Ube Mamon (Fluffy Ube Sponge Cakes)
If clouds could be cake, they would taste like these Ube Mamon. These little purple pillows are impossibly soft, delicately sweet, and so airy they almost melt on your tongue. The ube brings that gentle earthy-vanilla flavour Filipinos know so well — comforting, nostalgic, and beautifully aromatic.
They’re light enough for breakfast, sweet enough for merienda, and elegant enough to serve at a party. And the best part? They freeze beautifully, so you can always have a stash ready for a “treat-yo-self” moment.
Ingredients:
- 240g plain flour
- 8 large eggs, separated
- ¾ tbsp baking powder
- 200g sugar (split into 2 × 100g)
- 125g full-cream milk
- 85g neutral oil
- 4 ½ tsp ube extract
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Icing sugar, for dusting
Method :
- Prepare the oven and tins
Preheat your oven to 170°C.
Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or lightly grease mamon moulds (if using traditional molds). Set aside. - Mix the dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together the plain flour and baking powder.
Sift for extra lightness — it helps keep the sponge ultra fluffy. - Make the ube yolk batter
In a large mixing bowl, add the egg yolks and beat with a hand mixer until pale, creamy, and almost doubled in volume — about 2–3 minutes.
Add 100g sugar, and continue mixing until fully dissolved.
Then add:
- full-cream milk
- ube extract
- vanilla
- neutral oil
- pinch of salt
Mix until smooth and evenly purple.
Gently fold the dry mixture into the yolk mixture in two additions, using a spatula. The batter should be silky, thick, and lump-free — avoid over-mixing to keep it light.
4. Whip the meringue
In a separate clean bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip until frothy.
Gradually add the remaining 100g sugar, whisking on medium-high speed until you reach stiff, glossy peaks.
(When you lift the whisk, the peak should stand straight with a slight curl at the tip.)
5. Fold the batters together
Add one-third of the meringue into the ube yolk batter and fold gently to loosen it.
Then add the remaining meringue in two more additions, folding carefully each time.
Use long, sweeping motions from the bottom of the bowl — you want to keep as much air in the batter as possible.
The final mixture should look airy and uniform in colour, with no streaks of white.
6. Fill and bake
Spoon the batter into your liners or molds, filling them about ⅔ full to allow room for rising.
Bake for 20–25 minutes or until the tops spring back lightly when touched. They should stay pale on top with a soft, cotton-like texture.
7. Cool and finish
Remove from the oven and let the mamon cool in their molds for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.
These keep beautifully in an airtight container for 3 days — or freeze individually wrapped for up to two months.
