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?

Hawaiian Hospitality

My friends know I love Hawaii. Man O, my hubby, works there on a semi-regular basis. 

We have been back more recently but we love this picture of our 30th anniversary celebration in Maui.

From the first time I went along on a business trip, I loved the people, the different beauty of each island, and the food.  A blend of native, Japanese, Chinese, Pacific Rim, and more, I never had trouble finding something to eat. Why? Much of the food was rice based or thickened with tapioca. But more importantly, people accommodated my needs with such grace.

When we visited Maui, we stayed at a gorgeous bed and breakfast, the Old Wailuku Inn, run by a native Hawaiian family.  The inn is considered the most truly Hawaiian bed and breakfast on Maui. Every room was decorated in colorful Hawaiian quilts (yes, quilting is big in Hawaii!) and local antiques and art. 

I emailed ahead to share my allergies but figured I'd be eating scrambled eggs while everyone else ate the banana pancakes featured one morning. Yep, I am allergic to bananas along with wheat and corn. But the owner sat a plate down in front of me. Light, fluffy pancakes made with rice flour and topped with macadamia nuts and passion fruit! I almost fainted. I got to share the experience of slathering on coconut syrup and diving in like everyone else around the table. She didn’t take the easy way out but made the experience special for me. Mahalo, “thank you” in Hawaiian. I said it a lot that morning.

My "silver dollar" version with mango, on my Hawaiian apron showing the monarchs and hula festival that takes place in Hilo on the Big Island each year.

Here is the innkeeper’s recipe with the interesting touch of beating the egg white to peak and then adding for additional fluff.  Saturdays are made for shortcuts but this step really makes a difference!  Pamela's GF Baking and Pancake mix is a good alternative if you can't find rice flour.

Old Wailuku Inn Pancakes

1 cup rice flour (or other flour)

2 T sugar

1 T baking powder

    Sift all dry ingredients well before going on.

1 egg separated

    beat egg whites to peak

    beat yellow

1 T melted butter or margarine

1/8 t vanilla add to yellow of egg (optional)

1 cup water (make judgement as you mix)

¼ cup banana (optional)

Mix ingredients except egg whites.  Fold egg whites into mixture. Put two tablespoons of oil in skillet and cook in small batches on medium low heat.

Top with whatever tropical fruits and nuts you can get: macadamia nuts, coconut, pineapple, mango or banana slices. The fruit grows in almost every yard in Hawaii and can be found in most mainland grocery stores.

To make your own coconut syrup: Heat one can coconut milk (the real stuff) with one cup sugar until dissolved. Cool. Serve over pancakes.