Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Dessert Hawaiian Style

Everywhere I go I'm being offered pumpkin this and pumpkin that. But my mind is still back in Hawaii where the desserts were fabulous.

Baked Hawaiian with Macadamia toffee

Plantation Garden's Baked Hawaiian is like baked Alaska. It has coffee and coconut ice cream layers covered in meringue with a chocolate crust. Luscious!


 
Gaylord's Plantation Pie uses ice cream as it's main ingredient too. Vanilla ice cream with macadamia nut brittle, caramel sauce and roasted pineapple make this dessert marvelous. But what really caught my attention was the vanilla whipping cream. Just add a dash of vanilla to your whipping cream next time to see what I mean.
 
Kilauea Bakery's coconut and pineapple macaroons and macadamia nut butter cookies have a special place in my heart.




Not because they are delicious and they are but because of this bookshelf and it's cause. Gotta love businesses who give back to the community.

 

I'm still working on tweaking my own recipes for these luscious wonders but it really isn't all that difficult to make any dessert feel like it came straight from the islands. Here are the magic ingredients:

Coconut - folks love it or hate it apparently but it is my go to garnish. I tend to use coconut chips and stay away from the sweetened stuff. You don't need even MORE sugar. Jan has a great recipe for coconut candy here.  Her post also reminded me that coconut cream can be put in the ice cream maker as part of a recipe. Nummy.

Macadamia Nuts - I am kicking myself for not bringing back a bucket load. They are expensive there but not as much as here. The good news it only takes a small amount of these luscious nuts to make their presence known. Here's my easy gluten free cheesecake recipe.  Add macadamia nuts and/or coconut into the crust.

Chocolate fudge - the standard "lava" for any dessert. Hot fudge must be the state dessert sauce. It was everywhere and was ALWAYS called "lava." I wasn't going to quibble and say lava really needed to be red or orange because cooling lava is kind of dark brown to black. There are several good recipes on this blog but one of our group, who shall remain nameless, suggests you buy it. Any way you choose to go, the easy way or the hard way, heat, spoon over your dessert of choice, sprinkle with a few red sugar crystals or red M&Ms for the glowing coals and you have lava!   

Pineapple - lots of places roast it to use as a topping, like Gaylord's, or mix it in. But the funny thing is it is primarily from South America now, not Hawaii.

Coffee - did you know Hawaii is the only state where coffee is grown? And the homemade coffee ice creams I had were incredible to boot.

And then there are the little things like decorations from the Dollar Store and the easiest dessert of all Hawaiian Volcano Sundaes.

Leis, an army helmet (Grandma Juju was in Hawaii doing WWII research, and sundae toppings)  

They are a big hit among the under seven and over thirty crowd!


So, my kids know when we come back from Hawaii, we decompress by eating Hawaiian themed food for a week.  Do you come home from a trip and try to recreate where you've been through meals or a special dish? What Hawaiian ingredient might be your favorite?



15 comments:

  1. WHAT FUN! I love macadamia, pineapple and coconut. I really should relocate to the islands.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it weren't for those adorable grandchildren, we'd be there. All that being said, it was better to walk away and have those desserts occasionally, unlike every night like when we were there.

      Delete
  2. All of these desserts look fabulous! I think I could survive in Hawaii :)

    So glad you had a great trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, it was. And a world of food plus all the standbys you find in the rest of the States.

      Delete
  3. I'm hungry! also have to catch up on the posts - went up to finish emptying stuf out of my parents' house 4 hours north of here - exhausted but got all but maybe a few things - will likely skip the big thing because not renting another uhaul but the smaller things are in the shop which we got locked out of LOL! well it wasn't really funny esp since we had them down and ready to pack but went to eat and friend closed the door - and didn't think to say 'wow this door isn't wanting to close' so she forced it which meant we couldn't get it to open because the knob wouldn't turn. but oh well told my brother to hang onto the stuff and I'd be back to get it. I have no idea where most of this stuff will go - I knoww here I WANT it to go but my space just ain't cooperating!
    my dog sure was happy to see home - she kept sleeping on the tile floor even when I'd put out a pallet so I put off replacing her dog bed - well had one I'd left up at my parents' and I tossed it on the floor this morning before leaving for work - she plopped down and didn't get up even when I walked out the door for work!
    Susanna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whew. I feel for you. Sounds like you need to escape to an island!

      Delete
    2. yep definitely! i wanna go to Hawaii after all your posts on facebook! I'd have to take stretch pants though..
      Susanna

      Delete
    3. I'd probably be stuck in the quilt shops!
      Susanna

      Delete
  4. How fun, Julie!! Those desserts look amazing. As do your sundaes!

    I love tropical flavors. Now my mouth is watering. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think these would be great in the dead of winter as a pick me up!

      Delete
  5. Reading this reminded me of these neat coconut pineapple cookies I used to make ages ago. Must try and dig up the recipe and try a batch. It's been years. Those desserts look so exotic!!!! And I don't think I've ever tasted macadamia nuts before. Did you try anything spam?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've had spam previous trips. They even serve it at breakfast at McDonalds. Those coconut-pineapple cookies sound marvelous. Macadamia nuts taste sort of like Brazil nuts in texture.

      Delete
  6. I would love all of the coffee ice cream with some roasted pineapple. That bakery looks wonderful. I'm not a fan of the macadamia nuts either, but coconut on one of those Southern layer cakes....maybe that's too many calories. :) I hope the kids enjoyed the lava though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh and doesn't Hummingbird Cake have coconut and pineapple.?

      Delete