Ube Cheesecake

Ube cheesecake isn’t something you’ll find in your grandmother’s cookbook (unless your grandmother’s a Filipina), but it’s a dessert that’s well worth trying. In cheesecake, ube gives the filling an eye-catching purple hue that stands out on any dessert table. In this case, ube comes in the form of a thick jam that’s already sweetened. It’s an easier way to make ube cheesecake, rather than messing around with the frozen or powdered yam itself. Serve this on its own as an Instagram-worthy dessert, or offer it alongside a spread of Filipino recipes.

What is ube?

Ube is a specific type of purple yam that’s widely grown in the Philippines, where it’s a much-loved staple. It’s used in savory meals (just like regular sweet potatoes), but it’s also a big ingredient in sweets, used in many of the same ways pumpkin or orange sweet potatoes are used in North American baked goods. Europeans make similar use of chestnuts, another starchy ingredient.

Ingredients for Ube Cheesecake

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• Graham cracker crumbs: Graham cracker crumbs provide the main ingredient for the cheesecake’s crust.
• Sugar: Sugar sweetens the cheesecake filling, and it also helps give the crust its texture.
• Butter: Melted butter combines with the sugar and crumbs to form a firm crust for the cheesecake that will hold together as it’s sliced.
• Cream cheese: Cream cheese provides the cheesecake filling with richness and its signature tang, and it also makes this a surprisingly high-protein dessert.
• Sour cream: Sour cream adds tang and richness to the cheesecake filling, complementing both of those traits in the cream cheese.
• Ube jam (ube halaya): Ube jam, or ube halaya, is a sweet and creamy spread made by slow-cooking the sweet potatoes with some combination of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk or coconut milk. It gives the cheesecake a beautiful color and much of its flavor.
• Ube extract: Ube extract, like other flavoring extracts, provides a concentrated dose of the yam’s uniquely nutty and earthy flavor to both the filling and the ube-flavored whipped cream topping.
• Vanilla extract: Vanilla is a crucial flavoring in many desserts, and here it helps bring out the vanilla-like undertones in the ube’s flavor.
• Eggs: A cheesecake is essentially a baked custard, and the eggs provide the filling with the thickening it needs to set after baking.
• Heavy whipping cream: Whipping cream provides the base of the whipped topping for this ube cheesecake recipe.
• Confectioners’ sugar: Confectioners’ sugar helps sweeten and thicken the ube-flavored whipped cream.

Directions

Step 1: Make and bake the crust

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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a greased 9-inch springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 inches square). Wrap the foil securely around the pan, then place the pan on a baking sheet and set it aside. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar, then stir in the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes, until it’s lightly browned. Let it cool on a wire rack.

Step 2: Prepare the filling

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until it’s smooth, four to five minutes. Beat in the sugar, sour cream, ube jam and flavoring extracts until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, and beat at low speed until just blended.

Editor’s Tip: You don’t want to beat the filling vigorously once you’ve added the eggs, as you don’t want to beat air into the eggs, which would cause pitting in the surface of the cheesecake and change its texture. You might even opt to stir them in by hand, rather than using the mixer. As long as they’re combined with the other ingredients, you’re good to go.

Step 3: Bake the cheesecake

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Pour the cheesecake filling into the cooled crust. Place the filled springform pan inside a larger baking pan, and add 1 inch of hot water to the larger pan.

Bake the cheesecake until the center is just set and the top appears dull, 50 to 55 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven and cool for 30 minutes, or until the center is completely set.

Step 4: Chill the cheesecake

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Remove the larger pan from the oven, and carefully transfer the springform pan from the water bath to a wire rack. Allow the cheesecake to cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides from the pan with a knife, then remove the foil. Let it cool for one hour longer, then refrigerate it for three hours or overnight, covering it when it’s completely cooled.

Editor’s Tip: The baked cheesecake will contract somewhat as it cools, and if it’s stuck to the sides of your pan it will crack. To minimize the risk, carefully run a dull knife around the edge of the cheesecake, between the filling and the pan, to create some separation. As it cools, the cheesecake will shrink away from the pan’s sides (this will also make it easier to remove the ring).

Step 5: Garnish and serve

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream until it begins to thicken. Add the confectioners’ sugar, ube extract and vanilla extract, and continue beating until soft peaks form. Remove the sides of the springform pan, and spread or pipe the whipped cream on top of the cheesecake.

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Ube Cheesecake Variations

• Upgrade your crumbs: Graham cracker crumbs are the default for cheesecake crust, but they’re far from the only option. Switching to crushed vanilla wafers, for example, can reinforce ube’s subtle vanilla-like note. Coconut’s also a traditional pairing with ube, so swapping the grahams for coconut shortbread or another crunchy coconut cookie makes a pleasing combination. If you really want to enhance the Filipino connection, buy or bake Philippine cookies like arrowroot-based uraro or shortbread-like lengua de gato, and use those for your crust.
• Try a nut crust: Ube’s understated nutty flavor is part of its charm, and you can emphasize that by using a nut crust in place of the plain crumb crust. One option is to simply add finely chopped nuts to the crust mixture, before it’s pressed into the pan. To really double down on nutty flavor, replace up to half of the graham cracker crumbs with ground almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts. As the crust bakes, the nuts will toast and develop a rich flavor that complements the ube filling. You could also skip the grahams entirely and use a nut-based crust like the one from these nutty cheesecake squares.
• Bring out the coconut connection: We’ve already mentioned that ube and coconut are friends, and that’s a connection you might want to emphasize. Adding shredded coconut to the graham crust is one easy option. You can leave the coconut as is for a chewier crust, or pulse it in your food processor to keep the flavor but minimize chewing. Alternatively, replace the crumb crust entirely and use the crust from a coconut bars recipe instead. In the topping, you could replace the vanilla with coconut extract. Another option is to skip the whipped cream in favor of an Italian meringue, the kind that doesn’t need to be baked. If you haven’t made it before, just follow the recipe for Italian meringue buttercream but skip the part where you add butter. Fold coconut into the meringue, and spread it in soft mounds or pipe it over the cheesecake, then use a kitchen torch to brown and caramelize it.

How to Store Ube Cheesecake

Like other cheesecakes, this one needs to be refrigerated in order to remain food safe. To prevent it from drying out or absorbing unwanted flavors from the fridge, the cheesecake should be kept in an airtight food-storage container or cake keeper.

How long will ube cheesecake keep?

Homemade cheesecake stays good for up to five days in the refrigerator, as a rule. Unfortunately the whipped cream topping isn’t as durable. It will deflate after the first two to three days, unless you choose to stabilize it with gelatin.

Can I freeze this cheesecake?

Yes, cheesecake is a very freezer-friendly dessert. The whipped cream is the weak point, because it will deflate and “weep” liquid when thawed. It’s best to scrape the whipped cream from the portions you freeze. If you make an ube cheesecake specifically to freeze for later, omit the whipped cream entirely. In either case, you can make more when you thaw the cheesecake to serve it.

For a whole cheesecake, freeze it first, then transfer it to a freezer bag or container. That way it’s less likely to be damaged. For partial cheesecakes or individual portions, follow the same process. A frozen cheesecake remains food safe indefinitely, but over time it will develop off flavors or become freezer-burnt. Typically three to six months is its limit, depending on how well it’s packaged. It will be at its best during the first one to three months.

Ube Cheesecake Tips

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How do I know when the cheesecake is baked enough?

It’s always a bit of a judgment call, especially if you don’t bake cheesecake often. You should see just a bit of a jiggle left at the very middle if you shake the pan. Rapping the edge of the pan with a wooden spoon is another good test. If you see ripples, it’s not yet ready, but if it wobbles without ripples it’s about done.

There’s a trade-off here: If the cheesecake is underdone it won’t be entirely set, but if it’s overbaked, it’s likely to crack. In this instance you can err on the side of overdone. The topping of whipped cream will conceal any cracks and preserve the cheesecake’s appearance.

Do I need to bake the cheesecake in a water bath?

It’s not absolutely mandatory, but it helps. A cheesecake baked without a water bath is likelier to overbake and crack, especially around the edges. If you want to avoid messing with a pan of hot water, there are workarounds. One is baking the cheesecake at a lower temperature for a longer time. Wrapping your springform pan with insulating cake strips also helps; that way the edges don’t overbake before the middle sets.

Where can I buy ube jam and ube extract?

Ube jam and ube extract aren’t hard to find anymore in larger cities. Look in the international foods section of your local supermarket, or check for Filipino markets in your area. If they aren’t available at a brick-and-mortar retailer, they’re easy to order online.