How to Make Talam Ubi Ungu – Purple Yam Steamed Cake

Kue/kuih Talam Ubi Ungu is a sweet Indonesian traditional dessert with a rich coconut flavor. The combination of slightly sweet and salted coconut and sweet purple potato is delightful. Taste the soft, bouncy texture of each layer, which melts in your mouth.

Kue Talam Ubi is my favorite Indonesian snack. Most Indonesian snacks or desserts are steamed. Coconut milk, rice flour, and tapioca flour are the most common ingredients in Southeast Asian desserts. They can also be found in sweet and savory dishes.

What is Talam Ubi Ungu?

Talam Ubi Ungu is a traditional Indonesian snack that I could not refuse. The color, the texture, and the fragrance are so tempting.

Kue Talam is easy to recognize. It usually consists of two layers. The bottom layer is made with sweet potato, and the top layer is made with coconut milk. There are many varieties, like pandan, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and cassava, so the color depends on the ingredient used.

It is made of coconut milk and tapioca flour. The mixture is mixed layer by layer, creating a chewy, bouncy delight.

Most traditional snacks in Indonesia are steamed and use tapioca flour and coconut milk, which are the two basic ingredients.

Even though most traditional cakes use these 2 essential ingredients, each type of snack has uniqueness.

Kue Talam Ubi is easy to make; you don’t need special skills to make this dessert successfully. You can get more creative in pouring each layer to create a beautiful outcome with different molds.

Let’s learn about purple sweet potato so we don’t confuse it with taro, which looks almost similar.

Purple Sweet Potato / Purple Yam vs Taro

They are both purple, so it is easy to confuse which. And what about Taro? It is also purple, but pale purple.

Let’s learn a little bit about purple yam and taro. I won’t bother you with too much detail—just enough to help you choose the right ingredients so you can make the dessert correctly.

Purple sweet potato / purple yam also known as ube in the Philipines has purple brownish color for the skin. The skin is very thin, you can peel it with a normal peeler you use to peel carrots.

On the contrary, taro has thicker skin. You have to use a knife to peel off the rough skin.

If you cut through purple yam, you can see that the meat is dark purple indeed. Taro is a little bit purple and white, while purple yam (ube) carries a bit of vanilla flavor. It is more moist when steamed.

Taro is creamy when cooked; the color is white with a hint of purple-grey.

How To Process Purple Yam

Before steaming, I advise you to wash it with clean water. You can use a brush to wash away the dirt, but it is usually already clean from the groceries.

You can peel the skin with a peeler similar to those used to peel carrots, or you can peel it later after steaming.

Ingredients to Note

Purple Sweet Potato / Purple Yam – pick the right purple yam. Wash clean and peel before steaming.

Coconut Milk – Use canned coconut milk. It is easier to process due to its consistency.

Sugar – regular sugar is okay to use.

Rice Flour – you can get rice flour from Asian grocery store. Rice flour is the staple ingredient in this recipe. It is gluten-free.

Tapioca Flour – To make the cake bouncy, you will need tapioca flour.

How To Make Talam Ubi

• STEP 1: Prepare the purple yam. Wash the purple yam away from dirt. You may peel it first or later after steaming. Peel the skin of the sweet potato and cut them into pieces so it cooks faster.
• STEP 2: Steam the sweet purple potato. Boil the water and then put the sweet potatoes in a bowl. Steam for 15 minutes, and check with a fork if they are soft enough to go through. The steaming time will vary as the size of the sweet potato differs. As long as you can easily poke the purple yam into the middle part, it’s done.
• STEP 3: Mash the steamed sweet purple potato. Use a fork or food processor to mash the steamed yam. Try to make it as smooth as you can. You can sieve it later after mixing.
• STEP 4: Mixing the ingredients. Add the sugar, rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, and coconut milk. Mix well using a spatula.
• STEP 5: Smooth the batter. Sieve it using a fine mesh sieve and a spoon to press the pulp out. Finally, you have a fine mixture of purple color now. Please note that the purple batter is quite thick.
• STEP 6: Mix the coconut layer. Mix coconut milk, sugar, rice flour, tapioca flour, and salt well. Sieve the white mixture so it has a smooth white texture.

Assembling

• STEP 1: Preheat the steamer. While assembling the cake layers, you can start preheating the steamer.
• STEP 2: Brush some oil to the pudding mold you want to use. You can use your favorite pudding mold.
• STEP 3: Pour the mixture into the mold. Let’s get creative here! You can pour the white and purple mixture layer by layer. You need to steam each layer for at least 5 minutes. When you are done pouring all the mixture, take out the mold from the steamer. Let it cool afterwards.
• Step 4: Remove the cake from the mold. Press the mold a little bit or use a fork to tilt the side of the cake from inside. It should be easy to remove the cake from the mold.
• Step 5: Enjoy your mini Kue Talam!

Storage and Reheating

This cake is best consumed on the day you make it. If you must keep it for a day or two, please store it in a closed container. You can reheat by steaming it again.

Please understand that the taste and look of this cake may not be the same as the day you make it. It contains coconut milk, and it cannot stay fresh for long.

Variations

There are many variations of this kue talam. You will see green and white (using pandan extract), orange and white (using pumpkin or sweet potato), brown and white (using cassava).

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

If you like purple yam, you can also check Purple Yam Ang Ku Kueh. Another Indonesian dessert with tapioca flour that is also worth to try is Ongol-ongol.