So I actually made this cake as an order for one of my closest friends’ boyfriend’s birthday! She requested it to have ube since he’s Filipino, and he loves the color purple. So I went with an ube cake with a mango-lime pudding layer, as well as a pandan-buko French buttercream, and ube crumble as well. Truth be told, I very rarely use purple food coloring, but I had to make an exception here just because attempts without it did not work at all.

For the ube cake:
8 oz ube paste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 egg whites
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup canola oil
a pinch of salt
Purple food coloring*

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks with your sugar. Whisk the egg yolks with ube paste, baking powder, salt, and canola oil until combined. Sift into that your flour and fold in the egg whites. Pour into a lined sheet tray and bake at 350 degrees F for 22 minutes. Cool down the cake before cutting into 3 6-inch rings. Reserve your scraps for the crumble portion.

For the ube crumble:
reserved cake crumbs
ube puree
coconut oil

You want a ratio of 4 parts crumbs to 2 parts puree and 1 part oil. Combine together and spread on a lined sheet tray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes and allow to cool before breaking apart into smaller pieces.

For the pandan soak:
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon pandan extract
a pinch of salt

Mix together to form your soak.

For the pandan French buttercream:
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
a pinch of salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pandan extract

Heat water, sugar, and salt to form a syrup. Pour into the egg yolks and whisk to stiff peaks. Mix in your butter and extract to finish.

For the lime-mango curd:
1/2 cup mango puree
Juice and zest from 4 limes
2 tablespoons cornstarch
a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons coconut oil

Whisk everything together on medium-high heat until combined and thickened. Pass through a sieve and refrigerate until completely cooled down.

To garnish:
Coconut flakes

Line a 6-inch ring mold with acetate. Place in the first ring of cake, then add in 1/3 of your soak, then spread on 1/3 of your buttercream, 1/3 of your crumble, and 1/3 of your curd. Repeat with your remaining two layers. For the top layer, do the crumble on top of your two fillings and garnish with the coconut flakes to finish. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before unmolding and serving.