Ube Cake

I asked hubby what kind of cake he wanted me to make. I had him choose from either a Custard Cake or Ube Cake. Both of which are new recipes that I found and that I'll be trying for the first time. He chose ube cake.

I found this recipe from allrecipes.com. Actually, it was the only recipe I really found online. It received mixed reviews and I can see why. The cake was a little dry and the frosting was quite runny. Nevertheless, I wanted to give it a try so I can figure out how I can tweek it for next time.

Its suppose to be a 2-layer cake, but because I wasn't too happy with the frosting, I decided to use 1 layer for this particular frosting and the other layer will be used later when I try a different frosting. Maybe a swiss meringue type of frosting. We'll see. The flavors of this cake was quite good. The consistency wasn't as good. Hubby enjoyed it otherwise

2 1/2 cups cake flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup grated ube (purple yam)

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup light corn syrup

7 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

7 egg whites

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup sugar

6 drops red food coloring

6 drops blue food coloring

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 sticks butter, softened

purple food coloring

1) Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Line 2 - 9 inch pans with parchment/wax paper.

2) In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside

3) In a large bowl, combine milk and 1 tsp. vanilla. Add ube and blend until smooth. Blend in corn syrup, egg yolks, and oil. Beat in flour mixture until smooth. Set aside.

4) In a separate large mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until it starts to foam. Gradually add sugar and red & blue food coloring, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in 1/3 egg whites into ube batter. Then fold in the remaining egg whites and continue folding until no streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pans.

5) Bake for 35-45 minutes until the center of the cake bounces back when lightly touched. Cool completely before frosting.

6) To make the frosting, beat butter until it becomes light in color and fluffy. Beat in condensed milk and purple food coloring and blend until smooth. Continue adding food coloring until you reach the desired shade. If the frosting is too soft or wet, refrigerate until it hardens enough to frost the cake.