Ube Donuts

All doughnuts lovers, we bet you'll fall for these wonderfully violet ube donuts. And the good news is you won't need any nasty artificial colourants, just glorious purple yams or ube butter. They're soft and pillowy, not to mention incredibly tasty!

But first, what's ube exactly? Ube is a type of yam with a vibrant violet flesh, and thus also known as purple yam. This root vegetable is extremely common in the Philippines, where it's used to prepare ube halaya (purple yam spread) and many desserts, like cakes, ice cream, and pastries.

Starchy, colourful, and lightly sweet, ube is the perfect add-on to many sweet bakes and treats. So, after making ube butter spread from scratch, we thought, why not use it to make some stylish purple donuts? And oh my, they came out just too cute!

We started from the traditional yeasted donut recipe and swapped dairy butter with homemade ube spread. It's super easy to make — you'll just need fresh purple yams and coconut oil. But if you can't find yams or don't have time for the ube butter, don't worry! You can use ready-made ube spread, which you should be able to find online.

Our purple yam doughnuts are also 100% dairy-free and vegan because we didn't use eggs and cow's milk. And for a healthier spin, we even baked them in the oven instead of frying them. Still, if you prefer your doughnuts the classic way, we'll tell you how to fry them in the steps below.

No doughnut is complete without a glossy glaze! So, we coated ours with a cute purple icing made with ube butter and icing sugar. By the way, you can also use powdered, zero-sugar erythritol instead of sugar so that you can enjoy one of these beauties without worries.

Step 1

In a pot, heat oat milk with maple syrup and ube butter. Stir well until the butter is completely dissolved and the milk turns purple.

Then, let the milk cool down until it's lukewarm, for about 10 minutes.

If the milk is too hot, it will inactivate the yeast, and the doughnuts won't rise.

You'll know the milk is at the right temperature if you can hold a pinky finger in the milk without feeling discomfort.

Step 2

Mix white flour with dry instant yeast and salt in a bowl.

Then, pour in the prepared ube milk.

Step 3

Work the ingredients with a spoon or spatula until they come together, and then transfer the ube donut dough onto a lightly floured worktop.

Knead it for 5 minutes until it's smooth, elastic, and bounces back when poked.

The dough will be sticky at first, but the more you knead it, the more cohesive it will get. Avoid adding flour if you can, or the dough will get tougher, and the donuts will be drier.

Step 4

Roll the dough into a ball, put back into the bowl, and cover it with a damp tea towel.

Let it prove undisturbed in a warm place for 30 minutes until doubled in volume.

Step 5

Now, divide the ube donut dough into 8 pieces (or as many as the servings shown in the ingredients tab) and keep them under a damp tea towel so they won't dry out.

Working with one piece at a time, roll it under your palm into a very tight and smooth ball (1).

Then, grease your hands with a little oil and poke the ball in the centre with your index finger. Then, wiggle it around to make a hole through the bottom (2).

Lift the doughnut, insert both index fingers into the hole, and rotate them as if spinning a wheel.

Keep doing this until the donut hole stretches to at least 6 cm (2.5 inches) (3).

The hole has to be much larger than what you intend it to be, as it will shrink a lot as the donut proves and bakes.

Of course, if you have doughnut moulds feel free to use them here!

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Step 6

Transfer the shaped doughnuts onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, leaving some space between them.

Cover them with a damp kitchen towel.

Let the ube donuts prove and puff up for 15 minutes while heating the oven to 180°C (355°F).

Step 7

Remove the towel and bake the doughnuts at 180°C (355°F) for 10 minutes until puffy and soft.

If you want to deep fry the donuts instead, check our tips below for instructions on how to do it.

Then, transfer them onto a wire rack to cool down completely.

Step 8

The doughnuts are now ready. You can enjoy them as they are, fill them with raspberry jam or glaze them.

For a white glaze, follow our sugar-free icing recipe.

For a purple ube glaze instead, melt 20g of ube butter with 30ml (1 fl oz) of oat milk. Let it cool down, and then whisk it with 180g (6 oz) of icing sugar until it turns into a smooth glaze.

You can use sugar-free erythritol instead of icing sugar, but make sure to blitz it thoroughly until it's powdered and looks like icing sugar.

Dip the top of each ube doughnut into the glaze and then place it into a rack. Let it harden in the fridge if you feel it's too runny.

Tips

• If you want to fry the doughnuts, heat a suitable frying oil in a pot to 170°C (430°F). Using a spatula, lower one doughnut into the hot oil and cook it for 2 minutes. Then, turn it over and cook it on the other side for 2 more minutes. Once cooked, remove it from the oil using a slotted spoon and place it on a wire rack lined with kitchen paper.