Ube cupcakes/cake

Ube cupcakes with condensed milk buttercream icing and macapuno strings

ube cupcakes (ube topping prior to the buttercream icing)

Ronald's ube cake w/ ube and macapuno strings as a filling

Occasionally I look through my filipino cookbook and want to make everything my mom/aunts have made for parties, but what sucks is that they never turn out the same way. WHY IS THAT? it's that mom/auntie filipina touch that I do not have (because I am freakin american first; not filipina).

I feel I should learn how to make filipino desserts since I only really get to taste it if I buy it myself, or my friend's have a party that serves it. My mom isn't big on making filipino desserts unless someone requests it, but then that's asking too much because she's busy. In any case, I tried to make ube cake/cupcakes. Now, I've only really had ube cake like once - that I can remember and I can't remember what it tasted like. So when I made Ronald's 30th bday cake, I knew I wanted to make an ube cake, but I was afraid it wouldn't turn out right. Luckily the cake recipe I have makes like 3-9" round pans worth. I made 2 and the 3rd batch ended up being cupcakes. Good thing I made the cupcakes, because when I baked the cake, it looked brown and I was thinking "shiet - I messed it up; it should be purple!" Cutting into the cupcakes, I saw it was purple (well more lavender) - so I was relieved. The icing I was not too fond of (I followed the recipe but it didn't look right so I added confectioners sugar). It was alright.

That's when I thought - I'll make the cupcakes again (for my favorite guinea pig) and this time I'll make a buttercream (cause I love buttercream) icing. I think it turned out better, and after chatting this over with my brother, decided to put a layer of ube on top of the cupcakes for added flavor, and then put the icing and then the macapuno (coconut strings). The only thing I don't like about the macapuno on top is that the syrup it's in runs down and makes it messy. =\

Odd note: this is one of the very few desserts that I've made that I actually tasted and liked. I normally do not eat my desserts for two reasons. 1. it's usually baked for someone else so I don't get to really cut into the cake (and no, there are no leftovers for me, but that's okay) and 2. I am my own worst critic.