UBE CRISPS

1. Preheat the oven to 285°F (140°C).
2. Peel the one small and narrow fresh ube or purple yam and use a mandolin slicer or sharp knife to slice it into very thin chips about 1 to 2 mm thick.
3. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and arrange the chips flat, keeping them close to one another as they'll shrink when baking. 
4. Bake the crisps for 25 minutes or until all hard and crisp.
5. Transfer the baked purple sweet potato chips onto a wire rack and let them cool down completely. 

UBE HALAYA

1. Wash the ube or purple yam skins thoroughly. Boil the whole root for 20-25 minutes or until a fork goes through with little resistance.
2. Transfer the cooked yam to a separate bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes, then peel off the skins while still warm. Mash the yams until you don’t see any big chunks.
3. In a large non-stick pot under medium heat (do not go hotter than this), combine the yams, evaporated milk, and brown sugar, condensed milk, and salt until the mixture begins to thicken considerably. This can take up to 20-25 minutes, so stir continuously.
4. Once mixture thickens, add the butter and stir for another 10-15 minutes until the mixture is thick enough to cling to the back of a spoon without spilling. 
5. Transfer to a heat-proof container and let it cool completely. 

UBE CUPCAKES

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a cupcake tin with 12 liners.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar, oil, and eggs together until combined.
4. Mix in the ube halaya and whisk until there are no lumps present. 
5. Add the ube extract and whisk until all combined. Do not overmix!
6. Spoon or pipe the cupcake batter into each liner.
7. Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool on a wire cooling rack.

VANILLA AND UBE WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING

1. Whip the heavy whipping cream in the bowl of a stand mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar in slowly until stiff peaks form.
2. Place half of the mixture in a separate bowl and whip in the vanilla extract. 
3. In the original bowl, add the ube extract and sweet potato powder, and whip. Add more ube extract until desired color is achieved (remember, the more you add, the stronger the ube flavor will be).
4. When time to assemble, decorate the cupcakes with the whipped cream with a tip of choice (I used Ateco #809). 
5. Place the rest of the purple sweet potato powder into a small bowl and dust each potato crisp in the powder. Dust off the excess and place two to three pieces on top of each frosted cupcake. Sprinkle on some more powder as desired.