Lucy Wang Ube Bread

I made tamales — not for an order, not for a holiday. Just because. Because the kitchen needed Rosa's presence and the tamales are how Rosa visits. Each tamale is a minute of meditation. Spread, fill, fold, steam. The rhythm is the prayer. The prayer is the tamale. And the tamale is the day.

After pressing and folding those tamales, my hands didn’t want to stop — they were still in that rhythm, still looking for somewhere to go. Bread felt like the natural answer. This ube bread from Lucy Wang has that same quality the tamales do: you work the dough, the dough works you, and somewhere in the middle the day settles down into something you can hold. The purple is almost too beautiful to be practical, and that felt exactly right for an afternoon that was already a little more than practical.

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 3 hr (includes rise time) | Servings: 10 slices

Ingredients

3 cups (360g) bread flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
3/4 cup whole milk, warmed to 110°F
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened and cubed
1/2 cup ube halaya (purple yam jam)
1 tbsp ube extract
1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash

Instructions

Activate yeast. Combine warm milk, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir gently and let sit 5–10 minutes until foamy and fragrant.
Build the dough. Add eggs, ube halaya, and ube extract to the yeast mixture. With the dough hook on low speed, gradually add the bread flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, about 2 minutes.
Incorporate butter. Increase speed to medium and add softened butter one cube at a time, waiting until each piece is fully absorbed before adding the next. Knead on medium for 8–10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls cleanly from the bowl sides.
First rise. Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Shape the loaf. Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 8–10 equal portions, roll each into a smooth ball, and arrange snugly in a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan in two rows.
Second rise. Cover loosely and let proof again until the dough crowns about 1 inch above the rim of the pan, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Egg wash & bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the surface gently with egg wash. Bake 30–35 minutes until deep golden on top and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center reads 190°F.
Cool. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack at least 20 minutes before slicing. The crumb sets as it cools — resist cutting too early.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lucy Wang Ube Bread — When the Hands Remember What the Heart Knows