Purple Yam Cake

I have always been fascinated by the purple yams that whenever I spotted them at the grocery store I would be so excited that without thinking of my busy schedule for the following weeks I would just close my eyes to everything else and pick them up. But I don’t know what to say, if I was unlucky with them or was it just my sheer laziness that they had to end up in the garbage can. It was none, coz I am not a lazy person. I would somehow squeeze in time and try to get things done. I did try my best to make good use of them all those three or four times that I got them before finally tossing them out. Once I even boiled them and put them in the fridge but only to forget about them and later was forced to throw them away because of the pathetic state they were in. I feel guilty though for throwing away food. But couldn’t help it. Some times it is really really hard to keep up with the daily routine plus the extra load of work that falls on you. Still it’s no excuse that they had to meet this poor fate.

This time when I spotted these yams in the grocery store again I couldn’t resist, but before picking them up I said to myself “By the will of God” (InshaAllah) this time I will turn them into something really enjoyable. And so I did, my thanks to the Almighty. I probably broke the spell, Yay!!  I baked the purple yam cake, some cup cakes and then “Ube Decadence” which is a filipino dessert that I enjoyed at the Max’s restaurant in Dubai a couple of years back. That’s when I first got introduced to these purple yams which are called “Ube” in filipino.

I adapted this cake recipe from “all recipes” but made a few changes in order to be resourceful. I didn’t have cake flour with me, so I had to convert the all purpose flour to cake flour by deducting 2 tbs of A.P flour and then replacing it with corn starch. The Canadian all purpose flour has more protein (10-13%) than the cake flour which means more gluten formation. So corn starch is added to make it lighter like the cake flour. I substituted coconut milk for evaporated milk and used 6 eggs instead of 7. And of course I cut down on the sugar by just using 1 cup of the organic sugar for the cake. The “all recipes” recipe called for 1/2 cup of corn starch plus 1 cup of white sugar. The final result – It was a light and fluffy, dainty and decadent cake with the coconut and yam flavours playing in the background as they made a good pair. The sweetness was just perfect. Didn’t need more.

Ingredients:
For the Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup cooked purple yam (boiled and peeled)
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup white organic sugar
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla essence
red and blue food colouring (optional)
For the Icing:
1 cup coconut cream
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Combine together flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt and set aside.
2. Blend together the boiled purple yam with coconut milk, sugar, vanilla essence, egg yolks and oil. Add the flour mixture little by little and whisk well gently until smooth.
3. In a standing mixer beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy, add food colouring and whisk until soft peaks form and the colouring is evenly mixed.
4. Fold the egg whites gently into the cake mixture. Then pour the batter immediately into the cake dish. I poured some of the batter into a 8″ round pan and the rest into a muffin tin lined with paper cups for the Ube cup cakes.You could use two cake tins or bake in the desired shape and size you want.
5. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Mine took 30 minutes exact. Cool on wire wrack.
6. For the icing, cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar then add the coconut milk and whisk well until smooth and spreadable.
7. When the cake is cool enough, cut it into two layers and spread the icing in the centre and the top, then sprinkle the unsweetened desiccated coconut. Let it rest for an hour, then enjoy.

Notes:
1. If you have cake flour then just use 2 1/2 cups of cake flour. You add corn starch only if you are using the All purpose flour.
2. It is your choice whether to add the food colouring or not. The second picture shows the cake slice without food colouring added. it is the natural purple yam colour.
3. You could also use the Instant pot to boil the purple yams. Add 1 cup of water to the Instant pot place yams on the stand which should be inside the IP then set the steam mode to 5 minutes.
4. Do not over bake the cake.

Recipe

Purple Yam Cake

Author: Fouzia Husainy

I have always been fascinated by the purple yams. I love their intense taste and their strong flavour.

Course Baked goodies, Dessert, Eating healthy

Cuisine American cuisine, Canadian Cuisine

Ingredients

  

For the Cake:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup cooked purple yam boiled & peeled
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup white organic sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 6 egg whites
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• red and blue food colouring optional

For the Icing:

• 1 cup coconut cream
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 cup Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
• 1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325ºF. Combine together flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt and set aside.
• Blend together the boiled purple yam with coconut milk, sugar, vanilla essence, egg yolks and oil. Add the flour mixture little by little and whisk well gently until smooth.
• In a standing mixer beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy add food colouring and whisk until soft peaks form and the colouring is evenly mixed.
• Fold the egg whites gently into the cake mixture. Then I immediately poured the batter into a 8" round pan and the rest into a muffin tin lined with paper cups for the Ube cup cakes.You could use two cake tins and bake in the desired shape and size you want.
• Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. Mine took 30 minutes exact. Cool on wire wrack.

For the icing cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar then add the coconut milk and whisk well until smooth and spreadable.

• When the cake is cool enough, cut it into two layers and spread the icing in the centre and the top, then sprinkle the unsweetened desiccated coconut. Let it rest for an hour, then enjoy.

Notes

1. If you have cake flour then just use 2 1/2 cups of cake flour. You add corn starch only if you are using the All purpose flour.
2. It is your choice whether to add the food colouring or not. The second picture shows the cake slice without food colouring added. it is the natural purple yam colour.
3. You could also use the Instant pot to boil the purple yams. Add 1 cup of water to the Instant pot place yams on the stand which should be inside the IP then set the steam mode to 5 minutes.
4. Do not over bake the cake.

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