Ube Hopia

4.77 from 13 votes

Ube hopia is a Filipino treat made of flaky pastry filled with ube or purple yam. You don’t need an oven to make them and they’re easier to make than you think!

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Filipino

Servings: pieces

Calories: 187kcal

Author: Jolina

Equipment

Ingredients

First Dough (Flour)

2 cups all purpose flour + 2 tbsp
½ tsp salt
½ cup oil canola or vegetable
½ cup water room temperature

Second Dough (Butter)

1½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter softened

Filling

21 oz ube jam room temperature

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

First Dough (Flour)

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix until incorporated. I use a wooden spoon to start, then my hands to finish combining the mixture. Be careful not to over-mix. We’re not looking for a smooth mixture. As soon as the ingredients are blended and come together in a ball, stop mixing.
2 cups all purpose flour, ½ tsp salt, ½ cup oil, ½ cup water
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge.

Second Dough (Butter)

In another bowl, combine flour and sugar.
1½ cups all purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar
Add butter and cut into the flour using a pastry cutter or fork. Once incorporated, finish combining with your hands until it comes together in a ball. Again, we’re not looking for a perfectly smooth mixture here. Careful not to over-mix.
½ cup unsalted butter
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge.

Filling

Scoop your ube filling and roll into 24 balls. For evenly sized filling, weigh each ball and make them the same weight. I usually go for 25 g each.
21 oz ube jam

Making the Pastry

Place first dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle about ½ inch thick.
Crumble the second dough on top of the first dough until the first dough is completely covered.
Place plastic wrap on top and roll the second dough to flatten and smoothen it.
Remove plastic wrap, fold your dough lengthwise (left and right) so the edges meet in the middle, then crosswise (up then down).
Roll, flatten then fold again. Repeat this step one more time (for a total of 3 times). This is what gives hopia dough those flaky layers.
Once done, roll the dough into a log and slice into 24 pieces. For evenly sized hopia, weigh the dough and divide by 24. The result should be the weight of each piece of dough.

Assembly

Carefully roll and flatten each piece of dough into a 2-3 inch diameter circle. Handle gently because the dough will be soft and fragile.
Place ube filling.
Wrap the dough around and pinch the edges to seal.
Roll and shape into a ball, then flatten slightly into a hopia shape. Repeat until you’ve used all your dough and filling.

Cooking

Using a non-stick pan on medium heat, place hopia on the pan allowing space around each one. Cook until golden brown.
Flip and cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes.
Once both sides are cooked, flip the hopia again to cook the sides.
Remove from heat, allow to cool, and serve.

Video

Notes

If your first dough is too wet, add flour a little at a time until it becomes manageable.
We want the hopia dough to be flaky so be careful not to over-work it. I don’t recommend using an electric mixer in this recipe.
For the ube filling, I always use my homemade ube halaya. You can also buy a jar from the store; what’s important is to use ube jam that you enjoy eating on its own.
I find that it doesn't matter what size pan you use to cook the hopia. What matters is that you don’t crowd the pan when cooking.
I keep hopia on the counter for up to 2 days. After that I store it in a covered container in the fridge.
See post for more tips, FAQs and step-by-step photos.

Nutrition