This ube pound cake features a cream cheese swirl that is so creamy and delicious!
One of my favorite things to bake is bread, loaves of bread. Sometimes I make savory ones but 9 times out of 10, they're usually sweet loaves such as pound cakes. They yield the perfect amount for enjoying with a few guests over your favorite coffee. I love the unique coconutty flavor that ube offers and thought it would be perfect for incorporating into an ube pound cake recipe.
First things first. What is ube?
Ube goes by many different names such as: greater yam, dioscorea alata or simply, purple yam. Ube originated in the Philippines. I would say the flavor resembles that of a coconut and vanilla flavor.
What ingredients will I need?
For the cake portion:
- Self-rising flour. Hooray for less ingredients!
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
For the cream cheese mixture:
- 1, 8 oz. block of cream cheese
- An egg
- Granulated sugar
- halaya (purple yam jam)
- ube extract
- all-purpose flour
Tasting notes from this recipe: rich butter flavor from the pound cake combined with a coconut and vanilla creaminess from the ube cream cheese.
Assembling your cake
To achieve a nice, swirl or marble effect, you'll want to add a layer of your cake batter to the bottom of your loaf pan. Use a little less than half for this and spread with a spatula. From there, you will pour your ube cream cheese mixture over the cake batter. Pour remaining cake batter over cream cheese mixture. Gently spread with a spatula, being careful to not overly mix it with the cream cheese.
For the swirl design, use a chopstick or wooden skewer and run it through the batter 3 or 4 times, lengthwise then side to side until desired look is achieved.
How should I store this pound cake?
You can store your cake at room temperature. I recommend storing it in an airtight container or ziploc bag. Wrapping it in plastic wrap also helps retain the moisture.
Looking for other ube recipes to try? Check out 3 Reasons to Make This Ube Swirl Cheesecake and The Ube Macaroons Vegan Recipe You Didn’t Know You Needed
Links to ube halaya and ube extract on Amazon.
Ube Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 11 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 3 eggs, whisked
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Mixture
- 1 egg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon ube halaya
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened full fat
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ube extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease your 9"x5" loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat on high speed until mixture appears light and fluffy. Add in the 3 whisked eggs, vanilla extract and pinch of salt.
- Add flour to wet mixture, a little bit at a time and mixing just until moistened. Use a spoon or spatula for this. Set aside and make cream cheese mixture.
For cream cheese mixture
- Combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in egg.
- Add in ube halaya, 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon ube extract. Combine well.
Assembling your pound cake
- Add a layer of the pound cake mixture to the bottom of your loaf pan (a little less than half). Smooth with a spatula.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture all over the layer of pound cake. Spread with a spoon or spatula. Pour remaining pound cake mix pound over the ube cream cheese. Gently spread with a spatula, being careful to not overly mix it with the cream cheese.
- For the swirl design, use a chopstick or wooden skewer and run it through the batter 3 or 4 times, lengthwise then side to side until desired look is achieved.
- Bake at 350°F for 50-55 minutes. The corners may start to get golden at this point. You may cover the pound cake with foil if you find that you need to bake your cake longer.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes on a wire rack before removing from loaf pan.
- Feel free to enjoy with a nice scoop of vanilla bean or ube ice cream!
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