The Hawaiian bakery worth flying 8,202km to visit

Everyone has their alveoli aflutter over sugar cane juice, Poke bowls, spam and (if you can believe it) bacon and egg sushi, but for me, only one foodie experience in Hawaii has my heart, and it's this one...

Coco puffs are only made by one bakery in the world... and I found it.

Hawaii is not known for its foodie culture. It's more bread and butter, salt of the sea, American ribs and fries, hotel buffets, Mai Tais and spam in a can (or so goes the stereotype). But for those in the know there is a dessert that will have any cravat-wearing gourmand smacking their lips with glee. 

That dessert? Coco puffs. Before we get into how they explode in your mouth, where you can find them and what exactly they are, I must, as an American entrepreneur might say, Start With Why.

The day my life changed forever (it's now split into two sections, before coco puffs and after coco puffs) was during a press trip to Hawaii.

I was there to write about the Duke Kahanamoku Ocean Festival, a surfing competition, which takes place each year in honour of legendary waterman Duke Kahanamoku. The flight from Sydney was some 8,202km.

I went to Hawaii for the surfing, but came home obsessed with coco puffs.

I went hunting for coco puffs though, after a tip off from our group's Hawaiian Airlines host Marissa V.

Marissa told us the coco puffs from a certain Oahu bakery were so good she served them at her wedding instead of cake.

"I love coco puffs so much I swapped my wedding cake for boxes of coco puffs. We passed them out on big plates and I don't think anyone was disappointed."

This in mind, I went searching for Liliha Bakery, a bakery which specialises in coco puffs, and which sells thousands of them every day. 

Liliha Bakery has just a handful of stores in Hawaii. One of them is on the top floor of the International Marketplace in Waikiki.

Up on the rooftop of the International Marketplace is definitely the place to be.

Though Liliha Bakery's coco puffs' popularity has apparently seen imitations spring up in other parts of the United States, Angela Choi, the bakery's director of marketing told Hawaiian News Now in 2019: "I think it's also more special because it's exclusive to Hawaii. We don't sell it elsewhere, anywhere, because it's only Liliha Bakery.”

Ms Choi also said: “We have customers where they came to Liliha Bakery when they were little. They’re coming now, even with their children."

“It’s this multi-generation that I think is helping keep alive with the local community."

This sounds promising, but when I arrived at the International Marketplace, I was disappointed.

Why? Well, the 'marketplace' was no Moroccan Haberdashery. It felt like a mall. So I kept my expectations firmly in check as I ascended to the third floor, expecting some kind of kitschy, corporate, try-hard Michelle's Patisserie at the top.

Instead I was greeted with blinding sunlight, and a beautiful rooftop terrace. It felt nothing like the rest of the shopping centre. It was nice.

It may look boring, but once you take a bite, it's anything but...

I walked into the bakery and eyed up the treats. To buy myself time, I grabbed a fresh juice. Not fully knowing what a coco puff was, or what they looked like, I said: "I'm here for the coco puffs."

The store assistant pointed me towards a rather boring looking globular pastry - a dough ball with a bit of caramel gunk on top.

Underwhelmed, I said thanks, took it to a table, and took a bite. 

Without getting too dramatic, this was the moment my life was flipped on its head.

After feeling the chocolate pudding filling explode out of the French choux pastry and all around my mouth, I suddenly felt happy. My gamble had paid off. My eyes rolled back in my head. I'd taken a US $2.89 (AU $4.51) risk and been rewarded. 

Much like Oppenheimer, after this atom-splitting moment, I was filled with a terrible realisation: life would never be the same. Now, when I return to Australia, all bakery goodies will seem dull.

The coco puffs were so good I had them two days on the trot.

Coco puffs, I discovered, are incredibly more-ish, and not even the gritty chantilly (a "crazy golden whipped mixture of sugar, butter, and egg yolks," as Liliha Bakery describes it) frosting could put me off (I'm not a fan of icing). I quickly devoured the whole thing.

I then went back the next day, at the same time, sat at the same table, and did the same.

If you'd like to follow in my greedy footsteps, hit up Liliha Bakery, a bakery and diner which has been going since the 1950s, at 2330 Kalākaua Ave Suite 326, Honolulu, HI 96815, United States. 

There are also Liliha bakeries at Kuakini Street, Nimitz Highway and the Ala Moana Center. And I'm calling it now: their humble offering of coco puffs will one day be a worldwide fanatical foodie phenomenon. 

Happy chomping.

This writer was a guest of Hawaiian Airlines. 

Originally published as The Hawaiian bakery worth flying 8,202km to visit