Haupia, A Sweet Coconut Dessert

A Hawaiian Lūʻau Favorite

Everyone loves a good lūʻau. What’s not to love? Traditionally used by Hawaiians to celebrate things like the launch of a new canoe, a wedding, or a victory at war, luaus usually had hundreds, if not thousands, of people in attendance.

Traditional and modern-day lūʻaus share several characteristics that make the experience a joyous one for anyone involved. Every luau sports an exciting combination of music, dancing, the presence of friends and family, and, of course, a virtually limitless amount of food. One of these foods is a dessert called haupia, a dessert made primarily from coconut.

A favorite of my wife’s when eaten in combination with chocolate, haupia is a type of pudding with a more gelatinous texture that makes it easy to decorate and serve in either large or small portions. The taste of haupia is easily its biggest selling point, but the ease of preparing it and its wide variety of possible uses when preparing other dishes are additional reasons for adding its recipe to your personal cookbook arsenal.

Haupia Recipe

Sweet coconut cream custard cubes are a favorite at Aliʻi Lūʻau, and with no gluten or lactose, they are an excellent option for those with dietary restrictions.

Yield: 1 standard 9 x 13 baking pan

Ingredients

• Coconut Milk, 2 each 16 oz cans
• Water, 3 cups
• Cornstarch, 1 ½ cups (measure carefully – do not estimate)
• Sugar, 1 cup

Directions

1. Mix 2 cups of water with cornstarch. Set aside.
2. Bring coconut milk, sugar, and remaining water to a rolling boil on high heat.
3. Pour cornstarch mixture into boiling coconut milk and cook till mixture thickens, blending with a whip.
4. When the mixture is smooth and thick, pour it into a clean baking tray.
5. Cool to room temperature, then chill until cold.
6. Cut into 1-inch squares.
7. Serve on tī leaf-lined trays

You can play with this recipe as much as you like. Some suggestions might be to add more or less sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, or to melt some chocolate or Nutella down and add it to the mixture before placing it in the fridge.

Another variation would be to use bottled juice in place of water. A good suggestion is V8 Splash Tropical Colada Smoothies (49 oz.)

While haupia is usually served by itself in small, cut squares, it can also be used in pies, cakes, dessert bars with peanut butter and chocolate, or served with ice cream. As I mentioned earlier, my wife especially loves it when it’s mixed with chocolate.

Here is a recipe for Chocolate Haupia Pie that I highly recommend.