I don’t remember where I read it, but apparently, malasada is a must-try in Hawaii. It’s essentially a deep-fried yeast doughnut that originated from Portugal, with a Hawaiian twist of sweet gooey fillings.
So, my malasada adventure started with Leonard’s Bakery, based on their whopping praises online. They did sell other baked goods, but they were known for their malasadas. There were only a few parking spots, but you can find places on the side streets nearby.
They will list all the flavours for the filling on a board. You see that stand-up fan in the corner? It was blowing all that freshly deep-fried temptationsto in our faces as we stood in the never-ending line that began out the door. There was a bit of a wait, but that was only because everything was made-to-order. Honest, it is literally the best thing when you order fried food, and you realize your order was made out of a fresh batch instead of from the batch that was sitting there for God knows how long.
Boy, they were so delicious! Especially when they were still hot to the touch with crispy sugar coated outsides and chewy fluffy insides. They didn’t taste as good after a few hours, thus I did regret buying more than what our belly could stuff?, lol.
The guava filling was so pretty ?. Beauty aside, my favourites were the original plain and the coconut haupia filling. The other fillings like pineapple, guava and custard were a tad too sweet for my liking. But, I believe Leonard’s Bakery’s malasadas lived up to the hype! And MORE!
Leonard’s Bakery
933 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, Hawaii
Plain malasada – $1.30 USD each, $7.80 USD for 6 pcs
Malasada puffs with filling – $1.65 USD each, $9.99 USD for 6 pcs