Soft and fluffy sweet bread like the classic ensaymada, but this time filled with delicious ube halaya. Ube halaya is a Filipino classic dessert made of boiled and mashed purple yam. This is the perfect mix of sweet buns with delicious ube halaya and topped with cream cheese decorated with lots of cheese 🙂

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh milk warm
2 ½ teaspoons of instant yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
½ cup melted butter
3 large eggs
400 g store-bought ube halaya
200 g cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Procedure:

Combine warm milk and yeast and stir. Set aside for 10 minutes until bubbly. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients starting from the flour, sugar, and salt then mix thoroughly. Add the eggs, melted butter and the activated yeast mixture. Mix until dough until it is smooth and elastic. Knead the dough until the texture becomes fine. Put dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Brush the ensaymada or brioche molds with butter (you can also use a cupcake molder for mini ensaymada, or even without molder will be fine). Set aside. Divide dough into balls weighing about 50 grams each (for regular ensaymada) or 30 grams (for mini ensaymada). Roll out each portion very thinly into a rectangle. Brush with 1 tablespoon of cream cheese and spread with 1-2 tablespoons of ube halaya. Roll into a long rope. Hold one end of the rolled dough between your thumb and 2 fingers. Tuck in the end under. Put coiled ensaymada on moulders or simply put in a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Do the same for the rest of the dough. Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes until light. Brush with melted butter on top. Bake at 180°C for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and let it cool slightly. For the toppings, combine left cream cheese, softened butter and confectioners’ sugar. Brush on the top of each ensaymada and sprinkle it with grated cheese. 🙂

Enjoy!