Ube Chiffon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

• cake flour
• baking powder
• sugar
• salt
• egg yolks
• neutral oil
• milk
• ube halaya
• ube extract
• purple food coloring
• egg whites
• cream of tartar
• castor sugar
• cream cheese
• vanilla extract
• icing sugar
• heavy cream

Preparation

1. Step 1

   0:33
   Prepare all ingredients in advance, measuring accurately with a kitchen scale if possible. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
2. Step 2

   1:10
   In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk until evenly combined and sift at least twice. If making homemade cake flour, replace 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour per cup with cornstarch.
3. Step 3

   1:59
   In another bowl, combine the egg yolks, neutral oil, room-temperature milk, ube halaya, ube extract, and optional purple food coloring. Mix until smooth and lump-free. Set aside.
4. Step 4

   3:36
   In a clean bowl with no traces of egg yolk, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar, then gradually add castor sugar while continuing to beat to stiff peaks that are firm, glossy, with slightly droopy tips. The meringue should hold when the bowl is inverted.
5. Step 5

   5:45
   Carefully fold the meringue into the yolk batter in three additions using a cut-and-fold motion while rotating the bowl. Use about 15-20 gentle folds per addition to avoid deflating the batter, until smooth and even.
6. Step 6

   6:50
   Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Line the bottoms of two 8-inch pans with parchment paper but do not grease the sides. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.
7. Step 7 · 170°C / 338°F · 30-35 min

   7:29
   Place the pans in a larger tray and pour hot water about 2 cm deep around them to create a water bath. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Step 8

   8:20
   Immediately invert the pans onto a cooling rack and leave them upside down until completely cool to prevent collapse.
9. Step 9

   8:41
   While the cakes cool, beat room-temperature cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and icing sugar, then slowly whip in cold heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Chill the frosting until ready to use.
10. Step 10

    10:03
    Release the cooled cakes from the pans. Cut each cake horizontally into two layers for a total of four layers. Use three layers for the cake and reserve one layer to make crumbs.
11. Step 11

    11:10
    Break the reserved cake layer into chunks and pulse in a food processor or manual chopper until fine and fluffy crumbs form.
12. Step 12

    11:28
    Place a small dab of frosting on a serving plate. Layer the three cake layers with about 1 cm of frosting between each, spreading evenly with a spatula. Cover the top and sides completely with frosting.
13. Step 13

    12:16
    Cover the frosted cake completely with the ube cake crumbs, pressing gently on the sides to adhere. Pipe small swirls of remaining frosting around the base or top using a 1M tip. Optionally dot with extra ube halaya.