How far would you travel for a coco puff?

I’m not talking about the popular breakfast cereal, but the universally adored chocolate-pudding-filled cream puff available only at Liliha Bakery in Honolulu. This sweet confection has been the bakery’s best seller since the early 90’s, something locals constantly crave and visitors make a point of eating whenever they’re in town. Google Yelp or Urban Spoon, and you’ll find rave after rave after rave about these coco puffs — for many, dessert nirvana, a type of pastry you’d sell your second child for.

Now, here’s where I hang my head in shame — though I grew up in Hawai’i, and have been back to visit many times, until last week I had never eaten a Liliha Bakery coco puff (gasp!). This is like admitting to never having eaten shave ice or saimin or spam musubi. Total sacrilege. Don’t ask me why. Major tsk, tsk.

Continue reading →