Ube Donuts Recipe: Soft Baked Donuts with Ube Glaze and White Chocolate

The three components

• The purple batter: flour, sugar, egg, warm milk, melted butter, honey and 18g of ube powder. Baked, not fried, in a 6-donut pan.
• The ube glaze: icing sugar and 10g of ube powder bloomed in warm milk, adjusted drop by drop to coat without sliding off.
• The white chocolate drizzle: melted white chocolate piped in thin zigzags once the glaze has set.

Step 1: Prep the Pan and Oven

Preheat the oven to 180°C static (170°C fan) and lightly grease the six cavities of a donut pan. Baked donuts release by themselves once cooled, but a thin film of butter makes the demolding effortless.

Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients

Sift the flour together with the 18g of ube powder into a bowl. Add the sugar, baking powder and salt, then whisk everything together so the powder is evenly distributed from the start - this is what gives one uniform purple instead of streaks.

Step 3: Whisk the Liquid Ingredients and the Ube

In another bowl, whisk the egg with the warm milk, the melted butter and the honey. The mixture should be smooth and slightly foamy. Keep the milk warm but never hot: milk that is too hot can cook the egg and make the crumb dense.

Step 4: Form the Batter

Pour the liquids over the dry mix and stir just until no flour remains - overmixing makes the donuts dense. Let the batter rest 5 minutes so the ube powder hydrates. It should be thick but still flow slowly off the whisk, soft enough to be piped. If it feels too thick, add milk one teaspoon at a time.

Pro Tip: Hydration is what separates a smooth purple crumb from a grainy one. Those 5 minutes of rest let the ube powder fully dissolve into the batter.

Step 5: Fill the Donut Pan

Transfer the batter to a piping bag (or a sturdy freezer bag), cut the tip and fill each cavity two-thirds to three-quarters full. Never fill to the edge: the donuts rise in the oven and an overfilled cavity closes the center hole.

Step 6: Bake and Cool Completely

Bake 12 to 15 minutes. The donuts are ready when they spring back under light pressure and a skewer comes out clean. Rest them 5 minutes in the pan, then unmold onto a rack and let them cool completely before glazing - a warm donut melts the glaze on contact.

Pro Tip: Pull the donuts as soon as they spring back. Baked ube donuts overbake fast, and extra minutes in the oven dull the purple pigments.

Step 7: Make the Ube Glaze

Whisk the 10g of ube powder into 35ml of warm milk until completely smooth, and let it rest 2 minutes. Then fold in the sifted icing sugar gradually. If needed, add the rest of the milk a few drops at a time: the glaze should coat a donut without sliding off entirely. Remember that the powder keeps absorbing liquid while it rests - check the consistency again just before glazing.

Step 8: Glaze the Donuts

Dip the top of each completely cooled donut into the glaze, let the excess drip off for a few seconds and place it back on the rack. Let the glaze set for 15 to 20 minutes before the final touch.

Step 9: The White Chocolate Drizzle

Melt the white chocolate gently over a bain-marie or in short microwave bursts, stirring between each. Pour it into a small piping bag and trace thin zigzags over each glazed donut. Let it set before serving - the lines stay sharpest on the day.

That is the finished result: a soft purple crumb, a smooth ube glaze and a fine white chocolate contrast.

Our key tips

• Rest the batter 5 minutes: the ube powder needs this time to hydrate and give a smooth, evenly purple crumb.
• Fill two-thirds, never to the edge: the center hole stays open and the donuts keep their classic shape.
• Watch the bake: 12 to 15 minutes at 180°C static. Pull them as soon as they spring back to keep the purple vivid.
• Glaze only cold donuts: a warm donut melts the glaze and the lines lose their sharpness.
• Adjust the glaze at the last minute: ube powder keeps absorbing liquid while resting.

Keeping them at their best

• Unglazed donuts: keep up to 2 days in an airtight box, or 1 month in the freezer, wrapped individually.
• Glazed donuts: best the same day, when the white chocolate lines are sharpest. Keep in the fridge and bring back to room temperature a few minutes before eating.
• Make-ahead plan: bake the donuts the day before and keep them unglazed; make the glaze and the drizzle on serving day.

What pure ube powder brings

• Natural purple color from anthocyanins, in the batter and in the glaze
• Authentic flavor - vanilla, biscuit and a hint of white chocolate, which is why the white chocolate drizzle fits so well
• Dietary fiber that supports a healthy digestive system
• A clean label - no additives, no dye, no added sugar

Bake next

• Ube White Chocolate Cookie Recipe - same flavor pairing, in cookie form
• Ube Pandesal Recipe - the Filipino purple bread rolls
• Ube Crookie Recipe - croissant meets cookie
• Ube Coconut Tres Leches - purple sponge soaked in coconut milk
• Ube Halaya Recipe - the classic purple yam jam
• All Ube Recipes