This Ube cheesecake recipe is fluffy and perfectly whipped! Made with a buttery graham cracker crust and a rich and silky cream cheese and purple ube filling, it’s a decadent and unique dessert.
Ube Cheesecake: A Delicious and Impressive Dessert
Ube is a bright purple yam that originated in the Philippines and has become really popular in recent years. It boasts a sweet and mild flavor with hints of warm vanilla. I’ve used it to make ube butter, no churn ube ice cream, gluten-free ube mochi waffles…the list goes on and on!
I just love the bright purple color. It brings a bit of whimsy to so many dishes. Your guests will be so impressed — don’t be surprised if they ask you for the recipe.
Ube Cheesecake Recipe Key Ingredients
(Full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post)
- Ube Halaya. Made from ube, milk, sugar, and butter — use my homemade version.
- Cream Cheese. No cheesecake would be complete without cream cheese! Be sure to let it soften first.
- Ube Extract. For even more added ube flavor and color. Just a few drops do the trick.
- Vanilla. As mentioned, ube features subtle hints of vanilla. Use extra vanilla extract to enhance it!
- Graham Crackers. You can use a store-bought crust, but the homemade version is so much better — plus it’s really easy to make.
- Butter. You’ll use butter in the crust. Opt for unsalted.
- Sugar. Like most baked goods, you need sugar for this dessert. Use it in the crust and the filling.
How to make perfect Ube Cheesecake
Make the crust. Before you get started, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Then, add the graham crackers and sugar to a food processor and pulse until fine. Add the butter and pulse again until well combined — you want the mixture to look like wet sand.
Pre-bake the crust. Press the graham cracker crust mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven and place it in the freezer to cool.
Prep the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Pour 4 quarts of water into a roasting pan and place it on the center rack in the oven. While you wait for the crust to cool, heat up the water and make the filling.
Make the ube cheesecake filling. Add the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Incorporate the eggs one at a time and mix. Transfer half of the mixture to another bowl and add the ube halaya and ube extract and mix.
Assemble the cheesecake. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour in the ube cream cheese mixture, being sure to reserve about 2-3 tablespoons. Top with the plain cream cheese mixture, then dollop the remaining ube cream cheese on top. Drag a chopstick or toothpick through the top to create a swirl.
Prep the pan. Place the roasting pan with water in the center of an 18×18-inch sheet of foil and carefully fold it to create a barrier. Repeat with one more layer of foil, making sure not to pierce it. Finally, add another layer of foil.
Bake. Place the springform pan in the center of the roasting pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the edges are set and the middle jiggles only slightly.
Cool & serve. Remove your ube cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature. Place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours — or overnight — before you remove it from the pan, slice, and serve!
Tips
- Add the eggs one at a time. Adding the eggs separately until just blended will ensure that you don’t get too much air into the batter due to over-mixing.
- Use room temperature ingredients. When all of your ingredients are at the same temperature, you’ll end up with a smoother batter. This means creamy results with no cracking.
- Let it cool twice. Make sure to allow the cheesecake to come to room temperature before placing it in the fridge to set and chill. It will hold up a lot better!
Frequently asked Questions about this Ube Cheesecake Recipe
Japanese-style cheesecakes are often referred to as bouncy cheesecakes. This is thanks to their soft and fluffy texture! They are a lot less dense than other types of cheesecake. The key to achieving this texture is to make sure to bake yours with the roasting pan full of water — this technique is called “bain Marie-style.”
As I mentioned above, ube originated in the Philippines. Many Japanese desserts feature this purple yam, but it is in fact Filipino!
Yes, you can use fresh ube to make ube cheesecake. To do so, you’ll need to boil the ube until it is tender, then peel and mash it before adding it to the cheesecake filling. You may need to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe to account for the natural sweetness of the fresh ube.
Other Ube Recipes You’ll Love
Ube Cheesecake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the crust
- 9 graham crackers
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
For the cheesecake
- 3 blocks cream cheese 8 ounces each
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup ube halaya
- 1/2 teaspoon ube extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- For the crust: Add graham crackers and sugar to a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Add in the butter and pulse again until well combined and the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Press the mixture into the bottom 9 inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Decrease the oven temperature to 325F. Add 4 quarts of water to a roasting pan and place on the center rack in the oven. While the crust is cooling, heat up the water and make the cheesecake mixture.
- For the cheesecake: To a bowl add cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
- Add the eggs in one at a time and mix until combined.
- Add half of the cream cheese mixture to another bowl. Add ube halaya and ube extract. Mix until well combined.
- Remove the crust layer from the freezer. Pour the ube cream cheese mixture into the pan, reserving about 2-3 tablespoons. Then top with the remaining cream cheese mixture.
- Dollop the remaining ube cream cheese mixture over the top. Drag a chopstick or toothpick through the mixture to create a swirl.
- Place the pan in the center of an 18 inch x 18 inch sheet of foil. Carefully fold up the foil to create a barrier around the pan. It is ok if the foil goes above the pan. Repeat with one more layer. Be sure there are no holes in the foil. This creates a barrier so the water does not get into the cheesecake. Repeat with another layer of foil.
- Place the springform pan in the center of the roasting pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle has a slight jiggle.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, place in the refrigerator and cool for 4 hours or overnight. Remove from springform pan and ENJOY!
Notes
Tips
- Add the eggs one at a time. Adding the eggs separately until just blended will ensure that you don’t get too much air into the batter due to over-mixing.
- Use room temperature ingredients. When all of your ingredients are at the same temperature, you’ll end up with a smoother batter. This means creamy results with no cracking.
- Let it cool twice. Make sure to allow the cheesecake to come to room temperature before placing it in the fridge to set and chill. It will hold up a lot better!
Nutrition
© Relle Lum for Keeping It Relle. Please do not copy and paste or screenshot recipes online or on social media. I’d love it if you share a link with a photo instead. Mahalo!
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The texture of this cheesecake was insane! I’m in the UK and used digestive biscuits for the base which is our equivalent to Graham crackers
Awesome to hear. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful AND delicious! This was a showstopping dessert for our guests this weekend. What a hit! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thank you so much. Happy to hear.
How gorgeous is the colouring of the ube! The tips are very helpful for setting this cake. Thank you.
Right?!? Beautiful and yummy. Win, win.
This cheesecake looks spectacular. I have never had Ube before. Must get it soon to try out your recipe.
Happy to hear. Thank you for stopping by.
We love cooking with ube, and this recipe was so easy to make. And delicious! We have a little bit of leftovers and which we might freeze. Do you think this would freeze? Great recipe!
I love ube as well. Yes this recipe can be frozen. Thank you for stopping by!