Make Microwave Ube Cupcakes Like A Chef

If you’ve been spending more time in the kitchen these days, there’s a very good reason why. Cooking and baking are very effective therapeutic mediums for dealing with the stress and anxiety we’re all dealing with during this pandemic. As Amanda Mull writes in The Atlantic, people “seem to have turned to weekend baking as a salve for the ambient anxiety of being alive.”

But of course, being under quarantine — even modified quarantine — does present challenges. It can be hard to find ingredients, and sometimes all you really want is a fun and speedy mini project that you can make and enjoy, stat. Like this beautiful and amazingly easy Microwave Ube Cupcakes shared by Chef Miko Aspiras that takes just under a minute to zap in the microwave.

It’s such a pleasure to learn from Chef Miko, who's been called the “most sought after pastry chef” in the country when he left the Philippines last year to become the youngest executive pastry chef at the Hilton Sydney. If you have forgotten, Miko was the genius behind Scout’s Honor, Workshop, and Le Petit Soufflé, just to name a few. Remember his burnt Basque cheesecakes and the giddily creative, fantastical layer cakes? We miss him. 

Still under quarantine in Sydney, Miko finds pleasure and comfort working in his home kitchen, trying out new recipes and finding creative ways to work with limited ingredients.  Microwave Ube Cupcake is a recipe taken from his cookbook A Piece of Cake, co-authored with Chef Aileen Anastacio and published last year. 

It’s a little reminiscent of the once-trendy mug cakes, but Miko transforms the simple concept into a recipe that's quite aspirational, even as it remains simple and delicious. There’s even a back story: “I learned to make this recipe out of need,” he says. “I was doing it for a competition in 2011 and saw this recipe which uses a siphon cream whipper, a cream charger, and some chemicals to aerate the batter. I didn’t have those, so I made this instead. And it worked.”

Are you ready?

Microwave Ube Cupcakes are really fun and easy to make. Watch the video. The recipe is below.

Microwave Ube Cupcakes

75 grams melted butter, at room temperature

2 whole eggs, at room temperature 

50 grams white sugar 

10 grams honey 

35 grams ube halaya 

drop of ube extract 

65 grams plain flour 

5 grams baking powder 

25 ml fresh milk 

1. Put the melted butter into the bowl.

2. Whisk in 2 eggs, then the sugar.  Add the honey, ube halaya and ube extract. Whisk.

3. Sift the dry ingredients on top of the liquid mixture. Whisk ingredients together. 

4. Add the milk. 

5. Chill mixture for at least 4 hours to overnight. 

6. Coat or line cups in oil or melted butter. Make sure to coat the bottom and sides of each cup.

7. Using a piping bag, pipe ube mixture into the prepared cups, filling each cup halfway.

8. Microwave from 50 seconds to 1 minute, depending on the size of the cups.  Transfer to  a plate and serve.

Miko even demonstrates how to plate the ube cupcakes like a chef would: Spoon some crushed cookies onto a plate. These will serve as base for the dessert, as well as adding crunch and texture. Position a freshly baked ube cupcake on one side , then add a quenelle (or a scoop) of coconut ice cream. Sprinkle toasted coconut on top, to add more flavor. Finish with a little sprig of mint. And there you have it, a super easy ube cupcake dessert that looks like it came from a professional kitchen. 

Microwave Ube Cupcakes is just one of the many great recipes in A Piece of Cake, the cookbook co-authored by Miko and Chef Aileen Anastacio, and published in 2019. Get a copy by sending a PM on Instagram to @chefmikoaspiras or @aileenanastacio. The book will soon be available at Gourdo's.