Sweet Treats in Honolulu
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Everyone knows about Leonard’s malassadas, Liliha Bakery’s coco puffs, Bubbies’ mochi ice cream, Ted’s Bakery’s chocolate haupia pies; they’re all household names and potluck favorites. But an entire world of sweets exists outside of these mainstays, sweets that may not make cameos on Hawaii Five-0, but still elicit joy when presented at a party, even if it’s a party of one on the couch. Here are a few of our favorite confections.
"I consider myself the Doughnut King,” says Jessie Salvador, general manager and creator of Regal Bakery’s cheerful cake doughnut concoctions, which include li hing pineapple, green tea, vanilla crunch (a vanilla doughnut topped with cornflakes), lemon crumb (a lemon cake doughnut with lemon icing and lemon streusel) and “Da Kreyz,” a glorious melding of doughnut and crème brûlée.
Donuts channeling cupcake creative energy have been a trend on the Mainland for a few years now, but Salvador is the first to bring nouveau cake donuts to Hawaii. “Everybody loves doughnuts, that’s what I know,” he says. Not that everyone agreed with him at first, particularly his wife, who protested that no one eats doughnuts in Hawaii. Still, Salvador made plans to leave his employer, Regal Foods, which also owns Regal Diner, to pursue his own doughnut business. But rather than lose him, Regal Foods gave Salvador free license in its new retail bakeshop, Regal Bakery. Two months later, the bakery had transformed into an all-doughnut showcase, with cake doughnuts front and center, though the maple bacon yeast doughnut occasionally steals the show. These days, fans are proving Salvador’s wife wrong, crowding this industrial corner by the airport to sample his creations. Doughnuts range from 90 cents to $2. 3040 Ualena St., 834-4423.
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Sweetsfrom Downtown CoffeeDowntown Coffee understands that great coffee needs great sweets. Its yuzu orange bar ($3.54) plays bright citrus flavors against a chocolate crust, while the matcha and bamboo charcoal torte ($3.54) is subtly sweet (and purportedly healthy). 900 Fort Street Mall, Suite 100, 599-5353. |
Spanish Breadfrom Nanding’s BakeryAt first glance, they look like Olive Garden bread rolls, down to the cornmeal dusting on top, but a bite into fresh Spanish bread (three for $1) from Nanding’s Bakery yields a sweet, buttery filling. Two locations: 918 Gulick Ave., 841-4731, and 94-216 Farrington Highway, Waipahu, 678-0828. |
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Sweets
from Short n Sweet Bakery
While all our previous sweets can be found on Oahu, an unexpected find in Hilo reveals a high-quality bakery that we wish would move to Honolulu. Short n Sweet makes an assortment of breads, croissants, pies, cupcakes, cookies, and candies (savory goods as well). Forced to pick, we’d go with the Kohala crunch bar, with layers of crushed macadamia nut brittle, feuilletine (thin sugar flakes), and milk chocolate topped with a bittersweet chocolate ganache and cocoa powder. The banana cream pie is also a winner, featuring a real butter crust, vanilla custard and bananas, topped with pillows of fresh whipped cream. 374 Kinoole St., Hilo, 935-4446, shortnsweet.biz.
The Results: A Taste Test
Cupcake Thunderdome
Six cupcakes enter, all get devoured. The cupcake trend continues, no matter how many cupcake-fatigued food writers proclaim its death. While there are a baker’s dozen of cupcakeries without storefronts, we narrowed the field to brick-and-mortar bakeries.
For consistency, we ordered—as closely as possible—the same thing at each place: chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting, though Let Them Eat Cupcakes does not yet make a chocolate frosting. For fun, we also threw everyone’s childhood favorite, Hostess Cupcakes, into the tasting arena. In a blind taste test, seven staffers gave up to five points on three aspects of each cupcake: the cake, the frosting and overall quality, making the total possible score 105. Here’s how they fared.
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Second PlacePoppy’s Coffee
Total score: 83 // Price: $3.50 This cupcake, from a shop unknown on the cupcake circuit, was huge, twice the weight of some cupcakes. “Nice balance, good flavor, moist and delicious,” one taster said. 745 Keeaumoku St., 941-8285. |
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Dessert Fight
Diamond Head Market and Grill versus The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl
Desserts and pastries may just be treats to us, but to those who create them, they are serious business. We ran across a rivalry while on our sugar quest.
Ever notice that The Alley Restaurant has many of the same bakery-case items as Diamond Head Market? There are the lemon crunch and pumpkin crunch cakes, the blueberry cream cheese scones and peanut butter and jelly scones. They look and taste fairly close. It’s not a coincidence. Diamond Head Market owner Kelvin Ro says Glenn Uyeda, chef-owner of The Alley, and Shane Masutani, chef at The Alley, were his employees before they opened The Alley five years ago. “Instead of trying to learn new stuff, when [Uyeda] opened the Alley, he did the tried and true,” Ro says, meaning Diamond Head Market’s recipes for the best-sellers: the lemon crunch cake, the scones, and to a certain extent, Ro says, the grill items are the same at The Alley.
But Masutani says that the Market’s recipes were ones he came up with, and anyway, both he and Ro changed the recipes when Masutani left. There are some differences: Diamond Head Market’s lemon crunch cake has two thick layers of lemon curd while The Alley’s cake has a more spare application of lemon. Which is better? You’ll have to decide for yourself.
Diamond Head Market and Grill, 3158 Monsarrat Ave., 732-0077. The Alley Restaurant, 99-115 Aiea Heights Drive, #310, Aiea, 488-6854.
Sticky Cakes of the World
Why do we find sticky, chewy sweets such as mochi so delicious, so comforting, so magical? We don’t know, but we do know that we’re not alone in the world.
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Bibingka – PhillippinesBibingka is a mixture of sticky rice, eggs, sugar, and coconut milk, baked on a banana leaf, resulting in a wonderfully toothsome cake with a caramelized top. Try a sizeable slice ($1.75) from Golden Coin. Golden Coin, locations in Keeaumoku, Kalihi, Waipahu and Wahiawa, goldencoinfood.com. |
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Jin dui – ChinaThe Chinese take glutinous rice flour and deep fry it for jin dui: spheres filled with black bean paste or coconut sugar and covered in sesame seeds. Chewy and crisp, it’s the best of both worlds. Stop by Lee’s Bakery and Kitchen in the morning, and they might still be warm from the fryer. ($1 each) Lee’s Bakery and Kitchen, 126 N. King St., 521-6261. |
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Kulolo – HawaiiKulolo achieves a dense, chewy effect with a steamed (or sometimes baked) mixture of grated taro, sugar, and coconut. We love kulolo; Liliha Bakery says it has been asked to make coco puffs filled with kulolo-flavored pudding. Young’s Fish Market carries a fine specimen of kulolo ($9.80/pound) made in Kauai. Young’s Fish Market, 1286 Kalani St., 841-4885, youngsfishmarket.com. |
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Mochi – JapanThe possibilities with mochi are endless, from traditional fillings such as azuki to more contemporary variations such as ice cream or peanut butter. Around New Year’s, some Japanese families still pound mochi with wooden mallets in giant stone bowls. If you can’t get your hands on that, Nisshodo makes excellent alternatives. Nisshodo Candy Store, 1095 Dillingham Blvd., 847-1244. |
