When I started this blog, part of me intended for it to serve as an excuse to travel, take pictures, and eat all the desserts I wanted wherever I went: the only "work" I had to do was to write it down. Simple enough, I figured: I can ramble for a while about random topics, so it stands to reason it shouldn't be difficult to round up a few words about something so near and dear to my heart. Never would I have thought the real challenge in building out this blog would be the travel part of it all (thanks COVID-19).
That said, I can think of no better place to make my inaugural I've Been Desserted post than Maui, Hawaii. During the last week of June, I was fortunate to be able to join my family for a brief trip in a tropical paradise away from the hustle and bustle of the city, where I was introduced to today's featured guest: the malasada.
Portuguese in origin, the malasada is a fried type of donut, usually covered in sugar, cinnamon, or other flavored powder (such as li ming hui, which is a salted dried plum). While the traditional versions do not have a hole or any type of filling, the varieties in Hawaii often do, as pictured on the left. The flavors I chose were:
Guava (tan filling)
Vanilla (light yellow filling, top)
Lilikoi, or passionfruit (bright yellow filling)
Ube (purple filling)
(So excited was I that I managed to score these delicious looking treats without too much of a wait, I made a rookie mistake: I forgot to take a photo without the Insta caption and tagging đ¤Śââď¸ Oops!)
The best way to eat the traditional malasada is when it's freshly fried and still hot, and OMG is it amazing. The outside, having just been cooked, is lightly crispy but easily gives way to the chewy doughiness inside, all with a topping of sugar for taste. I was so excited to eat it while it was hot, I just sat in my car in the parking lot and scarfed it down immediately, so I don't have a photo of the regular kind. I guess I'll just have to go back to Hawaii again and try it another time to get the pic (oh no, what a shame đ).
Despite the very early morning wake-up in pursuit of these delicious donuts (seriously, you need to get there as close to when the shop opens as possible if you don't want to wait in a long line), I found it was totally worth it to start my day off on a warm, sweet note. I highly recommend anyone visiting near KÄŤhei, Maui to visit Sugar Beach Bake Shop to grab some of their malasadas, but you can also find them at many other bake shops all around Maui (and Hawaii too, I'm sure). Start your day the malasada way!