Someone who used to live in Honolulu told me to go to Leonard's Bakery for Malasadas. She didn't really explain and I didn't ask, but we did make a special trip to find the bakery because, well, why wouldn't we? Malasadas are tough to describe, and Meg, who gave us the tip on Leonard's didn't try; she just said "doughy balls of goodness" and left it at that. She wasn't wrong, but here are some tips should you find yourself contemplating a purchase of malasadas: only buy as many as you can immediately eat. Leonard's makes them to order and there's a good reason for this; they don't keep well at all, and if you can't eat them straight out of the fryer, don't bother. We bought four and ate one in the car. It was scrumptious, and this fact did not prepare us for what would come later.
We opted for the filled malasadas - filled with custard cream (vanilla, guava, chocolate, and coconut). This was a huge mistake given our lack of appetite at the time of purchase. We figured we'd take them back and have them for dessert later and maybe for breakfast the next day. Later that night we split another one which was by then at room temp and it just wasn't the same. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good. Undeterred (stupidly), we tried again the next morning even though (more stupidly) we hadn't put them in the fridge the day before (custard... they were warm balls of dough that had been filled with custard; what did we think was going to happen to that custard in its warm casing when left sitting out?). We tentatively tried the chocolate one and it seemed a little off so we each just had a nibble as we realized our mishandling, but still, I decided to try the coconut one. I cut it open and stuck my finger in the custard to give it a try and immediately rushed to the sink to spit out the tiny bit of completely spoiled coconut cream, after which I wiped my tongue off with a kitchen towel. Lesson learned, but definitely go to Leonard's if you're ready to wolf down some doughy balls of goodness seconds upon receiving them.
