Purple Yam-Yam Puffs

This recipe came about while I was making these during a bake-together with my friend, Ahran! The theme was to make fun or cute cream puffs with interesting flavors. Ahran did a coffee-mascarpone puff, using cold brew in the filling and in the pate choux, and glazing them in a cold brew ganache, which was…

Ube-Passionfruit-Coconut Cake

This recipe came about because I had ube paste, coconut milk, and fresh passionfruit, all of which I wanted to use, and preferably together. Ube(pronounced oo-beh) is a Filipino purple yam that is sweet and nutty in flavor. Almost like if you took a purple yam and toasted it with brown butter. Ube is a…

Milky Way Yokan

I love Tanabata. For those unfamiliar with it, Tanabata is a Japanese holiday where they have a star festival, celebrating all things wishes! It is held to commemorate the one day in the year(July 7th) where two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, who were separated by the Milky Way can see each other. Tags with wishes…

Ube-coconut cupcakes

Now I did a layer cake with ube and coconut recently. But before anyone tries to tell me that I am double-dipping, there are some differences between the two recipes, beyond one being cupcakes and the other being a layer cake. The first is that the layer cake gets a soak. The second is that…

Ube Wool Buns

I have always adored the aesthetic of wool bread. The dough is scored repeatedly on one side then rolled up prior to baking to create these really pretty ridges on top of the dough. There is just something about that appearance that takes me back to Asian bakeries. I wanted to make sure that this…

Ube-coconut layer cake

It had been a minute since I made an ube dessert, so I wanted to try another rendition, this time with a chiffon cake! Ube, for those unfamiliar, is a Filipino purple yam that is commonly used in desserts there. It does not grow naturally in America, so the best options you have for it…

“Butterfly Skies”(blueberry-yuzu) entremet

Now I would be lying if I said this recipe was easy. Or very doable. Or simple. I would not be lying if I said this recipe takes multiple days to execute without a blast chiller or liquid nitrogen. This is the kind of cake you would only make for special occasions. Between the techniques,…

Butterscotch and purple yam wool bread

These have been a brainchild of mine for a while – I wanted to make a fluffy, Chinese-style pastry with a baked yam filling since 2018 actually. But I was lazy. The idea of peeling and steaming yam and then mashing it sounded tedious. But then I realized, why not just microwave the yam? It’s…

Purple yam mooncakes

If I did not post a mooncake recipe this year, I would have felt like a bad Taiwanese American. I did make some last year, but that was more of a test run, using somebody else’s recipe. So this time, I went ahead and did some more tests, and came up with one that is…

Ube Basque cheesecake

I’ve made Basque cheesecakes before, but I wanted to try making another flavor, using leftover use paste that I had in my refrigerator. You know, a two in one. Practice a baked good, and also use up an ingredient/flavor that I have not necessarily touched in a while. Ube is a Filipino purple yam, and…

Eventide: a wagashi

I have been meaning to try making a mizugashi wagashi for a while. Mizugashi refers to clear water/translucent finish, which these desserts have. I really wanted to make one that was naturally colored, gluten-free, and vegan, just to embrace the beauty of nature, something that wagashi tries to embrace and capture. For mine, I used…

Duck banh mi with homemade baguette and purple yam chips

One of my absolute favorite sandwiches is the banh mi. A Vietnamese-French hybrid, it features a baguette that has pate, some sort of meat, pickled vegetables, chilies, and cilantro on it. It’s been one of my favorites for years ever since I had one from Lee’s Sandwiches(yes, I know it’s a chain, but still, the banh…

Stormy seas, clear skies tart

This was loosely inspired by a smoothie bowl aesthetic, but I wanted to that take and make a pie out of it. I don’t know. That’s just how I was feeling. There was something about round things being placed into swirly things that looks really cool. So I went ahead and made a purple ube…

Ube Buko Pie

The idea for this dessert came about because I wanted to create something similar to a Chess Pie, a Southern pie that is baked with a buttermilk custard, but I did not want to do something too predictable. So I looked into different kinds of pies that were similar to Chess Pie, and came across…

Fruity ube layer cake with ube mini doughnuts

I’m too lazy to write a foreword for this, so I will keep it very short, sweet, and to the point. This cake was inspired by Momofuku Milk Bar, and I wanted to incorporate tropical ingredients, so that’s where the coconut, banana, and ube came from. I used blackberries as well, because they add a…

Ube souffle pancakes

I love ube. Ube is a purple yam indigenous to Asia and it’s great for making many desserts with. Souffle pancakes, also called shiawase pancakes, are a very popular breakfast item or snack in Japan, known for their fluffy texture. Combine them together and theoretically, it should be a social media phenomenon. For my recipe,…