A Proud Pinoy Tradition

• The use of bright-violet ube as an ingredient instantly sets Filipino baking apart from those of other cultures in the Southeast Asian region. While other baked goods in the region are made with tamer-toned cassava and orange yam, these traditional Filipino -- or Pinoy -- goodies stand proudly and brilliantly purple. Bakers often turbo-charge the purple shade with ube extracts and food coloring. Ube cupcakes are a more modern spin on the traditional full-sized ube cake, which makes regular appearances at Pinoy banquets and get-togethers.

An Unlikely Cupcake Ingredient

• Yams made their way into world cuisine largely because they're a nutritious, filling and economical way to add substance to many dishes. The plant it comes from is hardy and easy-to-grow in a multitude of conditions. However, the tubers must be carefully peeled to separate the thick skin from the edible part. The ube yam is prized almost entirely for its confection-ready deep purple color even though -- like America's corresponding pumpkin -- its natural taste is more savory than sweet.

Forms of Ube

• In the Philippines, the ube yam is generally prepared for dessert-making by grating and grinding the meat of the vegetable, then making it into a sweetened paste -- called haleya -- or a molded jam. While it's very difficult to find fresh ube tubers in American markets, would-be ube bakers can find several forms of recipe-ready ube in Asian markets. Look for richly purple-toned flavor extracts, freeze-dried powders, jarred jellies and jams. Most cupcake recipes call for a combination of processed ube products, using powder and jam for the cake and extract for the frosting.

Traditional Flavor Pairings

• Ube desserts are traditionally accented with macapuno, a Filipino coconut subspecies that yields especially large fruits with soft, thick meat. Macapuno's snow-white color provides an attractive contrast to the violet ube. The meat is generally grated then cooked in sweet syrup before being added to baked goods as a sweet accent. Fans can also find macapuno as an ice cream flavor, a charming choice as an "a la mode" accent if you plan to plate your ube cupcakes.