Purple Yam Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Icing

Kitchen experiment time y’all!  I am diving into the ‘ber months in sweet treat style.  Lately, the posts here in Amusing Maria have been about sweet stuff, see here and here and there’s more to come.  My sweet mood the last few weeks have been about Ube or Purple Yam resulting in Purple Yam Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Icing.

Purple Yam or Ube is a highly used ingredient in the Philippines for desserts and candies.  Ube flavored anything is usually all shades of purple.  Yes! We have purple food in my country, and it is so good.  I remember special occasions back home where dessert tables would have one to three each of  the two-tiered Ube Cake with Coconut/Macapuno Strings, Ube Cake Roll, or Ube Halaya.  The latter is a thick pudding made from Purple Yam, Sugar, Condensed and Evaporated milk.

I have always been more of a cook than a baker.  I like chopping and tossing ingredients in a pan rather than precisely measuring each ingredient for baking.  The recipe list to make good Ube Cake is long and many bakers can relate to the list.  It’s three separate recipes for the icing, the filling, and the cake itself.  Scary!  Nuh-uh, Nope, I can’t. I just can’t. I was not blessed with patience by the baking gods. Unfortunately, the city I live in is miles away (at least a two hour drive) from any Filipino bakeshop that sells good Ube cake.  What did I do? I reinvented the (purple) wheel by channeling inspiration from the  english proverb “Necessity is the mother of invention”.

The idea came to me when I saw a recipe for  Two Ingredient Pumpkin Cake.  A can of pumpkin and a box of cake mix.  Seriously?  It can be done?  I completed recipe experiments a few months ago using Ube instead of canned Pumpkin.  The result was delicious but not worth the “look what I made” post for the blog.  We had travels and wedding plans (see here) and work in the kitchen was put on hold.  When my Ube Cake craving came a knocking 2 weeks ago I told Sister Craving to come in, sit, and relax!  I patted her hand and said:  “We’re going to figure this out.”

Cooking Notes for Purple Yam Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Icing:

I suggest preparing purple yam (mashed or rehydrated) ahead of time.  Purple Yams are not available where I live so I used one pack (115 grams) of Powdered Purple Yam for the cupcake recipe.

• Rehydrate Purple Yam Powder with four cups of water and sweeten with 4 tablespoons of sugar.
• Place in pan, mix frequently for  30 minutes on medium heat,
• Cook the mixture down (equal to about 2-3 cups) to a paste-like consistency similar to pudding or baby food.

The coconut cream is made of coconut cream and confectioners sugar.  Tools and ingredients need to be chilled in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

• Mix coconut cream with confectioners sugar according to taste
• Whip mixture until it thickens
• Store in a sealed container until ready to

Print Recipe

Purple Yam Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Icing

Author: Amusing Maria

Ingredients

For Purple Yam Cupcakes

• 3 cups Rehydrated Purple Yam
• 1 Box White Cake Mix
• 2 eggs

For Coconut Cream Icing

• 3 Cups Coconut Cream
• 3/4 to 1 cup Confectioner's Sugar or according to taste

Instructions

For Purple Yam Cupcakes

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Sift Cake mix in large bowl
• Add purple yam and eggs
• Mix well with a spatula
• Pour Purple Yam Cupcake Batter into lined muffin tins.
• Bake for 23- 25 minutes or until done
• Cake is done when toothpick in center comes out clean
• Cool in pan or wire rack
• Wait for cupcakes to cool before icing

For Coconut Cream Icing

• Whip Coconut Cream Icing in a mixing bowl
• Add Confectioner's sugar by sifting the sugar in the bowl
• Mix well and chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour
• Whip again for a few seconds (optional) before topping cupcakes