Ube Mini Buns with Ube Cream Sauce
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A trip to the Czech Republic inspired this ube dessert recipe with mini buns and cream sauce. In Czech, the dessert can also be called buchtičky s krémem or mini buns in cream. I adjusted this dessert recipe to include ube (Filipino purple yam) halaya, and this recipe is the result! If you love sweet comfort food and ube, I suggest you try this recipe!
Update Disclosure: This post has been updated for one or more of the following reasons: easier reading, updated photos, clearer instructions, and just plain ol' improvements to the recipe (as noted).
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What is Ube Halaya and How to Get It
Ube halaya is a mix of sugar, butter, and ube flesh. You could eat halayang ube on its own as a dessert or use it as a spread on Filipino baked goods such as pandesal. The most authentic versions of halaya would also consist of coconut milk. But I have to settle for jarred ube halaya because I have to order them online. You can also find ube halaya in Asian stores, specifically Filipino ones.
Ingredients
You'll need the following for this recipe:
- Active Dry Yeast
- Granulated Sugar
- Milk
- Coconut Milk
- All-Purpose Flour
- Unsalted Butter
- Eggs
- Salt
- Cornstarch
- Ube Halaya
- Ube Extract
Recipe Tips
- Don't Worry About Uniformity: The mini buns will come out in different shapes and size. It's part of the rustic look!
- Don't Boil Milk: When making ube cream, heat the milk but do not boil it. There is a bigger chance that excessive heat will cook the egg yolks when you try to temper the milk into the egg yolk mixture.
- Thin the Cream: If you think the cream sauce is too thick, you can add some milk one tablespoon at a time to thin out the sauce.
How to Make Ube Mini Buns
Making this dessert takes time, so make sure you have carved out at least three hours from your day for this recipe. Here are the steps:
- Bloom the yeast in milk and sugar. Sift flour, sugar and salt in a separate bowl then mix them and set it aside.
- Add the eggs, melted butter to the yeast and pour into the dry ingredients.
- Mix until you get a dough and knead to develop gluten.
- Cover and proof it for one hour until doubled in size.
- Roll out the dough on a work surface, add the ube halaya, and create long rolled strips.
- Lay them out on a prepared baking dish. Cover and proof for twenty minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Use a pastry cutter to make mini buns by perforating the dough into small squares.
- Bake the buns for about twenty to twenty-five minutes. Allow to cool completely.
How to Make Ube Cream Sauce
- Whisk egg yolks, cornstarch, and sugar in a bowl until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Add coconut milk and milk to a medium pot, then mix them together.
- Place on low heat and heat the pot until it just starts to steam.
- Slowly add one-third of the milk to the egg yolk bowl as you whisk. Repeat these steps until you use up all the milk.
- Pour the combined ingredients back into the pot and place on low heat to thicken.
- Whisk the liquid as it heats up and watch carefully as it thickens.
- Strain into a bowl and add the butter. Mix it all together until the butter has disappeared.
- Add the ube extract and mix until the cream sauce is a uniform purple color.
How to Serve
Pull apart some buns in the baking dish and place them on a plate. I like mixing the shapes and sizes of the buns. But play around with what you have. You probably ended up with a lot of mini buns!
I dress these ube mini buns with the sauce in two different, but simple ways. The first way would be adding sauce first, then placing the mini buns on top or placing the buns first, then adding the sauce on top of the buns. Either way, this ube dessert is creamy and comforting!
Ube Mini Buns with Ube Sauce Recipe
Disclosure
The equipment and ingredients sections contain affiliate links to products I love to use as well as items that I personally believe make this recipe the best version of itself.
Ingredients
Ube Mini Buns
- 1 tablespoon + ¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ½ cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon reserved for yeast blooming
- ½ cup milk
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted 1½ tablespoon reserved for brushing
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup ube halaya for filling
Ube Cream Sauce
- ⅔ cup coconut milk
- 1¼ cups milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 1½ tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 4 egg yolks
- ¼ teaspoon + ⅛ teaspoon ube extract use more if preferred
Instructions
Make Buns
- Add active dry yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and warm milk. Mix well. Cover and set aside to bloom for ten minutes.
- In a big bowl sift and add flour, remaining sugar, and salt.
- When the yeast is bubbly and frothy, add egg plus one egg yolk, and melted butter. Mix together then pour into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Using an electric mixer with dough hooks, mix and knead the dough for 8 mins until it passes windowpane test. Cover and set aside for 1 hour or until double in size.
- Once proofed, punch the air out of dough and split in two equal halves. Roll out the dough pieces to a similar shape and size of your baking dish.
- On one flat piece of dough, top with ube halaya. Cover the ube halaya topping with the second piece. Pinch the edges closed.
- Make thin strips by slicing along the long side of the rectangle dough. Pinch the edges of the strips closed then gently roll each one under your palms.
- Place the strips next to each other in a baking dish.
- Use a pastry cutter to cut slice down the width of the dough strips. You should end up with squares of dough. Cover and proof for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F)
- Once second proof is done, brush with melted butter. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until the tops are nice and golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.
Make Ube Sauce
- In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- In a pot, add milk and coconut milk. Mix then place on the stove on low heat until it starts to steam. Remove from the heat.
- Add one third of the milk mix to the egg yolk mix and mix well. Repeat this step until you use the remaining two thirds of the steamed milk.
- Add the combined sauce back into the pot and place on low heat to thicken. Whisk as it thickens and look for a consistency that is looser than a pudding. Remove from the heat as you continue to whisk to prevent clumps. Strain to a bowl and add the butter. Mix it all together until the butter has melted and disappeared.
- Add the ube extract. Whisk until you get one solid color. Add more extract if you prefer.
Assembly
- Pull apart the ube buns and put them on a plate. Then add some sauce onto the plate. Eat with a spoon. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Why is the cream sauce purple ?
The purple color comes from the ube extract. Ube is a purple yam from the Philippines. I added the extract to add a colorful (and tasteful) twist to these mini buns recipe!
Do you use butter when making the ube sauce?
I see it in the ingredients list to make the sauce but I don’t see it in the steps to make the sauce.
Thanks!
Hi Abby, thanks for catching that! I listed it in the blog post steps, but not the recipe card 🤦🏻♀️ The recipe card has now been updated with the butter in the ube sauce directions (#4).
Hi Joannne!! Thank you for this recipe— I tried the sauce and it is amazing!!
How long does the sauce last without refrigeration?
Thanks!!
Abigail
Hi Abigail! So glad you liked this recipe 🤗 The cream has milk in it so I would only let it sit out for about an hour until it has to be refrigerated. Hope this helps!
Will it work to use canned coconut cream in the ube sauce? I want to try this sauce with bao nuts. Thanks!
That sounds good! Let me know how it turns out!