The person who brings home a taste of the islands by way of edible Hawaiian omiyage is a true rock star. Let’s face it: People have high expectations when it comes to souvenirs from this sliver of paradise, with iconic mac nuts, Kona coffee and gourmet honeys topping the leader board.
However, if your mission is to gift your loved ones something to remember you by for longer than an hour, grab a bottle of Hawaiian rum made from locally grown sugarcane by innovative distillers including Kuleana Rum Works, Koloa Rum Co., Ko Hana Distillers and Haliimaile Distilling.
Aug. 16 is International Rum Day, and what better way to celebrate Hawaii’s small-but-mighty rum industry than with a good old-fashioned mai tai.
California tiki-themed restaurateur Victor Jules Bergeron, better known as Trader Vic, made cocktail history back in 1944 with his original mai tai recipe. It used a 17-year-old bottle of Wray & Nephew rum from Jamaica and became so popular it supposedly depleted world rum supplies in the 1940s and ’50s.
To make it, Bergeron added an almond-based, rose-scented French orgeat syrup, a splash of orange curaçao from Holland, rock candy syrup and fresh lime juice. He then shot it with crushed ice and poured it into a double old-fashioned glass garnished with half a spent lime shell floating cut-side down.
Noticing the lime resembles an island, a fresh mint sprig was set atop to represent a palm tree. When serving his tropical libation to friends visiting from Tahiti, they took one sip and exclaimed “mai tai roa ae!” — meaning “out of this world” — hence the name, mai tai.
Bergeron’s signature libation was first introduced to Hawaii in 1953, when he created cocktail menus for a hotel chain that was adding tropical juices to appeal to the island audience.
The famed Royal Hawaiian mai tai was born and named “top tourist tantalizer” in 1959.
In honor of this tiki classic, I give you my edible version.
Baked Mai Tai Cheezecake
Ingredients:
• 2/3 cup macadamia nuts
• 2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup refined coconut
oil, melted
Filling ingredients:
• 1 1/4 cups (200 grams) raw cashews, soaked overnight in water and drained
• 1 cup canned solidified coconut cream, chill the can overnight and scoop out the solidified layer of cream that has separated from the liquid
• 8 ounces vegan cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup Kuleana Rum Works aged rum
• 2 tablespoons almond orgeat syrup
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper. Pulse the nuts, oats, sugar and nutritional yeast in a food processor. Add coconut oil and pulse until combined. Press mixture into the bottom of the pan using your hands and bake for 15 minutes. Remove crust from the oven and reduce heat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Blend the filling ingredients until smooth and creamy. Pour evenly over crust and bake for 1 hour. Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge overnight to set. Garnish with fresh or grilled pineapple.
Serves 8.
Lillian Cumic is a vegan chef and author of Hawaii A Vegan Paradise and Tasting Hawaii Vegan Style. Her column is a guide for plant-based eating on Oahu. Follow Lillian’s journey at lillianvegan.com.
