Quick Ube Coffee (Ube Latte Recipe)
An easy ube latte made with ube halaya or ube extract, perfect for serving hot or over ice!
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Servings: 1 ube latte
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup milk
- ¼ cup ube halaya alt. ½ teaspoon ube extract
- 1 double espresso 2oz.
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or coconut cream
- condensed milk to taste optional
Instructions
- Add the milk and ube halaya to a mug and microwave it for one minute (or heat it lightly on the stovetop), until hot but not too hot to touch. If making an iced ube latte, only heat it for 45 seconds.
- Then use a milk frother or a spoon to stir the mixture until it's all a uniform deep purple color. You could also just use ½ teaspoon of ube extract in the milk, but I always prefer the real thing (though the texture of the two is definitely different). This is when you'll want to taste the ube milk and make sure it's both strong enough in flavor and sweet enough for you. If it needs more ube flavor, stir in another tablespoon of ube halaya. For more sugar, start with a half tablespoon of condensed milk and just keep stirring in more until it's to your taste.
- Once the purple yam drink for the base tastes right, add ice (if using), and pour on the cream. On top of that layer the espresso or coffee; alternately you can whip the cream rather than add it directly, and layer the whipped cream on top of the ube latte (this works whether it's hot or iced). Then add a straw and enjoy! I like to rim mine with a bit of condensed milk for sweet sipping, but you could also add sprinkles.
Notes
Mixing the Purple Milk: for an easy ube latte you’ll want to blend the microwaved mixture with a spoon or a high-powered milk frother, the latter of which I use in my kitchen every week without issue.
Alternatives to Heavy Cream: to make a vegan purple yam coffee, you can either skip the heavy cream or use coconut cream or another high-fat vegan creamer. This is just added to make the drink creamier and give it better texture.
Why Use Ube Halaya?: while you can make this purple latte with ube extract, all of the purple yam extracts out there are artificially flavored & colored with some strange fillers.
To each their own, but I love the heft and texture offered by using real purple yam jam, known in the Philippines as ube halaya. It also gives the drink a lovely & natural lavender hue, and makes it a real purple yam coffee— not just a purple latte.