Creamy Ube Halaya
Introducing the easiest, creamiest, homemade ube halaya recipe, made with just 8 ingredients. Eat it on its own, use it as a spread, or add it to different desserts. Once you try homemade ube halaya, you'll never want to go back to pre-made jars!
Servings: 5 cups
Calories: 806kcal
Equipment
- blender or immersion blender
- large light-colored saucepan,
- wooden or silicone spatula
- heat-proof bowl
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ube freshly mashed ube, previously frozen & thawed grated/mashed ube, or rehydrated ube powder* (see notes)
- 13.5 ounces can coconut milk
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon ube extract
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½-1 cup brown sugar light or dark, adjust to taste
Instructions
- *No blender? Feel free to skip blending the ingredients and add everything to your pan. This method just makes extra creamy & smooth halaya.In a blender, add 2 pounds ube, 13.5 ounces can coconut milk, and 12 ounces evaporated milk. Blend until smooth, then add to large saucepan. Alternatively, you can add the ingredients to the pan and use an immersion blender.
- To the pan, add 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, ¼ cup unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon ube extract, and ½ teaspoon table salt.
- Turn the heat to medium low. Stir with your wooden spatula often, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of your pan because the halaya can easily burn. After a few minutes, the mixture should start thicken. Continue cooking for 30-40 minutes until thickened to your liking. At a minimum, you should be able to drag your spatula across the bottom of the pan and leave a clear trail. However, you can keep cooking the halaya until even thicker.
- Add ½-1 cup brown sugar, adjusting to taste.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a large heat-safe bowl. Let cool completely before storing. See storage notes at bottom of recipe card.
Video
Notes
- I recommend using a light-colored pan (stainless steel or light enameled pan). When cooking, the ube may stick to the bottom of the pan and burn, which is difficult to see when using a dark pan. A light-colored pan allows you to see if anything is sticking, which makes scraping with a wooden spatula much easier.
- Rehydrating your own ube powder? You can follow my tutorial—a 1x batch of that will yield what you need for a 1x batch of ube jam!
- Storage: This recipe makes a lot of ube jam and I rarely use all of it at once. You can either store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. (Note: I like to freeze my ube in freezer bags. Whenever I need some ube jam, I break off a few chunks. I thaw the ube in the fridge overnight, or if I'm in a rush, I microwave it in a bowl for 30-second intervals until completely softened.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1 cup | Calories: 806kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 423mg | Potassium: 701mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 71g | Vitamin A: 658IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 438mg | Iron: 3mg
