Filipino Ube Ice Cream
Purple yam cooked down with condensed milk into a quick ube halaya, then whisked with coconut milk and churned into a violet, egg-free ice cream.
Ube (OO-beh) is the purple yam, Dioscorea alata, a staple of Filipino sweets; it is not taro and not purple sweet potato. Most of the "ube flavor" people know comes from ube halaya, a thick purple jam of yam cooked with milk or coconut milk and sugar, because boiled ube on its own tastes of very little (Wikipedia:). Wikipedia says the earliest recorded ube ice cream recipe is from 1922, during the American colonial period, when ice cream spread through the Philippines as sorbetes, hand-churned in a can called a garapinyera; that recipe used mashed ube, milk, sugar and crushed ice. Ube ice cream became a fixture of halo-halo and, later, an American trend: The Globe and Mail notes Trader Joe's launched ube ice cream in 2019.
Why it works the kitchen science
Yam as thickener
Ube is starchy, so cooked down with condensed milk it thickens the base the way egg yolks would in a custard (The Globe and Mail).
Cooked first
Making a quick halaya develops the cooked, vanilla-like ube flavor that raw or boiled ube lacks.
Step by step
- Step 1
Combine the ube and condensed milk in a large nonstick skillet or wide saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a bubble, about 3 minutes.
- Step 2
Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring and scraping constantly, until very thick and pulling away from the pan like a soft paste, 10 to 15 minutes. Lower the heat further if it spits or starts to brown.
- Step 3
Stir in the butter, if using, until melted, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
- Step 4
Whisk in the coconut milk, sugar and extract until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Step 5
Scrape into a bowl, cool 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, until cold.
- Step 6
Churn in an ice cream maker until thick, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Step 7
Pack into a container and freeze at least 4 hours, until scoopable.
Filipino Ube Ice Cream
Serves 6 · about 3 cups · 30 min total
Quick halaya
- 1/2 lb grated ube (about 1 3/4 cups), frozen and thawed, or fresh, boiled until tender, peeled and grated
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tbsp butter (optional)
Base
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk, well stirred
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp ube extract or vanilla extract
Method
- Combine the ube and condensed milk in a large nonstick skillet or wide saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a bubble, about 3 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring and scraping constantly, until very thick and pulling away from the pan like a soft paste, 10 to 15 minutes. Lower the heat further if it spits or starts to brown.
- Stir in the butter, if using, until melted, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
- Whisk in the coconut milk, sugar and extract until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Scrape into a bowl, cool 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, until cold.
- Churn in an ice cream maker until thick, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Pack into a container and freeze at least 4 hours, until scoopable.
Adapted from Julie Van Rosendaal's ube ice cream for The Globe and Mail (February 7, 2024): (about 250 g ube; one 398 mL can each of sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk; 2 tbsp butter, optional; 1/4 cup sugar; 1 tsp vanilla or ube extract; about three cups; the ube itself thickens the base, so there are no eggs). Converted to US cans: one 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk and one 13.5-ounce can of coconut milk. The source gives no cooking time; our 10 to 15 minutes and the serving count are ours. The Globe and Mail. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Frozen grated ube is sold in Filipino and many Asian grocery stores; fresh purple yam is harder to find. Do not substitute purple sweet potato and call it ube.
- Ube extract boosts the color and flavor (The Globe and Mail); without it the ice cream is a softer lilac.
- No machine: freeze in a metal pan and break it up with a fork several times as it sets, as the source suggests.
- Scoop it into halo-halo or serve it with toasted coconut.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Ube, taro and purple sweet potato are the same. Documented as false: Wikipedia distinguishes ube (Dioscorea alata) from both.
- Ube ice cream belongs in halo-halo. Disputed: Wikipedia says many halo-halo recipes leave it out because its creaminess and sweetness can throw off the balance, using ube halaya instead.
- Ube ice cream is a new trend. Folklore: the trend in the US is recent (Trader Joe's 2019, per The Globe and Mail), but Wikipedia dates a Philippine recipe to 1922.
- The color comes from food dye. Folklore as a rule: ube is naturally purple, but many commercial versions add extract or color; this recipe's extract is optional.
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