Ube Ice Cream (Purple Yam Ice Cream)

Want to try ice cream with an exotic, tropical flavor? You've got to try this ube ice cream (purple yam ice cream)!

This is a truly delectable ice cream flavor. Not only does it taste delicious, it looks absolutely pretty too, with its sweet and lovely purple shade!

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What is Ube?

I have written in length about ube (also known as purple yam) in my post on ube jam. In a nutshell, ube is a purple yam and is native to the Philipines. There are many variation of this ube in other parts of the world, and the closest is purple sweet potatoes.

Purple yam (ube) and purple sweet potatoes have almost identical shapes, outer skin texture (some are dark brown and some lighter brown) and flesh color (both come in vivid purple flesh).

In fact, if you cannot find ube to make this ice cream, you can also use purple sweet potatoes.

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How to Make

This purple yam or ube ice cream is made using ube powder and ube extract.

Ingredients

• Full fat milk
• Heavy whipping cream (with at least 35% fat)
• Granulated sugar
• Fine salt
• Ube powder (purple yam powder)
• Ube extract (purple yam extract)

Preparing the yam ice cream base

1. Measure sugar into a small bowl.
2. Sift the ube powder into it.
3. Add salt.
4. Mix the sugar, salt, and ube powder well, until the powder is well distributed. Set aside.

1. Measure the milk into a measuring jug or pot.
2. Add it to the ube-sugar mix and stir the sugar is all dissolved. Since granulated sugar is quite fine, this process should not take more than a minute or two.
3. As you stir the milk, you will feel the sugar and salt grains at the bottom of the bowl or pot. As soon as you don’t feel them anymore, that means the sugar and salt are dissolved.
4. Add the cream and mix well.
5. Finally, add the ube extract and mix well.
6. If you notice any clumps of the extract, strain the ice cream solution to remove the clumps. Use a spoon the break the clumps and mix them back into the ice cream.

Method 1: Churning the ice cream in an ice cream machine

• Chill the yam ice cream solution prepared above in the fridge for at least 2 hours. You can also leave this in the fridge overnight. If you want to get it ready faster, you can put it in the freezer for about an hour.
• Pour the chilled ube ice cream solution into your ice cream maker bowl. Follow the instructions as stated in your ice cream maker manual on how to operate your machine. Each machine works differently. Also, make sure you have the correct churning pedal attached (in case your machine comes with more than one type of pedal) and that the quantity of the liquid is not exceeding the capacity of your machine. The homemade base can be used for ice cream makers with a capacity of one and a half quarts. Also do note that as the ice cream is being churned, it will increase in volume. So make sure you do not fill your ice cream maker tub anymore than the capacity it is intended for.
• Turn on the machine and let it churn the ice cream. I churn mine for 1 hour, but be sure to check the maximum time for your machines.
• At the end of 60 minutes, the ice cream should be perfectly churned. But it may still be a little soft (like a soft-serve ice cream consistency). Transfer it into a freezer-safe container and freeze for a few hours until it is completely set, before serving.
• To serve the ube ice cream, use an ice cream scoop to scoop it into serving cups. If the ice cream is too hard to scoop, leave the container out for a few minutes. It should be a lot easier to scoop your ice cream then.

Method 2: Using the blender

• Prepare the ice cream solution as above. Pour it into a freezer-safe container and freeze until it is completely set (about 4 to 6 hours).
• Once frozen, remove it from the fridge, break it into smaller chunks with a spoon and place the ice cream chunks into the blender.
• Blend the purple yam ice cream until smooth. If it is hard to blend, try to press the ice cream chunks down with a spoon (please ensure the blender is turned off when you are doing this).
• Quickly transfer the blended ice cream into a freezer-safe container. Freeze for about an hour or until set before serving.
• To serve the ube ice cream, use an ice cream scoop to scoop it into serving cups. If the ice cream is too hard to scoop, leave the container out for a few minutes. It should be a lot easier to scoop your ice cream then.

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Notes

Can you increase or reduce the amount of purple yam or ube powder in the ice cream?

• Yes, you can. Adjusting the quantity of the yam powder in the ice cream will not alter the texture or creaminess of the ube ice cream, but will have an impact on the intensity of the purple yam taste in it.
• If after mixing the ice cream solution, you want to add more ube powder to it, sift the powder into a small bowl, and pour just a little of the ice cream solution into it. Mix into a thin paste. Add more of the ice cream solution and stir until the purple yam paste dilutes further. Only after that you add it to the ice cream solution. This process will avoid the purple yam powder from forming clumps in the ice cream solution when added directly to it.
• If you notice any clumps of the yam powder in your ice cream solution, strain it with a fine sieve to remove the lumps.

Is it ok if you don't use the yam extract?

• The ube extract plays an important role in this purple yam ice cream. It truly hepls with the flavor, color and smell of yam in the ice cream.
• Omitting the yam extract from your ice cream will not impact the texture of the ice cream. It will, however, make a difference to the overall flavoring and smell of your purple yam ice cream.

Why you should not mix the purple yam powder directly into the milk?

• The yam powder used in this recipe is a finely ground powder. There is a tendency for it to clump when added to large amounts of liquid, just like cocoa powder and green tea powder. Hence, the first step to remember when using ube powder is to sift it.
• Even after sifting, this purple yam powder could clump when added directly into the liquid. The best way to avoid this is by mixing the powder with sugar. This helps make sure the yam powder is well dispersed in the sugar and does not form clumps.

Why is it important to chill the ice cream solution before churning?

• This step depends very much on the instructions provided in your ice cream machine manual. It is best you follow the instructions provided in for machine for best results.
• Typically, when the solution is thoroughly chilled, the time it takes to get to a frozen stage will be shorter which means it will take the ice cream machine a shorter time to churn the ice cream.

The best temperature to freeze the ice cream?

• Freeze this ube ice cream at negative thirteen (-13) degrees Celsius for at least 2 to 3 hours after churning.
• There is a tendency for the ice cream to be hard after long hours of freezing. This is normal, and should that happen, simply leave the ice cream container out at room temperature for a few minutes. It should be a lot easier to scoop after that.

Like this homemade ice cream recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out

• Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream - Perfectly Smooth and Creamy
• Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - A Simple Homemade Ice Cream
• Matcha Ice Cream (Green Tea Ice Cream)
• No Churn Chocolate Ice Cream - Amazingly Smooth & Creamy
• Ube Jam (Ube Halaya) - How to Make
• Ube Rolls - Soft and Fluffy Twisted Bread Rolls
• Churned Ice Cream - With & Without Ice Cream Maker

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Recipe (Printable)

Here is the full printable version of my homemade ube ice cream recipe.

📖Recipe

And that's that. My super easy homemade purple yam or ube ice cream recipe.

Enjoy!