove air pockets. Place it back inside the oven and let it rise for 1 hour longer.
- UBE HALAYA
- While the dough is rising, take the package of ube (454g) place it in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cup of milk or coconut milk and 3/4 cup of sugar. Stir the ingredients together until well combined. Make sure your stove is only on medium as the ube can easily burn. Keep stirring until the mixture is thick. Once the ube mixture thickened, remove it from the burner and let it cool. The mixture does get thicker once it's cooled.
- Take the dough out of the oven. Flour a smooth surface like a cutting board. Punch the dough down into the bowl a few times, then turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Knead for a few minutes, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from feeling sticky. Cut the dough in half and roll the dough about 1/2inch thick like the picture above.
- Once you rolled it to your desired thickness, take about 1/2 cup of the ube filling and spread the filling all the way to the edges.
