Ube ice cream is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

ice cream flavor prepared using ube (purple yam) as the main ingredient. This ice cream is often used in making the dessert

halo-halo Halo-halo, correctly spelled ''haluhalo'', Tagalog for "mixed" (the more common spelling instead literally equating to "mix-mix") is a popular cold dessert in the Philippines made up of crushed ice, evaporated milk or coconut milk, and vario ...

History

Due to its vivid violet color and mildly sweet and nutty taste, ube has been a staple of Filipino desserts, most notably

ube halaya ''Ube halaya'' or ''halayang ube'' (variant spellings ''halea'', ''haleya''; from the Spanish ''jalea'', "jam") is a Philippine dessert made from boiled and mashed purple yam (''Dioscorea alata'', locally known as ''ube''). Ube halaya is the ma ...

. The earliest recorded use of ube in

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

was in a recipe from 1922, when ice cream's introduction to Filipino culture during the American occupation (as the local adaptation

sorbetes Sorbetes is a traditional ice cream originating from the Philippines and uniquely characterized by the use of coconut milk and/or carabao milk. Often pejoratively called "dirty ice cream", it is distinct from the similarly named sorbet and she ...

) led to new flavors such as

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

pinipig ''Pinipig'' is a flattened rice ingredient from the Philippines. It is made of immature grains of glutinous rice pounded until flat before being toasted. It is commonly used as toppings for various desserts in Filipino cuisine, but can also be ...

and

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

. The recipe called for mashed ube,

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

and crushed ice. During that time, ice cream was also hand-churned in a ''garapinyera'', a manually operated ice cream mixer. Ube ice cream has risen in popularity outside the Philippines, due to its use by Filipino immigrants in restaurants (often with halo-halo) and

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line of ube products, its vivid violet color and the spread of its pictures on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

Use in halo-halo

Ube ice cream is a common ingredient in

, a popular Filipino dessert consisting of a mix of various ingredients, such as coconut,

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is ...

, sweetened beans, slices of fruit such as

jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

or mango,

leche flan Leche (Spanish: "milk") may refer to: * Leche (surname) * ''Leche'' (Fobia album), 1993 * ''Leche'' (Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas album), 1999 * ''Leche'', a 2010 album by Gregory and the Hawk * Leche frita, a Spanish sweet See also * ...

and

nata de coco ''Nata de coco'', also marketed as coconut gel, is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food produced by the fermentation of coconut water, which gels through the production of microbial cellulose by '' Komagataeibacter xylinus''. Originating i ...

, and ube itself in halaya form. Ube is seen as an essential ingredient of halo-halo due to lending the dessert its distinctive flavor and violet color. Thus, ube ice cream may be used in place of or together with ube halaya. Since

evaporated milk Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product where about 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains add ...

is another essential ingredient of halo-halo, using ube ice cream as well makes for a creamier recipe.

References

{{Filipino cuisine Philippine desserts Ice cream Ube dishes