Pua Cake Studio Open in Wahiawa + Nordstrom Pop Up Nov 6

Pua Cake Studio is a bakery in Wahiawa that softly opened in September. The pretty cake shop specializes in handcrafted buttercream flower cakes and more. I got the chance to meet owner and baker, Jayme Choi, and was gifted a box of her delicious cupcakes.  

I arrived just as Jayme was putting the finishing touches on a customized cake.

Pua Cake Studio's cakes are made from scratch and use natural ingredients. The cakes are made with real butter, fresh eggs, cream and milk. I can attest that the cakes are just as good as they look. I am a cake person and I loved how moist the cupcakes were. The buttercream was rich and smooth in texture. I liked how the flavors were subtle in the frosting which complemented the cupcakes nicely.  

A pack of cupcakes. The flowers are so pretty and look so real!

Our taste testing in progress: Lilikoi Passionfruit, Strawberry, Vanilla, 

Salted Caramel, Mocha Coffee, and Chocolate.

The kids and I really enjoyed the cupcakes and are happy that Pua Cake Studio is just ten minutes away. For those of you that live in town, you are in for a treat as it was just announced they will be at Nordstrom Ala Moana on Saturday, Nov 6 from 11am to 3pm! They will be passing out free samples so you can taste before you make a purchase. Flower cupcake flavor samplers in 6 packs and Pumpkin Spice cupcakes in 4 packs will be available.  

Pua Cake Studio

71 S. Kamehameha Hwy Suite C

Wahiawa, HI

 

 

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An Evening Made Extra Special with Chef Michelle Karr-Ueoka's Strawberry Shortcake

I love to bake, and often times for potlucks I'd bake a dessert, but for a recent potluck, I had no time to bake, and the potluck attendees included some seasoned culinary professionals, and I would've been too intimidated to bake anyway.

So, I decided to order a cake from one of my favorite chefs - Chef Michelle Karr-Ueoka of MW Restaurant.

I ordered her signature Strawberry Shortcake for the celebration, and it was just so special!  Just one look at the cake and you can tell it's incredible.  The meticulous work to create the amazing strawberry starburst is an inclination of what's in store - a light, yet scrumptious cake.

Thank you Chef Michelle and MW Restaurant for making the evening so special!

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New Mille Crepe Flavor at Lady M at Waikiki Tea

New caramel popcorn flavor!

When we staycation in Waikiki, we usually make a stop at Lady M at Waikiki Tea for a couple of slices of their famous mille crepes cakes. We absolutely love their cheesecake so we always hope they are serving it in the shop.

The newest flavor we tried was their Popcorn mille crepes which features Lady M's iconic crepes layered with a buttery popcorn cream and topped with a blond chocolate ganache with rich notes of caramel. If you like butter and caramel, you will enjoy this flavor. We love that there is always something new to try along with our favorites.

They have a few tables outside to enjoy your desserts!

For those of you that miss traveling to Japan as much as we do, you can pick up those delicious Royce Nama Chocolates in the shop! They also carry the Royce chocolate covered potato chips and macadamia chocolates.

Lady M at Waikiki Tea
234 Beach Walk
Open daily except for Tuesdays 11am - 8pm

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Lady M Whole Cakes at Waikiki Tea House

The Lady M Checker cake is a vanilla and chocolate sponge cake with fresh whipped cream.

My kids and I love Lady M cakes.  Our collective favorites are the Gateau Fromage Cheesecake and the Lady M Checker cake which is just what we ordered for Mother's Day.  Both are only available in the 9 inch which serves 10-12, but their signature Mille Crepes cakes are available in both 6 and 9 inches.  I called ahead to order and pick up was a breeze.  Both cakes were a hit with our families! 

You can order online here and see what they have available in 6 inches and 9 inches.  The shop is open daily from 12pm to 8pm.  

The cakes are housed in these sturdy boxes and need to be refrigerated.

Highly recommend the checkers cake!  I love the dark chocolate ganache!  

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Visit Sydney: Black Star Pastry

While searching for must eats in Sydney, I came across Black Star Pastry - home of the original Strawberry Watermelon Cake; also known as the "the world's most Instagrammed cake."  The popular bakery sells 20,000 slices of its photogenic cake a week through its four locations.  During our trip, we visited their location that is within a bookstore in Sydney's bustling Central Business District.

I admit, I got a slice for the gram and was very pleasantly surprised that it was every bit delicious as it was beautiful.  The watermelon slice is refreshing and with its crunchy texture pairs nicely with the rose cream and cake.  My son had some as well as he devoured his ninja gingerbread cookie in seconds.  We enjoyed our sweet snack and would definitely recommend a visit to this bakery. 

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Last Call for Saint-Germain's Rainbow Cake

Saint-Germain Bakery, known for their cakes, Japanese-style square loaf breads, European and Japanese-style pastries and desserts, decorated cookies, and palm leaf cookies, will be closing all locations by August 7, 2018. 

It's just one of many businesses that have had to close its doors due to the increase in the cost of running a business, as well as new entrepreneurs trying to break into an already tight marketplace.

So don't want until the last minute to pick up your last cake, loaf of Japanese-style bread, raisin sticks (which is my son's favorite!!) or Anpan. It seems like their inventory of baked goods and pastries is slowly dwindling.

SAINT-GERMAIN BAKERY

1296 South Beretania Street

(808) 593-8711

Click HERE for other locations.

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Elvin’s Bakery

For special occasions, I like to order a cake from Elvin's Bakery.  Located in the Kapalama shopping center, the bakery sells pastries, breads, cakes, and coffees.  

Most recently, I ordered an 8 inch strawberry shortcake ($33) decorated with the Chinese long life symbol to celebrate my father's 70th birthday.  The cake was a hit with the entire family.  The shortcake was light and airy while the cream was delicious.  

 

www.elvinsbakery.com 

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Sweet Treats by Kris Grand Opening April 15

Sweet Treats by Kris will be celebrating their Grand Opening this Saturday at their first brick and mortar location inside the Waipahu Plantation Marketplace!  There will be free ju-mui snow ice and free mini macarons (with purchase).  My kids and I are huge fans of her mini macarons as well as all her character macaron creations!  She also specializes in gorgeous cakes and cake pops to fit any theme or occasion.  Follow her @sweettreatsbykris on Instagram for a gallery of her creations!

Sweet Treats by Kris carries not only macarons, but also has a variety of crack seed, snacks, chex mix, cookies, beef jerkey and more! Thirsty? Quench it with a Green River or an Orange Bang! The shop also sells Ju-Mui Snow Ice as well as the Ju-Mui Li-Hing Mui ice pops. The snow ice comes in strawberry or vanilla and it is absolutely delicious and refreshing!

So many yummy flavors!  Buy a dozen, get 2 free!

Cade is overwhelmed by all the yummy choices!

The Ju Mui Snow Ice was a hit with me and the kids!

They offer a rewards card:  buy 10 dozen mini macarons and get a dozen mini macarons free!

Sweet Treats by Kris

94-333 Waipahu Depot Street

808-479-3898

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Carrot Cake Recipe

I love carrot cake. It's usually more moist than most cakes and the cream cheese frosting just makes it all the more yummy!  

I had never before attempted to make it at home, because, well, it just looks so complicated, with the shredded carrots and all.  But when I received the Trudeau Structure Round Cake Mold to review, I decided to test it out with an easy carrot cake recipe that I found on Betty Crocker's website.  I discovered that carrot cake is not as difficult to make as it seems, yet people will be amazed when you tell them that you made it from scratch!  And if you have kids, this is an excellent way to get a few servings of vegetables into their diet!

Click HERE to see the recipe I used. I only wanted to make one single layer 9" cake so I cut the carrot cake and cream cheese frosting recipe in half.  I also added about a cup of raisins to the cake recipe!

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Valentine Cake Bombs at Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery

From now until February 14th, try Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery's special "Valentine" cake bomb: a strawberry cake bomb dipped in chocolate!

These Valentine cake bombs are super delicious and MOIST. They're only available until Valentine's Day so hurry down and get them while you can.

And while we're on the subject of Valentine's Day, while Pipeline Bakeshop is normally closed on Tuesdays, they will be holding special hours on Valentine's Day with a special line up of Valentine's Day goodies for your valentine. Don't take your chances by walking-in.  Pre-order now by calling (808) 738-8200.


Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery
3632 Waialae Avenue
(808) 738-8200

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Honu Bakery

After lunch at Teishoku, Nat and I decided to walk a few doors down to have dessert at Honu Bakery.

She treated me to a slice of Mango Cheesecake.

Mango Cheesecake

It was very light, and more like a cake versus the typical rich cheesecake that I love, but I still enjoyed it.  The mango flavor was very pleasant.

Nat had Strawberry Shortcake.

Strawberry Shortcake

She also bought me some Turtle Bread, which is what Honu Bakery is known for.

Turtle Bread

So yummy!

First of all, at first glance I did not think the bread looked like a turtle shell.  I even asked Nat "Why do they call it Turtle Bread?" My kids didn't even think the bread looked like a turtle shell!

The bread is not something I would typically buy, as I'm not really into pastries and rolls, so if Nat didn't buy it for us I probably would never have tried it.

I'm so glad she bought it for us, because it was so delicious!  The bread is filled with a butter cream, raisins, and chestnuts.  I did not think this combination would work, but it does!  The filling was so buttery and not too sweet.  The kids loved it too!

Honu Bakery serves all sorts of sweets, and even savories!  I couldn't resist buying my kids some cute cupcakes, as well as some Green Tea Cookies for a friend who loves green tea.

Bear Cupcake

Panda Cupcake

Green Tea Cookies

Visit Honu Bakery the next time you need to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Honu Bakery
1620 N School St
(808) 842-1588

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CakeM

I would have never known about this cute little bakery on the third floor of 808 Center on Sheridan Street if it weren't for Brandon. He told me about how his friend opened a bakery on the same floor as the salon where he gets his hair cut.  As a lover of cakes and pastries, I just had to check it out, especially since it's owned by a friend of a friend.

The first thing that came to mind when I walked in here was wow, what a nicely designed bake shop. I love the vintage design, subway tile backsplash, and floating shelves. It feels like you're right at home.  

All of CakeM's creations are displayed in the refrigerated display case at the register.  

Fruit Tart

Cheesecake

Pear Tart

Chocolate Cake

Lemon Tart

I seriously wanted to try them all, but I had to choose one, and this is what I went home with....

the strawberry shortcake.  At $6 a pop, it's quite pricey, but I'm a firm believer of quality over quantity, and I must say, it's one of the best strawberry shortcakes I've had. The whipped cream is very light and not ultra sweet.  The cake is light, fluffy, and MOIST.

CakeM does a lot of special orders for weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, baby's 1st luaus, holiday parties, etc. Check out their Instagram page to see what's baking.

CakeM

808 Sheridan Street #308

(808) 351-7862

www.cakemhawaii.com

info@cakemhawaii.com

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