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Your all-time favorite dessert

By Catherine Toth Fox • June 7, 2011 • Food

The other day I was asking the Old Guys I surf with what their all-time favorite dessert would be.

And they could only pick one.

The answers surprised me, actually. One picked lemon squares with a shortbread crust. Another picked red velvet cake a la mode. Another brought up the lemon crunch cake from The Alley in Aiea. And another chose homemade custard pie — cold.

My mom would probably say New York-style cheesecake. My dad would pick my mom’s homemade chocolate cream pie. And Derek couldn’t decide between carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

I was surprised how much debate this simple question stirred. So I asked my friends on Facebook and Twitter the same question. The responses — some shown below — were varied and, in some cases, incredibly detailed:

• Haupia sweet potato pie (Vicky Kometani)
• Bread pudding (Jolene Sasaki)
• Kaneohe Bakery’s custard pie (@KANtext)
• Chocolate tart with fresh raspberries (@staceyj64)
• Tempura ice cream from Restaurant Suntory (Scott James Bradshaw)
• Liliha Bakery coco puffs or mac cream puffs (@jmom808 and John Garcia)
• Chocolate souffle from Roy’s Restaurant (Tammy Mori)
• Zippy’s chantilly or dobash cake (Neil Yamamoto and John Garcia)
• Creme brulee (Sara Boaz Beaudrie and @handsofgold265)
• Sweet potato cheesecake (@toddgilleland)
• Banana cream pie (@hondad007)
• Tirimisu cheesecake with bananas foster sauce from the Top of Waikiki (@LHaloha)
• Apple tart at Le Bistro with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (Dawn T. Sakamoto)
• Panna cotta (Amy McMullen Lewark)
• Ben & Jerry’s hand-packed chocolate ice cream (Kory Young)

And that’s just a sampling of what people said!

The interesting thing: there weren’t many repeats. It seemed like everyone had his or her own unique dessert craving.

What’s mine? It’s not easy picking one — especially for me — but I’ll go with the malassadas from Agnes Portuguese Bake Shop. I just can’t get sick of those!

What’s your all-time favorite dessert? And more importantly, why?

Agnes Portuguese Bake Shopall-time favorite dessertBen & JerryKaneohe BakeryLe BistroLiliha BakerymalassadasRestaurant SuntoryRoy's restaurantTop of Waikiki
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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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38 Comments

  • Reply David Jackson June 7, 2011 at 1:25 am

    I think it is a toss up between pumpkin pie the kind with the right amount of cinnamon and carrot cake. Although there are days when a dozen fresh hot Krispy Kremes and a tall glass of near frozen 2% milk can’t be beat.

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:22 pm

      I know exactly what you mean about pumpkin pie!

      • Reply David Jackson June 7, 2011 at 4:27 pm

        Yeah, too little cinnamon it tastes a little flat as in do not get the full flavor, too much it drowns the rest of it out. Add a dollop of home made whipped cream and oh so ono

        • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 8:05 pm

          You like nutmeg? I tend to put both in, but cinnamon is so overpowering.

  • Reply oldshoes June 7, 2011 at 1:26 am

    Gotta be ice cream.Thats universal. Everybody loves ice cream. Simple and easy. But for desserts that are “made” gotta be teramisu. Simply deee-licious. Then, a nice blueberry cheesecake with graham cracker crust. Followed by pecan pie ala mode and a basic fruit tart. All winners. And if you’re in a hurry or a pinch cookies! As in peanut butter w/ mac nuts. Got some time and money…..then go for Hennessy Paradis in a snifter=best one can hope for in a dessert…..by a fireplace…….during a downpour…..with Pink Floyd on the stereo……….

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:22 pm

      I actually had the Bubbies ice cream pie on my original list, but I went with the malassadas. I can eat that anytime.

  • Reply MaxMaxMax June 7, 2011 at 1:38 am

    It would have to be a heated. fudge/nut brownie (a fairly dense brownie) served with a scoop of vanilla Häagen-Dazs ice cream. We used to have it at the restaurant I worked at in college. In fact, every time I return home to OK, If I stop by Norman, I go to that restaurant usually once, and always end my meal with it.

    I’m a serious chocoholic!

  • Reply Maria June 7, 2011 at 1:39 am

    Chocolate Thunder Brownie from Outback Steakhouse lol!

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 8:06 pm

      It’s on my list!

    • Reply MaxMaxMax June 7, 2011 at 11:45 pm

      Ooooh… thanks for the recommendation Maria! ;^D

  • Reply WildeOscar June 7, 2011 at 5:41 am

    A bowl with two scoops of sorbet: one grapefruit, one lemon. It is not the most flavorful of desserts (MaxMaxMax got me thinking with his – kind of a Homer Simpson moment for me), but this bowl of sorbet is a dessert I could eat every day for the rest of my life.

  • Reply Cody Zamboni June 7, 2011 at 6:45 am

    Favorite desserts :

    Chocolate chiffon cake
    Hot fudge sundae
    Malasadas
    Eskimo pies
    Rocky Road ice cream
    Tiramisu
    S’mores

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:22 pm

      Cheater! Nah, nah!

  • Reply matt June 7, 2011 at 7:03 am

    so hard to pick, especially when some of the greatest desserts I’ve had were at restaurants i’ve only been to once. there was a dessert I had in san diego (can’t remember the restaurant, but it’s in La Jolla and I can remember how to get there) that had a sponge cake with bacon ice cream and bacon brittle. it was a couple of years before the current bacon explosion that we’re seeing, so the dessert was pretty innovative and the components worked perfectly together.

    sometimes, simple is great, too. lemon-lime/rootbeer ice shave from Itsu’s in Hilo after a hot dog lunch can approach perfection.

    what I keep on returning to, though, is the bittersweet chocolate cake from Oliveto’s in Oakland. it’s less a cake and more a chocolate cloud. it’s very rich and not sweet (a dessert pet peeve is when they make desserts too sweet and kill the flavors of the ingredients). very chocolate-ey and perfect.

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 8:06 pm

      I was wondering if Itsu’s was still open. I haven’t been there in YEARS!

  • Reply Ynaku June 7, 2011 at 7:30 am

    Peach Bavarian from the closed down Robert’s bakery in Hilo.

    So creamy and dreamy and not sweet. and and and …….. Oh man I miss that place 😥

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:23 pm

      My BF — the one in all the photos — is part of that family! I should ask him about the peach bavarian!

  • Reply jaydee June 7, 2011 at 9:16 am

    I download and make all kinds of dessert; my favorite is a Tirimisu recipe from William Sonoma. My favorite at a restaurant has to be the Chocolate Souffle at Roy’s….with extra vanilla ice cream!

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:23 pm

      I gotta go look up that recipe! Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Guest June 7, 2011 at 9:23 am

    Rocky Road Ice Cream, my wife and I love it so much we named our son after it.

    Strawberries with Zabaione at the fancy restaurant is my next favorite that is lacking the above.

    Where’s Rosette? Can someone e-mail her and point her here?

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:23 pm

      Your son’s name is Rocky Road Ice Cream…? 🙂

      • Reply Guest June 8, 2011 at 10:26 am

        My son’s name is Rocky. Named after Rocky Road Ice Cream.

  • Reply M June 7, 2011 at 9:50 am

    Hello Cat,
    All of the above….

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:24 pm

      GOOD ANSWER!

  • Reply Layne June 7, 2011 at 10:11 am

    Chocolate Cream Pie from Sunny Side in Wahiawa. Close second is the Apple Pie from Zippys

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:24 pm

      Do you think that pie is better than Ted’s Bakery?

  • Reply aloharoy June 7, 2011 at 10:20 am

    Cat: No can. No can. No can! Seriously, how can you pick just one favorite? It’s like asking you if you could save one person on Earth who would that be? Your Mom? Your BF? Sunny? Ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme.

    But I have a major sweet-tooth. So I love ’em all. Haha, I’m a dessert playboy. I have different moods for different desserts. Different times of year calls for seasonal flavors. Weather too. Hot summer … cool crisp desserts. Cold winter … warm melty desserts. And everything in between.

    So I can’t just single out one. No way. No how!

    But I can single out one flavor – Chocolate!

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:24 pm

      You’re a dessert whore! I love it!

  • Reply KAN June 7, 2011 at 10:24 am

    I can tell you exactly why I love Kane`ohe Bakery’s custard pie – not only is it my favorite home-town dessert, it was my grandfather’s. Every time I get to have it, it’s a return to my childhood. And you can’t get pies like that on the Mainland.

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:25 pm

      You are the very reason my mom baked a custard pie today! LOL!

      • Reply KAN June 7, 2011 at 4:34 pm

        FTW!!!

        • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 8:06 pm

          Hopefully she saved me a piece!

      • Reply Kay May 29, 2013 at 11:38 am

        Do you mind sharing your mom’s homemade custard pie recipe? I’m a huge fan of custard pies, especially from Kaneohe Bakery and Lee’s Bakery.

  • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    THANKS to everyone who contributed to this blog post! I may have to write a master list of all the desserts I need to try — and figure out how to lose the 20 pounds I just gained READING the list!

  • Reply oldshoes June 7, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    How ’bout some free samples of your famous “pumpkin crunch”….. so we can put that on the “desserts tried” list and rank it accordingly on the “best of the best” list.

    • Reply Catherine Toth June 7, 2011 at 8:07 pm

      My famous pumpkin crunch? Is it famous? 😛

  • Reply oldshoes June 7, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    Sure! People are still talking about it after it made several appearances in your old blog. Dessert Affectionados are quite impressionable.

  • Reply edw June 9, 2011 at 2:38 pm

    Hot Fudge sundae, ice cream on top of brownie drowned in hot fudge sauce. OH SO Gud! as Mr Food would say.

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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