Easy Hawaiian Style Malasadas Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between malasadas and Doughnuts? ›

A malasada is a Portugese doughnut without a hole.

Malasadas are light and fluffy Hawaiian donuts rolled in granulated sugar and usually filled with a tropical fruit flavored custard, curd, or cream. And these homemade Hawaiian donuts are relatively easy to make, thanks to a dough that comes together in just 15 minutes and is proofed overnight!

MALASADA FAQ

Room Temperature Up To 1day. You can freeze them if you want to keep them longer.

Hawaiian Malasadas taste best the day they are made. You can extend the shelf-life by storing the malasada in an airtight container, either at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you fill your Hawaiian Malasada, they will require refrigeration.

It's an understatement to call malasadas part of Hawaii's culinary gifts. Ever since an influx of Portuguese farmers brought the recipe to the region at the end of the 19th century, these fried donuts have become a staple of Hawaiian pastry shops.

While not as well recognized as say Japanese-fusion food culture, a small Portuguese enclave on the islands has made lasting impact on Hawaiian food with one sweet fried dough import — the malasada. Here is a primer on the popular doughnut and its origins.

The poi malasadas here are to die for. It's like a regular malasada but purple inside because of the taro.

Malassada is a Portuguese fried pastry from the Azores. It is a type of doughnut, made of flattened rounds of yeasted dough, coated with sugar and cinnamon or accompanied with molasses.

In Portugal, Fat Tuesday is called Terça-feira Gorda. And that also marks the last day of the Carnival of Madeira. In order to use up all of the lard and sugar in the house ahead of Lent the tradition was to make malasadas with all of the butter and sugar they had.

For filled malasadas, you can refrigerate them overnight and microwave for 10 sec/donut. If you want to eat them within the day, you can keep them at room temperature.

How long will malasadas last? ›

Like sushi, it is just one of those foods that were meant to be eaten right away. Don't toss your excess, though. They should keep in the fridge for about a week or so. Pop them into the microwave for 30 seconds, prior to eating.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food and safety basics states cooked food can be left at room temperature up to two hours. If the temperature outside (or inside your house) is 90°F or above, you should cut that time in half.

In Hawaii, however, malasadas are often filled with tropical treats such as coconut pudding, guava cream or passion fruit curd. Although malasadas sound similar to beignets (the French fried dough dessert popular in New Orleans) and both are served on Mardi Gras, the dough differs.

The malasada, Hawaii's beloved donut, tastes of home — and maybe guava. Hawaii's twist on the traditional donut — yeasted, puffy, doughy malasadas, inspired by Portuguese immigrants — are a symbolically laden part of the islands' vibrant food culture.

MALASADA Faq

You can freeze them if you want to keep them longer. What type of oil do you fry malasadas in?

Beignets are commonly made of pâte à choux (the type of dough used to make eclairs) that is cut into squares and fried. Malasadas, with their eggy, yeasted dough, are more similar to the German doughnuts known as Berliners, save for the fact that Berliners are filled with jelly.

Yeast doughnuts, as the name clearly spells out, are made from dough leavened with yeast (think brioche), whereas cake doughnuts are traditionally made from a kind of cake batter that uses a chemical leavener (i.e. baking powder or baking soda).

Donut is an alternate spelling of doughnut. Some dictionaries point out that donut is rarely used outside the United States. All of them recognize doughnut as the main spelling, as do some of the more popular style guides. Doughnut might be the spelling you should use if you want to be sure you're not making a mistake.