The 7 Mile House Ube Bake Off: How a Purple Filipino Dessert Became a Bay Area Tradition
Ube (say it WITH US NOW, "ooh-bay") has spent the last few years turning up everywhere: lattes, ice cream, cheesecake, even fast food menus. For a lot of people, it's a new favorite color and flavor. For 7 Mile House, it's something we were already serving before the rest of the internet caught on.
That's the spirit behind the Ube Bake Off, our annual dessert competition held right here in Brisbane, California, just outside San Francisco. Each year, local home bakers bring their own take on ube desserts, and our guests do the judging, one bite and one ballot at a time.
What Is the Ube Bake Off?
The Ube Bake Off is a week-long dessert competition where local bakers submit their own ube creations to be tasted and voted on by 7 Mile House guests. There's no judging panel. The people eating the desserts decide who wins, which means the competition doubles as a showcase for home bakers and small food businesses across the San Francisco Bay Area.
2026 marks the 6th annual Ube Bake Off. It hasn't run every single year since it began, but it's grown into one of the events our regulars look forward to most, alongside our Adobo Cookoff for a Cause.
Why Ube? The Story Behind 7 Mile House's Dessert Obsession
Long before ube desserts were trending, they were already on our menu. In 2016, "7 Mile Mom" and pastry chef Cleopatra Garcia added ube cheesecake to our dessert menu. At the time, ube wasn't the social media sensation it is now. It was just a delicious, deeply Filipino ingredient that deserved a spot on the menu.
Ube's popularity has only grown since then, and we figured: if our guests already love it this much, why not turn it into a competition? The Ube Bake Off is our way of celebrating an ingredient that's central to Filipino food culture, while giving local bakers a stage to show off what they can do with it.
How the Competition Works
The Ube Bake Off doesn't require tickets. Here's how it works during Ube Bake Off Week:
Dine in anytime during Ube Bake Off Week (reservations recommended)
Order the Ube Bake-Off Sampler, available dine-in only
Your sampler comes with four competition desserts from local bakers, plus two ballots
Taste everything, then vote for your favorite
Submit your ballots to your server
The winner is announced a few days after voting closes, both at 7 Mile House and on our social media
It's casual, it's fun, and it puts the decision in the hands of the people actually eating the desserts.
From Home Kitchen to Small Business: What Winning Means
The Ube Bake Off has become more than a friendly competition. For several past champions, it's been a turning point for a home baking business.
Julianne Zuniga's 2025 winning Ube Leche Flan, sold under her business Lou Lou's Leche Flan, is named after her mom, Mary Lou, who passed down the original leche flan recipe. Julianne's ube twist has become the only dessert on her menu.
Sebastian Treausch took the title in 2024 with an Ube Pudding Pie built on a coconut crust, filled with ube pudding, and topped with ube and coconut whipped cream.
Grace Gascon's 2022 winning Mo' Ube Mochi Bars, made with a graham cracker crust, white chocolate ube ganache, and ube polvoron crumbles, were popular enough that they've since landed on the 7 Mile House catering menu.
Aleli Crutchfield won in 2021 with her Ube Tres Leches, and five years later, it's still on our menu. Her homemade ube syrup has become an essential ingredient across our ube-flavored cocktails and our ube waffle.
Ava Marie Romero, a food blogger and competition cook, won in 2019 with her Ube Flan. Ava has also competed in our Adobo Cookoff for a Cause, and her connection to 7 Mile House helped bring us onto "Check Please, Bay Area."
The winner each year is crowned 7 Mile House Ube Bake Off Champ, receives a $100 gift certificate, gets featured on our blog, and earns the option to sell their winning dessert at 7 Mile House through October and November. For bakers building a home-based business or selling at pop-ups, that kind of exposure at a well-known Bay Area restaurant can make a real difference.
Ube Bake Off Week 2026: September 30 to October 5
This year's Ube Bake Off Week runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 5, 2026. We're still finalizing this year's lineup of nominated bakers, so check back or follow us on social media for updates on who's competing and what they're baking.
No tickets are needed. Just come in during the week, order the Ube Bake-Off Sampler, and vote for your favorite.
How to Compete or Nominate a Baker
Know a home baker with an ube dessert worth sharing, or want to enter yourself? Fill out the nomination form here for info on how to compete in the 2026 Ube Bake Off.
More Filipino Food and Community Events at 7 Mile House
The Ube Bake Off is one part of what makes 7 Mile House a gathering place for Filipino food and Bay Area community events. If you're a fan of Filipino flavors and friendly competition, don't miss our Adobo Cookoff for a Cause, another annual event where local cooks compete with their own take on adobo, with proceeds benefiting a different nonprofit each year.