If there was one thing I enjoyed eating as a child, it was ube ice cream and ube cake.
While I have been focused on healthy eating, recently for my grandmother’s 90th surprise birthday party, ube ice cream (Magnolia’s ube ice cream is delish!), cake (oh, try it at Red Ribbon Bakery) and other delicacies were available.
And I suppose for many, the sweet and delicious taste of ube is enough to get everyone to eat it.
So, I had to partake in a small bowl and a small plate of ube ice cream and cake this past weekend! And as I remembered it, it was absolutely delicious!
Now, it’s not one of those foods you will find at your local supermarket. Chances are you will find ube ice cream or cake at your nearest Filipino grocery store.
And while I have eaten ube as a dessert, pastry and as ice cream, I really don’t know much about it.
So, I figured, why not look it up!
Ube is best known as Dioscorea alata aka “purple yam”. It is not taro or Okinawa sweet potato but its origins are from Asia, South America and Australia, as well as the US Southeast.
Back then, as a folk medicine it was once used as a treatment for a fever, leprosy, gonorrhea, tumors and inflamed hemorrhoids.
But aside from its medicinal use, people of all ages who have tried ube cake or ice cream can justify that this purple ice cream or dish is absolutely delicious!
Try it! You’ll absolutely love it!
