Mmmmmm-malasadas

The latest issue of Honolulu Magazine has a familiar mouth-watering sight. It reminded me of ths picture I took when we were in Honolulu in August at Leonard's Bakery, home of their world-famous malasadas.

Those of you who have been to Hawai'i know. The malasada is the local donut, but they are scarce on the mainland. I once won some on eBay freeze-packed. Thus came my saying: "A bad malasada is still a good malasada." On August 15, 2005, we breakfasted on Leonard's malasadas on the way to the airport back to the Big Isle. Aside form the plain ones, we shared coconut and guava-filled varieties. I had previously been a malasada purist and, upon seeing malasadas with filling at Tex Drive-In in Honoka'a, near my Mom's place in Pa'auilo, spurned the thought of anything corrupting the unified purity of a freshly-fried malasada.
I tell people who are going to Hawai'i: make sure you get malasadas from Leonard's. They are like zeppole in New York, or beignets from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans (which just re-opened last week, hurrah!), but only better. They are paradise packed into light, fluffy, sugar-dusted dreams.