Ube & Coconut Pudding, a Colourful Summer Dessert
Learn how to make ube and coconut pudding, a pretty purple vegan dessert. Ube is otherwise known as purple yam and is a root vegetable which is widely recognised for its beautiful purple hue and its health benefits.
As a child I watched my mom and relatives use coconut, ube, and tapioca among other ingredients in a variety of my favourite desserts. There were 2 Filipino desserts called Halo Halo and Ginataang Bilo Bilo in my childhood. Halo Halo is a shaved ice dessert with Ube ice cream, tapioca topped with a variety of fruits. Ginataang Bilo Bilo is a sweet coconut soup with tapioca, rice balls and fresh fruit. These traditional Filipino desserts inspired me to make this ube and coconut pudding dessert.
When I was a pre-teen, I helped my mom with her baking. I remember sitting on a wooden seat with the end having a steel teeth which is a grater that my father made and grated the coconut out of the shell. Coconut is a major ingredient in a lot of Filipino and Hawaiian desserts.
Ube is a major ingredient in Filipino desserts. Ube comes from a purple yam originally from the Philippines. It’s a bright purple sweet potato. It’s boiled and mashed and used in a lot of desserts. To make the powder it’s pulverized.
There are 3 parts to this delicious ube & coconut pudding dessert. Both the Ube paste and coconut creme can be made a day in advance to speed up preparation time. This is a vegan dessert so long as you follow my recipe and don’t substitute it for other ingredients.
Ube and Coconut Pudding Recipe
Ube Paste
Ingredients
- 9 tsp Ube powder
- 1 1/2 cups water
Yields 1 cup.
- In a small saucepan combine the Ube powder and water. Bring to a boil and keep stirring.
- Once it boils, lower heat and continue stirring until it thickens to a paste. Let it cool and it will thicken more as it cools.
- Set aside in the fridge. You can make this ahead of time a day in advance.
Coconut Creme (Topping)
Ingredients
- 2 cans coconut cream or coconut milk (Do not shake or tip can)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp date syrup or honey or your desired sweetener or powdered sugar. I used date syrup because it is the best substitute for sugar, and it is vegan. If using powdered sugar sift it into the mix.
- Open the coconut cream or milk and scoop out just the cream part, leaving the liquid. Reserve the liquid on the side.
- Start whipping up the cream on medium setting. It could take up to 3-4 minutes or more to get soft peaks. Continue whipping. If you get any chunks, then you can add a little liquid and whip to smooth it out. Add the vanilla extract and whip. Then add the date syrup then continue whipping to smooth.
- Chill in fridge for at least 2-3 hours before topping pudding or you can also make this ahead of time. Coconut cream can stay in the fridge in a tightly sealed container for up to 2 weeks.
#1 Tip: You want to buy a full fat high-quality Coconut Cream or Coconut Milk to make this. Also, try to make this a day ahead. Put your cans in the fridge overnight and glass bowl in freezer 15 mins before preparing.
#2 Tip: Save the coconut liquid in case you need it to break up chunks when whipping up cream. Only necessary if whipping and if it’s too thick and chunky it will smooth it out quickly at the end.
#3 Tip: If you need more creme to add another can and add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and more sweetener.
Ube and Coconut Pudding (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Ube paste
- 1/4 cup small tapioca pearls
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of your choice
- 3 Tbsp coconut cream (scoop top part out of the can of coconut cream)
- 2 Tbsp Date syrup
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla extract
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Once it is boiling add the Tapioca pearls. Boil for 3 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and cover with a lid and let sit for 30-35 until the tapioca pearls are completely clear and there are no white centres. Drain over a fine sieve and rinse with cold water, drain and set aside. Put in a container in the fridge to cool. This step can be done in advance.
- In a blender mix the almond milk, coconut cream, salt, vanilla extract, date syrup, and Ube paste until its smooth.
- Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl and add tapioca pearls and whisk it in.
- Portion it into glass jars or tiny bowls. Chill for at least 6 hours before topping with coconut creme. Then chill again overnight and your ube & coconut pudding will be ready to eat the next day. Enjoy!
Follow Aileen on Instagram for more yummy Filipino dessert recipes! Interested in more desserts from Southeast Asia? Try making Kuih Dadar, a pandan flavoured crepe from Malaysia.
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