Coconut milk thickened with starch to a firm pudding that cuts into squares. White, glossy, lightly sweet. The canonical Hawaiian dessert and the haupia in Ted's Bakery chocolate haupia cream pie.
Haupia is pre-contact Hawaiian. Original versions used arrowroot (pia) as the starch; modern recipes use cornstarch. The dish was historically a luau closer, served in 5cm squares cut from a pan and chilled. Ted's Bakery on Oahu's North Shore turned haupia into a national breakthrough with the chocolate haupia cream pie, sold by the slice or whole since the early 1990s. Lonohana Estate Chocolate now layers Honolulu-grown dark chocolate over haupia in tasting flights.
2 editor picks for Haupia in Honolulu, ranked by editorial score. All Honolulu signature dishes · Haupia across every city.
Liliha Bakery ★ 4.6
515 North Kuakini Street, Honolulu, HI 96817
Liliha Bakery on North Kuakini in Honolulu is the original 1950 Liliha shop famous for chocolate coco puffs with macadamia nut chantilly, grilled butter rolls and 24-hour counter service.
Ted's Bakery North Shore Plate Counter ★ 4.5
59-024 Kamehameha Highway, Haleiwa, HI 96712
Ted's Bakery at Sunset Beach on Oahu's North Shore, an hour from Honolulu, runs a plate lunch counter alongside the pie case with garlic shrimp, loco moco and fried rice.