Kulu Kulu Cake celebrated its fifth anniversary in Hawaii last week with the debut of its Mille Crepe Cake, a 20-layer creation of paper-thin crepes, separated by sublime but not-too-sweet layers of French pastry cream.
The cake is available in Maui Vanilla and Matcha Green Tea, for $5.95 a slice, only on Fridays and Saturdays at all three Kulu Kulu shops. A whole 8-inch cake is $59.50 and must be ordered two weeks in advance.
To mark its anniversary, the shop is giving out a $5 coupon for each purchase over $10 through Tuesday. The coupons are valid Nov. 1 through Dec. 18 — just in time (hint, hint) to apply to the bakery’s festive Christmas cakes or New Year’s osechi boxes (a collection of pastries that mimic the traditional Japanese good-luck foods).
Shop locations are in Eaton Square, the Royal Hawaiian Center and Shirokiya Japan Village Walk in Ala Moana Center.
The bakery is known for its roll cakes, Diamond Head puff, strawberry shortcake, chocolate sponge cake and souffle cheesecake. The Shirokiya location, the newest of the three, now offers several flaky, buttery petit pastries, accented with fruit, cinnamon or chocolate, previously available only at Eaton Square.
Visit kulukulucake.com.
— Pat Gee, Star-Advertiser
CANDY COUNT
Halloween cometh, and with it, candy. Which candy?
In Hawaii, Skittles.
Candystore.com, which sells popular candies in bulk, has studied 10 years of its sales data to determine the favorite candies in each state, at least by this particular measure.
Hawaii’s results: Skittles, followed by Hershey Kisses, then Milky Way bars.
To see the interactive state-by-state candy map, go to 808ne.ws/UScandymap.
HAWAII CHEF SUBMITS A RECIPE, WITH LOVE
What do you cook for the people you love? Chicken soup? Chocolate chip cookies? Chawanmushi?
Asked that question for the “America the Great Cookbook,” Hawaii chef Ed Kenney named Cast-Iron Roasted Fish and Vegetables with Limu Salsa Verde. Betcha wish he loved you, eh?
The new cookbook compiles the best-loved recipes of 100 cooks across the country, edited by Joe Yonan, food editor for the Washington Post. It’s packed with culinary diversity and loaded with scrumptious photographs.
Recipes do include chicken soup (with matzo balls) by cookbook author Joan Nathan, chocolate-chunk cookies by chef Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery + Cafe in Boston and chawanmushi (with crab) by chef Brady Williams of Canlis in Seattle.
Kenney’s dish is made with opah and includes breadfruit, fennel and green beans. It’s unfussy “Italian grandmother” cooking, Kenney writes. “This is the kind of thing I like to cook for my family, but it’s also the way we cook in the restaurant.”
The book goes on sale Tuesday, partly to benefit No Kid Hungry, an organization that provides meals for children in need. A portion of the $40 cost of each book will go toward providing 10 meals through the charity.
Find it at bookstores, Williams-Sonoma at Ala Moana Center and amazon.com.
— Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Advertiser
