These Ube Bagels combine the chewy bagels with the exotic sweetness of ube. The utilization of both ube powder and fresh ube give the bagels marbled purple color and natural sweet flavor. Join me in discovering the unique charm of ube.
You might also like Ube Semla or Black Sesame Bagel .
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What is Ube (purple yam)?
Ube, also known as purple yam, is a vibrant purple root vegetable popular in Filipino and Southeast Asian cuisine. It's celebrated for its naturally sweet and nutty flavor, as well as its striking color. Ube is used in a variety of dishes, from desserts like ube halaya (ube jam) to bread and pastries, adding both a unique taste and a beautiful purple hue to these creations. Recently ube has gained international recognition, finding its way into various Western recipes, like the ube bagel we are making here.
How do you choose the good Ube?
When it comes to root vegetable like sweet potato and yam. I usually look for the ones that have less growing roots and sprouts. The less fiber, the better. On the website Just One Cookbook, it mentions ripen the sweet potato in a dry, cool and dark place for at least 1-2 weeks. I do the same thing to purple yams. It doesn’t get much sweeter like Japanese sweet potato does because ube generally has less sugar.
Ingredients in Ube Bagel
- Ube - I am using fresh ube to make the filling of ube bagel. It has really good texture and flavor for filling. If you can’t find fresh ube, there are substitute for it too. Check the Recipe FAQ.
- Ube Powder - Ube powder gives the dough nice purple hue without changing the ratio of recipe too much.
- Sugar - Depending on the natural sweetness of your fresh ube, you may need to add sweeteners like sugar. Granulated sugar is what I use here. Keep in mind that the level of sweetness can vary from batch to batch.
- Honey - Honey adds a subtle sweetness to the bagel, and also helps keep the dough moist, resulting in a softer and more tender texture.
- Water - Water is necessary to hydrate the dry ingredients in the bagel dough. Proper hydration results in the development of gluten, which gives the bagels their structure and chewy texture. The amount of water in the recipe for baking isn’t always the same due to the environment and the flour’s kinds and brands.
- Yeast - Yeast helps fermentation. During fermentation, yeast produces carbon dioxide gas. This gas gets trapped within the dough, causing it to expand and rise. There are fresh yeast, active yeast, instant yeast you can find in the market, and what I use here is instant yeast. Therefore, it doesn’t require activation and doesn’t work well for long-time fermentation.
- Bread Flour - Bread flour contains a higher protein content compared to all-purpose flour, which strengthens the dough, providing structure and allowing the bagels to rise and maintain their shape. The bread flour I use here is 12.7% gluten-forming protein content.
- Salt - Salt strengthens the proteins' ability to bond, and results in stronger, more elastic gluten, which helps the dough holds carbon dioxide produced during fermentation.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make ube filling?
Cut the ube in half horizontally.
Place ube on a rack over water. Cover the pot and turn the heat to high. When you hear the water boiling or see steam coming out, turn the heat to low and steam for 20 minutes or until it’s fully cooked.
Scrap the ube flesh out with a spoon. Mix with granulated sugar until paste form. Set aside.
How to make bagel dough?
Prepare 8 pieces of small parchment paper.
Put bread flour, instant yeast, honey, salt, cold water in the mixing bowl. Mix with the hook attachment from slow. Once everything is just combined, turn the speed on to medium.
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. If you don’t want to color bagel, you can skip to “How to make Ube Bagel?”
How do you make the Bagel double-colored?
Divid the dough into two portions.
Mix one portion with ube powder. Cover the other one with a damp towel to prevent it from drying out.
Cut both dough into four pieces.
Reform the dough into one. It should be one round dough with marbled color.
How to make Ube Bagel?
Cover the dough with damp towel, and rest for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
Divid the dough into 8 pieces, and shape each piece into a ball (about 87g). Rest for 15 minutes.
Roll the dough into a rectangle, one at a time.
Pipe the ube filling like a long straight line at the top ¼ part of the rectangle.
Fold the top end to center horizontally to enclose the filling.
Repeat the folding until it becomes a long tube. Roll around the ends of the tube a little bit, and press down one end with the rolling pin.
Cover the other end with the flatten side of the tube. Now you have a bagel.
Place the bagels on the prepared small parchment paper. Proof in the warm and humid place for 30 minutes. (If you don’t have a proofer, like me and most of the homebakers, you can create one. Check “Recipe FAQ”)
Take out the bagels. Set the oven at 400°F. Prepare the honey water for next step, boiling.
When the water is boiling, boil each bagel for 30 seconds on each side. The paper will peel off by itself during boiling.
Transfer boiled bagels onto a baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
A Little Reminder of Timing
- After the dough is done, proof for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Divid and roll into balls.
- Rest for 15 minutes.
- Fill and shape the bagels.
- Proof for 30 minutes.
- Boil each bagel for 30 seconds on each side.
- Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
Equipment
You can make this recipe by hand, but your arms will thank you if you have a stand mixer. I have a 6Qt. Kitchenaid lift stand mixer, it is more than enough for a normal household usage.
When shaping the filled bagels, it’s better to use a small rolling pin. It is great for shaping small portions of dough like bagel, dumpling, bao.
Another must-have tool for bread making is bench scraper. I use it all the time for collecting chopped vegetable, cutting dough.
Storage
Freezing is the best way to store these bagels. Freeze them for up to 4 months. Defrost overnight, spray or tap some water on the bagel before you refresh it. The inside will be just as fluffy as it’s fresh.
Recipe Tips
Beware of the kind of ube powder you get! The ideal ube powder is fresh freeze-dried ube powder. When combined with water base mixture, ube powder should dissolve and turn the mixture purple. It is very easy to find on Amazon. Do not buy the ube powder that looks like grounded dried ube skin! That would not turn your bagel purple, instead it would look like bagel dough with purple ground pepper.
The first fold is crucial! Try not to touch the filling when folding the bagel down. Once the filling is enclosed at the first fold, you are basically safe. of course, do not overfill the filling.
Try to tighten the filling as much as you can! Here are the two examples.
Left: The filling is wrapped in center of the dough because I tighten it more as I roll.
Right: I don’t tighten it enough as I roll, so the filling is only covered in a thin crust, and most of the dough is at the center.
Recipe FAQ
If you can’t get fresh ube for the filling, you can use the frozen ube, store-bought ube halaya (ube jam), or you can make ube halaya with ube powder.
The vibrant purple color of ube powder is due to anthocyanins, which are pigments that can be sensitive to changes in pH and temperature. It’s normal that the color will be lighter after baking, but that’s also because it loses quite a bit of water weight as it bakes.
I like to check it by touching and gently pressing the dough with one finger. The dough should be puffy, and it springs back. Another way to check if the bagel is done is “floating test”. I learnt it from Claire Saffitz’s video on NYT cooking. Drop one bagel in the water. If it floats, it’s ready to be boiled.
To do so, you will need a spray bottle. Set the oven at the lowest temperature (In my case, it’s 170°F). Turn it off when it feels a bit warmer than your body temperature (around 110°F). Spray generous amount of water in the oven and on the bagels, and let them proof. Spray more water if needed.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Card
Ube Bagel with Ube Filling
Ingredients
Ube Filling
- 200 g fresh ube (about 1 ube)
- 65 g granulated sugar
Ube Bagel Dough
- 1.5 teaspoon instant yeast
- 410 g bread flour
- 2 tablespoon honey (40g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 g cold water
- 1 tablespoon ube powder
Boiling
- 2 qt water
- 2 tablespoon honey (40g)
Instructions
Make ube filling
- Steam: Steam the ube for 20 minutes or until it’s fully cooked.
- Mix: Scrap the ube flesh out with a spoon. Mix with granulated sugar until paste form. Set aside.
Make bagel dough
- Prep: Prepare 8 pieces of small parchment paper.
- Mix: Put bread flour, instant yeast, honey, salt, cold water in the mixing bowl. Mix with the hook attachment from slow. Once everything is just combined, turn the speed on to medium.
- Knead: Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
- Divid: Divid the dough into two portions.
- Color: Mix one portion with ube powder. Cover the other one with a damp towel to prevent it from drying out. Reform the dough into one.
- Proof: After the dough is done, proof for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Divid: Divid and roll into 8 balls.
- Rest: Cover and rest for 15 minutes.
Make filled ube bagel
- Fill & Shape: Pipe the filling and shape the bagels.
- Proof: Place the bagels on the prepared small parchment paper. Proof in the warm and humid place for 30 minutes.
- Prep: Take out the bagels. Set the oven at 400°F. Prepare the honey water for next step, boiling.
- Boil: When the water is boiling, boil each bagel for 30 seconds on each side.
- Bake: Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
Notes
- After the dough is done, proof for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Divid and roll into balls.
- Rest for 15 minutes.
- Fill and shape the bagels.
- Proof for 30 minutes.
- Boil each bagel for 30 seconds on each side.
- Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
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