How to Make Ube Tarts (Easy No-Fail Recipe) (2024)

Ube tarts are the perfect 2-bite ube treats. Imagine creamy ube cheesecake filling within a buttery shortbread crust. So good! They’re easy to make too. Using ready-made tart shells, this recipe takes less than an hour from start to first bite.

(Love your ube pastries individual-sized? Try these ube pies, puff pastry hand pies filled with ube jam then baked until golden brown. Delicious.)

Most ube desserts have ube halaya or ube jam as its base. It’s one of my favourite things in the world and I use it in a lot of the ube recipes here on The Unlikely Baker. From ube ice cream to ube cake, from ube donuts to ube brownies.

These ube tarts (or ube cheesecake tarts or ube halaya tarts) are my latest ube creations.

I saw them on social media a while back (very popular in Oahu and Honolulu) and decided to work on my own recipe.

I don’t know how those from Hawaii taste like but these ones are delicious! And one of the easiest ube dessert recipes ever.

Why you’ll love making this recipe

• Uses ready-made crust. Unlike other tart recipes — including the popular Filipino boat tarts — you don’t have to deal with finicky dough. Just buy frozen ready-made tart shells, thaw according to package instructions, and you’re good to go.

• No eggs in the filling. This recipe also contains no eggs in the tart filling. Just ube halaya or jam, cream cheese, condensed milk, ube extract and a little salt.

• You only need one bowl. This is a simple, one-bowl recipe. Easy to make, quick to clean up.

• Smooth and creamy. The tart gets its sweetness from the sweetened condensed milk, also adding to its smooth and luxurious texture.

• Ready in no time. Total baking time takes about 20 minutes and prepping takes even less time than that.

• So pretty! This recipe is very forgiving and comes out pretty whatever you do! Turn it up a notch and serve with whipped cream on top. Perfect for Easter, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas or any occasion. You can also give them out as gifts.

How to make ube tarts

You only need 6 ingredients to make ube tarts. And for a simple recipe like this one, I always make sure to get the best ingredients.

Ingredient notes

• Frozen tart shells — I use 2-inch tart shells for this recipe and I get a total of 36 mini tarts. You can also use 3-inch tart shells. You’ll get less tarts but you don’t have to adjust baking time by a lot. What I would suggest is to buy the best tart shells budget allows. You can really taste the difference.

• Cream cheese — make sure to buy the cream cheese available as a block and not as a spread. And ideally, buy full-fat for a richer taste and a creamier texture.

• Ube jam — I always say that ube jams are not created equal. Some are sweeter than others, some contain more cornstarch than purple yam. When buying ube jam for baking, make sure to pick one that you like eating on its own. Better yet, make your own! Here’s my recipe for homemade ube halaya. It’s easier and quicker to make than you think. And it tastes so close to the authentic, Good Shepherd ube jam if I say so myself.

• Ube extract — readers always ask how I get my ube baked goods so vibrantly purple. Ube is naturally a lovely purple colour but that gorgeous pop comes from the ube extract. I always use McCormick. I love the colour and the flavour it brings to my ube cakes and pastries. And they didn’t even pay me to say that lol!

Baking tools you’ll need

You won’t need any fancy baking tools or pans to make this recipe. Just the following:

• Large bowl
• Handheld electric mixer or stand mixer
• Baking sheet
• Spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl with
• And I like to use a cookie scoop to transfer the tart filling to the shells, but you can also just use regular spoons

Step-by-step photos

Now that we have all that covered, we’re ready to make ube tarts!

First thing you’ll want to do is preheat your oven to 375F, place your thawed tart shells on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until they turn a light golden brown. Carefully remove from their moulds and set aside to cool. Lower oven temperature to 350F.

Beat cream cheese and ube jam until smooth and well blended.

Add sweetened condensed milk, ube extract and a pinch of salt to the ube mixture. Continue to beat until incorporated.

Transfer the tart filling to your pre-baked tart shells (fill almost to the brim) and bake for 10 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown.

Frequently asked questions

Happy baking!

Did you make this ube tart recipe? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below. If you’re looking for more Filipino desserts, check out this delicious collection of must-try Filipino desserts.

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More Ube Recipes