- Hi, I'm Kristine, co-owner and self-taught baker
at Creme Caramel LA.
And today, I'm going to show you
how to take a traditional Filipino dessert,
and turn it to one of our best sellers at our store.
At Creme Caramel LA, we are a Filipino dessert bakery.
We make creme caramels, bread puddings, custard pies,
cheesecakes, quiches.
But most of all, we make custard dreams.
And today I'm going to show you how to make
Ube upside-down pie.
And it all happened because of an accident.
I don't know how many times you've been in the kitchen where
realized, "oh no, I forgot to set the timer!",
and basically turned a whole day's work into crap.
But I made a Graham cracker crust, threw it on there,
and it ended up being our best seller at our store.
Today, that's where we're going to make.
Ube upside-down pie.
So let's bring my traditions to your table.
Our first step is to make the custard.
So we're going to get started with two eggs,
and we're going to separate the yolks from the whites.
After I crack them, I like to use my hands.
It does get a little slimy.
Typically in leche flan, it's purely egg yolks.
But our version has egg whites
to make it a little silkier and creamier.
You're probably wondering, "wait a minute.
I've made this before and it's not called leche flan!".
It's probably called creme caramel,
which is the name of our company.
That is also could be called caramel pudding,
or purin,
or even creme Catalana.
Those are all basically the same custard base.
So custard is basically anything with eggs or milk.
You can even make a savory custard like a quiche.
But our version is sweet, and our version has thinned milk.
So that's what makes it implicitly leche flan,
the Filipino version.
Next, I'm going to add the single egg.
You want to make sure it's fully incorporated.
Next we're going to add
six tablespoons of granulated sugar into
the egg mixture.
And then now we're going to whisk it all together.
After our sugar and our eggs are well-mixed,
we're going to put in 18 ounces of thinned evaporated milk.
In the Philippines, fresh milk isn't as available.
It's a hot country.
So using evaporated milk is much better,
since it's shelf stable,
and you don't have to worry about spoiled milk.
And next we're going to add sweetened condensed milk,
and you're only using half a cup of this condensed milk.
And you want to make sure you use a really good spatula
to kind of get all those little bits out.
There's a word in Filipino language called "sayang",
basically, it's like, "oh, what a waste? What a pity."
And you don't want to waste it.
If there's one thing that we do at our store,
we're really good about making sure
that we have every little bit used.
Sayang.
So we're done with the custard, but what sets ours apart
is that we add ube to it.
Woo!
If you don't, like, know what ube is,
it is a party in your mouth.
Ube is a purple yam from the Philippines,
specifically indigenous to the Philippines.
The Ube flavor profile is very similar to an almost
vanilla and coconut.
We can debate ube all day.
I mean, people say ube is taro. No, it's not.
Ube is a purple potato.
No, it's not.
Everyone thinks Ube tastes different.
What do you guys think? Comment below.
You can source this from your local Filipino grocery stores.
But if you don't have one near you,
you can always go online and purchase it there.
So I'm going to add one tablespoon of ube flavoring
into this beautiful custard.
Look at that.
Purple goodness, vibrant royal purple color.
We're not using powders or actual ube root
because it's going to ruin the texture.
And we want to be able to stay true to that texture of flan
as being creamy, and silky, and really good mouthfeel.
Now that we finished whisking this beautiful purple custard,
we're going to strain it.
It's actually one of the biggest complaints about custard.
People don't like eggy custard,
or has like texture of eggs.
As you can see here,
all these little eggy bits are left behind,
and they're no longer going to interfere
with your beautiful silky custard.
And we're going to put the ube custard first.
You know what, purple mess all over,
just inside of the pie pan.
We are going to scrape every little bit.
You don't want sayang.
Sayang.
You want to use every little bit.
And you're probably wondering
why our pie dish is in a roasting pan.
And the reason why is
'cause we're going to slow and low cook this.
We're going to add a water bath at the bottom.
Basically, it's going to make the custard cook evenly.
We're going to fill up the hot water,
halfway up the pan, as best as you can estimate.
You definitely don't want it close to the lip
of the pie pan, 'cause it'll spill inside
when you're transporting this into the oven.
We already have a start with the hot water
going into the roasting pan.
I'd like to add
a cover on top of the pan to create steam.
So again, we want consistent custard.
'Cause like a true leche flan,
you want to make sure that it's consistent throughout.
And if this didn't have the foil on top,
it'll make a little crust, and that's not very good
when it comes to the final product.
We want to make a crust, not this kind of crust.
So I'm going to put this in the oven
for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
And then after 45 minutes,
I'm going to remove the foil and turn it around,
and bake it for another 10 to 15 minutes.
And here is the little purple beauty.
You just took this out of the oven.
So how do you know that it's completely set?
If you do a little jiggle,
you'll see that it has a slight jiggle.
So we're going to have a chill overnight
in the refrigerator, and I'll see you the morning.
Good morning.
I am wearing the same thing.
And that's okay. Please forgive it.
We are ready for the next part,
which is our Ube upside-down pie, Graham cracker crust.
The reason why we call it Ube upside-down pie
is because we have the crust on top.
And the crust came about because I made a mistake,
and I wanted to save it.
The whole thing of sayang.
So we're going to measure out
three and a half ounces of Graham cracker crumbs.
So now we're going to add brown sugar.
The brown sugar provides a little molasses-y type of
caramel-y sugar.
Next I'm going to add some Greek yogurt,
whole milk yogurt.
Again, you don't want to waste,
so I'm scraping every little bit out.
I grabbed some Graham cracker crumbs,
and I had Greek yogurt and brown sugar.
So I just mix it all together.
And I'm like, this tastes fine. This tastes good.
And it's sold out.
It's sold out that following weekend.
And I'm like, "oh my gosh, we have a new product."
Don't be afraid of your mistakes.
Your mistakes can always be made into something else.
To be honest, to make a really consistent crumb,
I like using my hands.
So I'm going to get in there and kind of crumble it.
It's like playing in sand, except delicious, delicious sand.
And if you crush it in your hands,
it kind of has a little shape,
but then you can easily break it down.
That's the right amount of moisture.
So now we're going to add our crusty crust
onto the Ube custard.
And then, push it all the way to the side,
so you cover the crust, or you can be a little delicate.
I'm going to be a little fancy into a little circle.
After you smoothed out the crust,
we're going to add some granulated sugar.
Very light sprinkling, not super heavy, just enough,
so that it lightly dusts the top of the crust.
After we sprinkled the sugar,
we're going to brulee the surface of the crust.
And not everyone has a torch at home,
and that's completely fine.
We're going to stick this into the broiler
for one to two minutes.
To the boiler!
We are done.
So we had this nice smoky finish on top.
I'm going to add a little purple sugar for a little jush.
The reason why we put this on
is because we have other upside-down pies.
So this is the indicator for us.
That is our number one dessert at our store,
Ube upside-down pie.
Purple yam custard, topped with the bruleed Graham cracker,
Greek yogurt crust.
I'm ready to sample this.
I like to put it in a container
that you can see the purple goodness.
I patting myself on the back for making this,
like, "oh yeah, this is so delicious."
The Ube custard has that vanilla-y slash coconut-y
earthy type of flavor,
married with the creaminess of the custard.
And then as a bonus, you get a crumbly crust.
Anyone can make this. You can make this with your kids.
You can make it with your friends.
You get two things in one,
delicious food and Instagrammable pic.
And that's how you turn a traditional Filipino dish
into an Ube upside-down pie.
We welcome you to come by Creme Caramel LA.
Try our Ube upside-down pie in person,
paired with one of our ube horchatas.
Thanks for joining me,
as I bring my traditions to your table.
- Oh yes!