Ube Chiffon Cake Recipe (with Video Instructions)

Ube chiffon cake is light, airy and melts-in-your-mouth. With its vibrant purple colour and delicious ube flavour, it’s perfect for special occasions. Easy to make, it’s great as an everyday cake too!

(Looking for a recipe for ube cake with frosting? Check out this delicious ube purple yam cake frosted with the most delightful ube Swiss meringue buttercream.)

As much as I love frosting, I love simple cakes more. Cakes that aren’t overwhelmingly sweet that you can’t, ironically, stop eating it lol. 

This ube chiffon cake is like that. No frosting. Not even a glaze. It’s great on its own it doesn’t need anything else.

I also like that it’s light and fluffy but has a depth to it, you know what I mean? It’s also moist and wonderfully packed with that distinct ube flavour. 

It’s a lovely cake to serve to company; who wouldn’t be impressed by that bright colour? But it’s also so simple and easy to make, you can bake it any day just because. And if you’re a fan of ube like me, you’d want to make this cake all the time.

What is ube?

Ube (pronounced ooh-bae) is purple yam native to the Philippines. It’s sweet but not too sweet; starchy but not as starchy as sweet potatoes. It’s packed with nutrients too.

Every year, ube climbs up the trendy, must-try food ladder not only because of its bright purple hue but also because of its very unique taste. And I say it’s about time. 

Filipinos around the world have been eating (and loving) the lowly ube forever and it’s wonderful that it’s finally given the attention it deserves.

I have a ton of delicious ube dessert recipes here on TUB (just type “ube” on the search bar) but I have never been 100% successful describing how ube tastes like. It’s definitely something you want to try for yourself.

Ube jam is the most widely available kind of ube dessert that you can try. Not all jams are created equal though. And some are downright bad to be honest with you. 

I’m partial to the original Good Shepherd ube jam so grab one if you can find it! Homemade ube halaya is great too.

What is chiffon cake?

To quote Wikipedia: 

A chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavourings. Its distinctive feature is from the use of vegetable oil, instead of the traditional fat which is solid at room temperature, such as butter or shortening.

This means chiffon cakes are very soft and very light. Egg whites are also usually beaten and added separately to the cake batter and this further adds to the airy texture chiffon cakes have. 

Chiffon cakes are part of the sponge cake family. Here’s a helpful intro into the wonderful wide world of sponge cakes.

Ingredients for ube chiffon cake

Now on to baking our ube chiffon cake! You’ll need:

• Cake flour
• Granulated sugar
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Eggs – some whole, some separated
• Water
• Canola or vegetable oil (any flavourless oil will do)
• Ube extract (this recipe doesn’t have added food colouring; the cake gets all that wonderful purple from the ube extract)
• Cream of tartar

Cake flour has lower protein content than all-purpose flour and results to soft, delicate, fine-crumbed cakes like chiffon cakes and angel food cakes. If you only have all-purpose flour, you can still make chiffon cake by adding cornstarch into your mixture. 

Here’s a great guide on how to make cake flour with all-purpose flour.

Tools you need to make this chiffon cake recipe

Other than that, the rest of the tools you need are pretty basic:

• Electric hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons

How to make ube chiffon cake

1. PREP TUBE PAN. Adjust your baking rack to the lower third/lower middle position and preheat oven to 325F. Line the bottom of a 16-cup tube pan with parchment paper (see guide below) and set aside.

5. COOL ON COUNTER. If your tube pan has “feet” on its rim, invert pan to cool cake. If your pan doesn’t have feet, invert your pan over the neck of a bottle so that the air can circulate. Cool completely; about a couple of hours. 

6. REMOVE FROM PAN AND SERVE. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake then gently tap upside down (I like catching the cake onto a piece of parchment paper or on a cutting board). Peel off parchment paper on the bottom of the cake, turn the cake right side up on a cake platter and enjoy!

Chiffon cake troubleshooting guide

How do I know if my cake is done baking?

You’ll know your chiffon cake is done baking if the bamboo skewer you inserted comes out with minimal dry crumbs. This means if it comes out with wet chunks of batter, it needs to bake some more.

The cake should also be lightly springy to the touch. If cake batter sticks to your finger or doesn’t produce a bit of resistance, it’s not done.

Why is my ube chiffon cake dry and rubbery?

When they say baking is a science, they’re not kidding! Several factors can contribute to a rubbery cake, like:

• Over-mixing the batter or mixing it too heavy-handedly; this results to heavy, dense, rubbery cakes.

• Your oven temperature might have been too high; invest in an oven thermometer so you know you’re always baking at the right temperature.

• The cake baked for too long; over-baking cakes causes it to lose moisture and become dry and rubbery.

It’s good to always read the recipe beforehand but also trust your gut because you know your oven best. If you think your cake needs to stay in the oven longer or needs to be taken out earlier, you’re probably right.

Why did my chiffon cake collapse after baking?

Again, there are several factors you need to consider.

• Did you beat the egg whites properly? Not beating the egg whites enough will cause the cake to collapse; over-beating them will result to a dense cake.

• Did you grease your pan? I hope not! The cake batter needs to cling to the sides and centre of the tube pan in order to rise. Some bakers suggest using a non non-stick pan for optimal results but I’ve always baked my chiffon cakes in my non-stick pan and they turn out fine. I just don’t grease them when baking chiffon cakes.

• Did you bake at the right temperature? If your oven temperature is too low, your chiffon cake will not rise properly. Again, an oven thermometer helps a lot.

• How did you cool your chiffon cake? It’s important to invert your tube pan while the cake cools. Otherwise, it will collapse onto itself.

Help! My cake is stuck in the pan.

Usually, the best way to avoid cake sticking to a pan is greasing the pan before pouring the batter into it. 

However, chiffon cakes need to stick to the sides and centre of your pan to help it rise. Which is fine because it’s easy enough to run a thin, sharp knife around the edges and centre of the pan to detach your cake.

The bottom part is a little bit more challenging so I always line it with parchment paper. Tube pans are tricky to line with parchment so here’s a handy guide.

Happy baking!

Did you make this ube chiffon cake recipe? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below. And check this out if you’re looking for more Filipino dessert recipes!