Ube Hopia
Flaky and buttery layers of pastry with creamy ube filling, make these ube hopia at home following my clear step by step instructions and tips. If you love ube baked goods, also try my Ube Bread Rolls.
I enjoyed making these Ube Hopia at home. While it may seem intimidating to make, hopia pastry is really an achievable cooking/baking project.
Just follow my recipe instructions, get your hands in the dough and have fun!
In the end, you will be rewarded with flaky buttery layers of pastry enclosing a creamy and luscious ube halaya inside! I think you will love this.
Ube Hopia Pastry Tips
- I strongly suggest that you make your own ube halaya. I have a 4-ingredient ube halaya recipe to offer, or even buy the homemade ones from your favorite seller. I wouldn’t recommend the jarred ones from the Asian/ oriental aisle as they are too sweet and it empowers the richness of the pastry.
- Hopia pastry is made of 2 dough- a base dough and butter dough. When making both dough, make sure not to overwork them. For the base dough, we are looking for a shaggy dough. For the butter dough, you want it crumbly but comes together when pressed.
- During rolling and folding the dough, make sure to dust your working surface as to prevent sticking. You may have to dust as needed and that includes your rolling pin and maybe the tops of the dough when sticky patches appear.
- A pastry scraper is very helpful here when lifting the edges of the dough. The dough can be very delicate so you need something to help you lift it without the dough falling apart.
Incorporating the Two Doughs
I mentioned above that the hopia is made of two doughs. A base dough and a butter dough. The photo below shows how we incorporate the two doughs together.
Rolling and Folding the Dough
This is the process of laminating the dough so it produces those flaky layers in the hopia. In this photo, I am showing you how the folding looks like. We are gonna do this two times.
After incorporating the two doughs into a 10x 15 inch rectangle, we fold it crosswise, then lengthwise. We roll this out again to a 10 x 15 and repeat the folding.
Stovetop Hopia vs Baked Hopia
- You can cook the hopia by either cooking them on a non-stick skillet and or baking in the oven. The main difference here will be the hands on time. Cooking on a skillet requires more of your attention, while cooking in the oven is almost hands-free.
- The difference in texture will only be prominent right after cooking. The pan fried ones will be more tender crisp while the baked ones will be a more crunchy type of crisp. As they cool, the difference will be negligible.
- Baking in the oven will require an egg wash to achieve browning on the tops. The pan fried ones will have a more even golden surface and the baked ones will have a spotty kind of browning.
The picture below shows the difference in the looks of pan cooked and baked hopia.
If you ask me, I think I love the stovetop version. There is something so satisfying in watching a pale disc of dough turn into beautiful hopia right before your eyes 🙂 Enjoy this and let me know what you like better. I usually pan fry half and bake the other half.
Ube Hopia
Flaky and buttery layers of pastry with creamy ube filling, make these ube hopia at home following my clear step by step instructions and tips.
Print
Pin
Rate
Servings: 16
Calories: 335kcal
Ingredients
- 1½ cup ube jam (ube halaya) you can also use home made store-bought (see note 1)
Base Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup plus 2 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
The Butter Dough
- 1¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter cut into mini cubes and chilled
- ¼ cup shortening
- pinch salt
- 2 tbsp water
Egg wash (if you are baking the hopia)
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
Base Dough
- In a small cup or bowl stir together the water and sugar until the sugar is partially dissolved. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, the sugar water mixture and the shortening. Use a big wooden spoon to stir the ingredients just until they are almost incorporated, then finish with your hands. Do not over work the dough here. You are looking for a shaggy, crumbly dough that gathers when pressed together.
- Lay a big piece of plastic wrap on the kitchen surface. Turn the dough over and press and gather into a disc or ball. Wrap it firmly in the plastic wrap. Chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Butter Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk to combine. Add the shortening and butter. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter and shortening into the flour, until a coarse crumbs-like mixture is formed.
- Add the water and continue to use the pastry cutter to moisten the crumbs. Use your hands to gather the mixture into a crumbly piece of dough. Again, do not overwork the dough here.
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the kitchen surface. Turn the butter dough over, gather into a disc or ball and wrap it firmly with the plastic wrap. Chill this in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Ube Hopia Assembly
- Dust your Work Area. Have about half a cup of flour ready by your work surface. Dust your working area generously with flour. Unwrap your base dough and pat it into a rectangular shape.
- Layer butter dough over base dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the base dough into a 10 x 15 inch rectangle. Remember to dust the surface underneath your dough with flour to prevent sticking. Take the butter dough (the second dough) from the fridge. Unwrap and gently lay patches of the butter dough over the base dough, covering the entire rectangular area until all the butter dough is used up.
- Incorporate the two doughs. Lay a big piece of plastic wrap (probably the one you used to wrap the dough) over the dough assembly. Roll the rolling pin on top a few times just to flatten and smoothen the chunks of dough on top.
- First Fold. Fold the upper and lower end of the long rectangle so that the edges meet at the center (cross wise fold). Then, fold the dough vertically in half to make a smaller rectangle. Use the rolling pin to roll the entire thing into a 10x 15 inches rectangle again. Tip: a pastry scraper will greatly help to pick up the edges of the dough during rolling and folding. The dough can be very delicate. Also, flouring the surface, the rolling pin and the tops of the dough as needed is vital to prevent sticking.
- Second Fold. Again fold the rectangle crosswise: upper and lower end towards the center so that their edges meet. Then, fold the square-ish dough lengthwise so that you have a small thick rectangle. Roll this out again into a 10 x 15 inch rectangle.
- Shape the dough into a log and cut into 16 portions.. Starting on the long edge of the rectangle, roll the dough into a tight log. Roll and pat in so that it is16 inches long. Using you pastry scraper or a knife, cut the dough into 16 equal portions (just try you best or weigh the entire dough and calculate the weight per portion for a total of 16). Chill the dough portions for at least 10 minutes.
- Flatten into discs and Fill. Use the rolling pin to flatten one of portion of dough into disc that is about ¼ inch thick (see note 2) Spoon about a tablespoon of ube in the center (a little bit more if you have a bigger portion of dough or less is you have a smaller portion).
- Shape the Hopia. Gather the edges over the filling and pinch the seams to close. Shape the filled dough into a smooth ball. Then, using a 3 inches cookie or biscuit cutter, shape the dough into a circle hopia. Tip: If you do not have cookie cutter, simply flatted the ball of dough halfway until it is shaped like a thick disc.
- Pan Fry. Heat a wide non-stick skillet. Pan fry the hopia over medium heat in batches, maybe 4 or 5 at a time depending how large is your skillet. Once the underside is golden, flip to cook the other side. Then, arrange the hopia so that they stand on their sides, cook briefly until lightly golden, rotating to cook the entire side.
Baking Option (see note 3)
- If you would like to bake instead, line a baking pan(s) with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 ℉. Arrange the hopia with about 2 inches spaces in between. Make the egg wash by beating together milk and egg. Brush the surface of the hopia with egg wash. Bake at 350℉ for 10 minutes. Then, take out the pan and flip the hopia. Brush the tops with the egg wash and bake again for 10-12 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Make my 4-ingredient creamy ube halaya or buy the homemade ones from your favorite seller. advise against using the jarred ones from the groceries. They are so sweet and that overpowers the richness of the hopia pastry. I really suggest you either make your own or buy homemade ones.
- Do not roll your disc too thin because your ube filling will ooze out. Also, when you roll disc, make sure all gaps are sealed so that the filling stays inside.
- Refrigerate when needed. When the dough becomes really greasy, sticky or soft when rolling or folding, chill it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to make handling it easier and to prevent the butter from melting.
- Pan fried hopia vs Baked Hopia. When you pan fry, You can achieve a more even and golden color on the pastry. The texture is tender-crisp. The baked hopia will have a more spotty browning in the surface and it uses egg wash to achieve that. The texture is more crunchy crisp than tender. However, please note that after a day of storing, the hopia pretty much have the same characteristics in texture and taste whether baked or pan-fried. The baking method is more hands off, but I think the frying is more satisfying and enjoyable if you have time 🙂
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 335kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 26mg | Sodium: 17mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 204IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg
Looks complicated but it is easier than you think!