Ube has to be one of my favorite flavors. My first taste of ube was in a halo-halo from Café 86. Ube is a purple yam originally from the Philippines, and its flavor is similar to taro but a bit sweeter. Cooking with ube is always fun because the color is so rich, dark, and pretty. I think the hardest part of this recipe was finding the ube jam and extract. I managed to get the jam at Ranch 99 and, surprisingly, found the extract at Walmart. It can also be found at some Vietnamese grocery stores, though I can’t remember the name of the one I went to before. The H Mart near me didn’t carry any of these items, so if you plan to make this recipe, I’d recommend checking a Vietnamese market first. The jam added a nice depth of flavor, but the extract really brought out the color and enhanced the taste even more. Mixing everything together was my favorite part — the color turned out so beautifully! The texture of the batter was thick and gooey, and honestly, licking the spoon afterward is always one of the best parts of baking. Even though the batter looked amazing, the final result didn’t quite match up. After baking, the color darkened and didn’t look as pretty. I tend to overcook things — maybe because I’m always worried about undercooking and getting sick from raw ingredients? The top of the brownies turned a little hard and brown, and the white chocolate chips developed an odd yellow tint. One thing I learned is that it’s okay to take baked goods out a little early since they continue cooking as they cool. For next time, I’ll add some fresh white chocolate chips on top right after taking the brownies out of the oven. On the recipe website, the chips looked fresh and bright, and I’d love to recreate that look. Despite how they looked, the brownies tasted really good. I definitely prefer them cold — they taste fudgier and chunkier that way. When reheated, they became more crumbly and didn’t hold their shape as well. To conclude, finding the ingredients was the hardest part, but I’d still give this recipe 5 cactuses out of 5! The instructions were easy to follow, especially for a beginner. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that pressing on white chocolate chips after baking gives your dessert a prettier finish. Mix and bake, then cook and take! The Unlikely Baker has so many other amazing ube recipes that I can’t wait to try out next.