New Bae Ube
One of my favorite desserts to make during the summer is banana pudding. It brings back so much nostalgia of all the summer night cookouts I had with my family growing up. While it is indulgent, it’s also so light and airy, which makes it perfect for the warmer weather. I think all of my friends and family have probably had my classic banana pudding by now, so I thought I’d step up my game and make it using one of my favorite flavors – ube. This Ube Banana Pudding is filled with creamy layers of vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, ube pastry cream, and whipped cream.
Pastry Cream 101
First thing’s first, we have to tackle the ube pastry cream. This is probably one of the most tedious parts of the recipe just because the ingredients and temperatures are very sensitive. But after this, it’s smooth sailing! Pour the milk into a sauce pot and heat it over medium high heat until it just comes to a simmer. In the meantime, add the egg yolks, cornstarch, granulated sugar, and salt into a bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until it turns into a pale yellow color. Then mix in the ube halaya.
When the milk is simmering, remove it from the heat. Now, here is where you need to lock in. Scoop a ladleful of the hot milk then slowly pour it into the egg mixture while whisking quickly. This process is known as tempering. We’re essentially bringing the egg mixture up to a higher temperature similar to the milk. However, we need to this slowly to prevent the eggs from cooking. If the eggs cook during this process, they’ll curdle and create a lumpy pastry cream. Continue ladling in the milk while whisking until half of the milk has been used.
Cover and Cool
Pour the mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk and whisk. Return the pot back to the stove and heat over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the cream starts bubbling and thickens into a thick cream. Remove the pot from heat then mix in the ube extract and vanilla extract. Whisk in the unsalted butter until fully incorporated.
If your pastry cream is lumpy, you can pass it through a fine mesh sieve. Otherwise, transfer the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap makes contact with the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Place it in the fridge to cool completely.
Light and Airy
When the pastry cream has cooled, use a spatula to mix the cream to loosen it. Set it aside. Add the heavy cream and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment and mix on high speed until you get soft peaks. Whenever I have a recipe that uses pastry cream, I like to fold a portion of whipped cream into it so that it’s a bit lighter. Add about 2½ cups of the whipped cream into the ube pastry cream. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the ube pastry cream until combined.
Add a layer of the vanilla wafers into a 2½ – 3 quart baking dish. It should be just enough to cover the bottom of the dish in a single layer. Add on a layer of the sliced bananas. Then spread on a layer of the ube pastry cream so that that bananas are fully covered. Then top with a layer of whipped cream. Repeat this process one more time to create another set of layers on top. Crush any remaining vanilla wafers into pieces and sprinkle them over the whipped cream. For best consistency, let the banana pudding set over night. Enoy!
The Ube Effect
Ube is one of my favorite flavors for pastries and desserts, so I could not be more excited to share this recipe with you! If you’re not familiar with ube, it’s a purple yam that that tastes like a mixture of vanilla and taro. So if you like the classic vanilla banana pudding, don’t be too put off because the flavor profile it pretty similar. This Ube Banana Pudding is truly a dream. It’s so creamy and soft, and the ube pastry cream adds the perfect flavor without being too overpowering. Just the color alone makes me want to eat this. Try this recipe out if you love banana pudding, and maybe you’ll become an ube fan or even more of an ube fan too!
Ube Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 cups Whole Milk
- 5 Large Egg Yolks
- 3 tbsp Cornstarch
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- ⅓ cup Ube Halaya
- 2 tsp Ube Extract
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 3 cups Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 11 oz Vanilla Wafers
- 5-6 Bananas (sliced)
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a sauce pot and heat it over medium high heat until it just comes to a simmer. In the meantime, add the egg yolks, cornstarch, granulated sugar, and salt into a bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until it turns into a pale yellow color. Then mix in the ube halaya.
- When the milk is simmering, remove it from the heat. Scoop a ladleful of the hot milk then slowly pour it into the egg mixture while whisking quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Continue ladling in the milk while whisking until half of the milk has been used.
- Pour the mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk and whisk. Return the pot back to the stove and heat over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the cream starts bubbling and thickens into a thick cream. Remove the pot from heat then mix in the ube extract and vanilla extract. Whisk in the unsalted butter until fully incorporated.
- If your pastry cream is lumpy, you can pass it through a fine mesh sieve. Otherwise, transfer the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap makes contact with the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Place it in the fridge to cool completely.
- When the pastry cream has cooled, use a spatula to mix the cream to loosen it. Set it aside. Add the heavy cream and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment and mix on high speed until you get soft peaks. Add about 2½ cups of the whipped cream into the ube pastry cream. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the ube pastry cream until combined.
- Add a layer of the vanilla wafers into a 2½ – 3 quart baking dish. It should be just enough to cover the bottom of the dish in a single layer. Add on a layer of the sliced bananas. Then spread on a layer of the ube pastry cream so that that bananas are fully covered. Then top with a layer of whipped cream.
- Repeat this process one more time to create another set of layers on top. Crush any remaining vanilla wafers into pieces and sprinkle them on top. For best consistency, let the banana pudding set over night. Enoy!
