This recipe was actually a cake order for my childhood friend, Lily! More specifically, Lily ordered it for her older sister, Weili, for her birthday. Lily and I technically go all the way back to 4th grade, when she first moved to the states from Taiwan. We weren’t super close though, mostly because back in the 4th grade, I got in a lot of trouble with my teacher, who went out of her way to create an environment that stifled creative freedom and self-expression. She forbade drawing, wouldn’t let 9 year olds read comic books in class, and whenever I made origami animals, she would snatch them out of my hands, crumple them up, throw them away, and make me sit in detention. So 4th grade for me was more preoccupied from dealing with a horrible (and luckily no longer employed at our elementary school) teacher, while Lily herself was still acclimating to a new country, culture, and language. Fortunately, and this is where Lily does remember me from, in high school, we managed to reconnect through being in the same Japanese class, and we got along great! We kept in touch all of these years later, and Lily even reached out to me a few years back to make a wedding cake for our mutual friend from high school! So when Lily reached out to me to make a birthday cake for her sister, I did not even hesitate. The specifics in the order included that Weili loves the color purple, loves taro cake, and more specifically, loves the Chinese bakery taro cake that has the layers of egg pudding in it. Since I have all of those parameters set for me, it was really fun and easy to conceptualize something for this order! I do have to reiterate that this was for a cake order, so while I do not have any cross section pictures of the cake itself, you can still marvel at the pretty exterior shots I managed to get.

For the components, we have a purple taro chiffon cake, egg pudding layers, a purple ube milk soak, taro mousseline, and candied taro chips. Taro, for those who have never had it before, is a starchy root vegetable, similar to a potato, that is commonly eaten in Asian cuisines. Randomly, it is popular in desserts and has a lilac color to it, though I honestly prefer ube to taro, just because ube has a more pronounced purple color, a nuttier flavor, and actually tastes sweet. So in this case, I did use a little bit of ube extract just to add those nuttier notes, and also since it has purple coloring in it, just to tint components, namely the mousseline, darker shades of purple, per Lily’s request to make the cake purple in coloration. For the chiffon cake and mousseline, I did use a freshly made taro puree, just to get that flavor profile in there. A smaller portion of the puree went into the cake itself, while the majority was whipped with simple syrup and butter to form the mousseline that acted like a buttercream throughout the cake! The egg custard is similar to a no-bake creme brulee or flan, being set with gelatin into 5-inch ring molds, and then frozen solid so that pressing it between the cake layers became more manageable. The taro chips themselves were made by boiling thin slices of taro in simple syrup(which was then recycled into the mousseline), and slowly baking them until they dried and caramelized slightly. Overall, I had a surprising amount of fun making this cake! I was dreading working with fresh taro, since the skin of it can make you feel itchy, and having to boil and puree cubes of it sounded tedious, but those processes actually went by really quickly. I would say the more time-consuming portions of this recipe was in the assembly of the cake itself, the freezing of the egg custard layers, which is highly crucial so you don’t have sweet scrambled eggs between your layers, and allocating enough time to properly dehydrate your taro chips. But it was all worth it, especially when I heard back from Weili herself that she loved the cake! I honestly prefer it when clients order a cake with someone’s specific interests in mind, because it feels a lot more personal. So it means a lot to be able to take their preferences and likes and transform that into a completely customized cake-eating experience for them!

For the candied taro chips:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
a pinch of salt
2oz taro, peeled and sliced on the thinnest setting on a mandolin

In a pot, bring sugar, water, and salt to a simmer. Take the pot off heat and stir into that the taro, letting it sit in the warm syrup for 10 minutes. Line a parchment sheet with cooking spray. Pat the taro slices dry and lay them out on the parchment. Reserve the syrup, as you will be using that for the mousseline! Spray the top sides with more cooking spray, lay on another sheet of parchment, and place the parchment between two sheet trays. Bake like this for 10 minutes at 200 degrees F first. Then remove the top sheet tray and parchment layer and continue baking for another 2 hours. Store the chips in an airtight container.

For the taro puree:
9oz taro, peeled and diced
water
salt

Cook the taro in salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes, or until fork-tender. Strain out the water, and press the taro through a potato ricer. Allow the taro puree to cool down before attempting to use in this recipe.

For the taro chiffon:
4 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1.5oz canola oil
3oz taro puree
1 drop purple ube extract
a pinch of salt
3oz all-purpose flour

In a bowl, whip the egg whites with sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks. In another bowl, mix the egg yolks with oil, taro puree, ube extract, and salt until combined. Sift into the taro mixture your flour, and then fold together with the egg whites to form your batter. Spread the batter onto a lined half sheet tray and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Allow the cake to cool before cutting out 3 6-inch cake rounds, using the scraps as necessary to form your third layer. Freeze the cake rounds solid for assembly.

For the pudding layers:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, bring milk, cream, and gelatin to a simmer. In another bowl, mix together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Once the gelatin has fully dissolved into the milk, pour half of the milk mixture into the eggs while whisking the eggs, and then pour the egg-milk mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk. Whisk that mixture on low heat for 3 minutes, then pass through a sieve to remove any lumps. Add in your vanilla to this. Line two 5-inch ring molds with cling wrap and cooking spray and place onto a freezer-safe transferrable surface. Divide the liquid between the two molds. If the tops are bubbly, you can skim off the tops using a spoon. Freeze the mixtures for at least 3 hours – you want these layers to be frozen solid for easier assembly.

For the taro mousseline:
6oz taro puree
reserved poaching syrup
a pinch of salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 drops purple ube extract
2 tbsp lilac taro powder

In a pot on medium heat, stir the taro, syrup, and salt together until everything is combined and forms a loose paste that registers around 150 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, whip together the butter, 1 drop ube extract, and all of the lilac taro powder first. Add to that the taro paste and whip until combined. Remove roughly 3/4 of the mousseline and add to the remaining 1/4 the additional drop of ube extract, mixing until combined.

For the soak:
1/2 cup milk
a pinch of salt
1 drop purple ube extract

In a bowl, mix these ingredients together. Brush the three cake rounds with the soak.

For assembly:
Edible pearl sprinkles

Start by brushing one round of the cake with the soak, and spreading on 2 to 3 tbsp of the mousseline in an even layer. Place down into the center of that one of the frozen egg pudding layers and pipe a border of mousseline around that. Repeat these steps with the next round of cake, using the scrap layer. Then place on the last round of the cake, apply the soak onto that, and spread about 2 to 3 tbsp of mousseline on top of that. Flatten any mousseline that is coming out of the sides of the cake so that the edges of the cake are smooth and flat before transferring to the freezer for 1 hour. After an hour, spread the remaining lighter purple mousseline onto the cake, spreading that around the cake until it evenly enrobes the entire cake in a smooth layer. Pipe dots of the darker purple mousseline sporadically around the cake, and using an offset spatula, smear them against the cake to create darker purple streaks. With any remaining mousseline, pipe it on top of the cake in a border to finish. Garnish the top of the cake with some edible pearl sprinkles, and the sides and top with the taro chips.