Hi friends! It’s April!! Yippee! April is absolutely my favorite month. All around are beautiful blooms and perfectly grassy green hills. The afternoons are toasty warm with an occasional cool breeze. And the neighborhood kiddos (and all their bikes and scooters and toys) start making their way into our cul de sac. The cluster of items in the middle of the sac drives our retired neighbor a little nuts, but it makes me happy as pie.
Speaking of pie…these beauties have been on my mind for quite some time now. My mind is always wandering with recipe ideas and lately I’ve been dreaming up all kinds of things for Ube.
What is Ube and what is it not?
Ube (pronounce ooh-beh) is a purple yam (a tuberous root vegetable), indigenous to the Philippines. From the outside, Ube looks like just another potato, dark brown in color. But on the inside it is a pinky-purple that I’d describe as almost a light magenta. When cooked, it turns to a vivid classic purple, which is why it is celebrated for natural food coloring.
Because of its purple hue, it is sometimes confused with other purple tubers. For example, Okinawan sweet potatoes are a light tan, almost white color on the outside, and are bright purple on the inside. There’s also Stokes purple sweet potatoes which have a light purple skin and a deep rich purple color on the inside that darkens as it cooks. Taro is also sometimes mistaken for Ube.
The good and bad news is that it’s almost impossible to find fresh Ube in their tubular form stateside. So you don’t have to worry about figuring out which potato it is in your grocer’s produce aisle just yet. Ube is most commonly found in jars in jam form (Ube Halaya), in powder form, and more recently in extract form. You can also find grated frozen ube in some Asian supermarkets.
On its own, Ube flavor is kind of what you would expect biting into a raw potato, but a little sweeter. So it’s more commonly used in sweet treats instead of savory. When enhanced with sweeteners and milk (perfect with coconut milk), it has a nutty vanilla-y flavor that some liken to pistachio or white chocolate.
The Pies
For these pocket pies, I incorporate two fillings. First, I use Ube Halaya which is the jam form of Ube you can find in jars. I use a homemade version in these pies which I adapted from the recipe by the talented Liren Baker at KitchenConfidante. I combine frozen grated ube with coconut milk, date syrup, a little sugar, and little butter. The addition of the date syrup is a wonderful caramelly complement to the nutty, vanilla notes in the ube. It also darkens the color a bit to more of a plum color. So pretty!
I have to tell you that I had the best time making the Ube Halaya for these pies. My lil’ miss Ellie wanted to be involved. I held her while I stirred the mixture on the stove. After I told her how to pronounce it, she kept saying ‘ooh-beh, ooh-beh, ooh-beh’ with so much excitement it made my heart melt.
Another favorite flavor of mine is macadamia and it’s the inspiration for the second filling. Macadamia nuts have always felt so luxurious, especially because we rarely ate growing up unless a relative just got back from Hawaii. When my mom took me to Hawaii for the first time (not sure if I’ve shared before, but she grew up there), I was ecstatic about the macadamia nuts everywhere. I remember we found a strawberry-macadamia nut popcorn. YUM! And I mean, any treat with a macadamia-white chocolate combo..gah soo good.
I made a macadamia nut butter filling for these cuties pies (see what I did there). Did you know that all you really need to make your own nut butter is a food processor? Any nut you put in a food processor will eventually turn to butter. Try it out! For this macadamia nut butter, I added vanilla and white chocolate to bring out the ube flavor a bit more.
I like to make the Ube Halaya and macadamia nut butter a day ahead of time because once the fillings are ready, the rest of the work is just assembling.
I use pre-made pie dough, but you can of course make pie dough from scratch. To make all the pocket pies uniform, I use a cookie cutter (or a biscuit cutter with scalloped edges in this case). If you don’t have a cookie cutter on hand, you can also cut the dough into squares or rectangles using a knife.
To fill, place a good size tablespoon scoop of nut butter in the center.
It also helps to make a little pocket in the macadamia nut butter to place the Ube Halaya in.
When all the pies are filled, brush the edges with egg wash before placing the top layer.
Usually I would crimp the edges of any hand pie with a fork to help seal. But I really wanted to maintain the smooth scalloped edges. So I skipped the crimping and just made sure each side was tightly sealed.
Poke a few holes in the top of each pie. This helps release the steam as the pies bake.
Once they’re all assembled, they go into the oven until golden brown. After cooling, I like to top with a glaze and some sprinkles. After all, Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s Party!’ (Robin Williams).
The glaze is a combination of powdered sugar, a little bit of the Ube jam, and coconut milk. I did end up using a little natural food coloring too to amp up the purple color. The glaze is a spreadable consistency. After spreading, hit with some sprinkles and then they’re ready to enjoy!
I hope you love these pocket pies friends! They’re so fun for any brunch or gathering. You can also try creating your own jam and nut butter combos.
Happy Spring! And thanks for reading!
Valerie
- Frozen pie dough rounds (2 packages, 4 count) (follow instructions to thaw)
- 1 egg
- For the Ube Halaya: 1 lb. frozen grated Ube (thaw in the refrigerator the night before), 1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk, ½ cup date syrup (I like Just Date Syrup), ¼ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter
- For the Macadamia Nut Butter: 1½ cups macadamia nuts (unsalted), ¾ cup white chocolate chips, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon agave, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- For the Glaze: 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon of the Ube jam, 1-2 tablespoons coconut milk (or regular milk), natural food coloring (I like India Tree)
- For the Ube Halaya: Place all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat, then stir regularly until it is thick about 35-40 minutes. Place in a jar or other sealable container. Let cool on the counter uncovered for about 10 minutes. Then place in the fridge covered to cool completely.
- For the Macadamia nut butter: Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Process for about 4 minutes, scrape down the sides, and continue processing until creamy (about 10 minutes).
- To assemble the pies: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Spread out both packages of the pie crusts and cut out 16 circles. Roll out any scraps to cut more circles if you are short.
- Fill each circle with a scoop of the macadamia nut butter and form a little well for the jam. Fill each well with the Ube Jam. Beat the egg in a bowl with a little water and brush the edges of the crust with the egg wash.
- Spread out the second package of pie crusts and cut out 16 more circles. Place these circles on top of the others. Make sure to seal the edges well so the filling doesn't escape.
- Bake the pies for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. While they are baking, make the glaze.
- Whisk the powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of the Ube jam and 1 tablespoon of milk. Add more milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Use natural food coloring to make the glaze more purple.
- Once the pies have cooled (about 10 minutes), spread on the glaze and top with sprinkles. Enjoy!!
Thank you for introducing me to Ube! I love all the photos Valerie and these little pocket pies look mouthwatering yummy and are so adorable. Love the purple glaze too!
Thank you Shahla!! I had so much fun with this post!