Sweet as is a Kiwi period most often used in place of “splendid” or “first-rate.” It’s additionally the name of the most recent vendor at Polynesian Cultural Center’s Hukilau Marketplace and the primary of two candy stores you want to hit up in Laie ASAP.
I got here through Sweet As on Instagram. They claimed to have Oahu’s first and only New Zealand-fashion fruit-blended ice cream. I did not recognize what that was supposed to be; however, I knew I needed to have it.
What makes it NZ-style? Do they use dairy from NZ? A Vitamix blender? Is kiwifruit an option? These and a dozen different questions filled my brain. I looped in Kelli Shiroma, Frolic Hawaii senior blogger and undisputed queen of gentle serve cones, and convinced her to clear her Friday schedule for a circle-island jaunt. What started as a small purpose to discover the windward coast ended up being a daylong sugar coma.
The three girls in line ahead were locals, two from Ewa Beach and 1/3 from Waianae. As they double-fisted $eight cones and $10 smoothies, they proclaimed the ice cream completely well worth the hours-long adventure from the opposite side of Oahu.
Having driven an equal distance from Makakilo made me even greater keen to strive for it. Was it the 91-diploma warmth talking, or did the ice cream become virtually that suitable? Start with a base of vanilla, coconut haupia, or chocolate ice cream, or vegan coconut sorbet, all made using Roselani Tropics on Maui. Next, choose one or two frozen fruits from an ice chest packed with mango, strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, and pineapple. They’ll now and again have a unique flavor of the week, like peach or nearby apple, or banana.
Two large scoops of ice cream and one cup of frozen fruit are loaded into a cone-shaped machine. Then, at the touch of a green button, the hand-constructed Little Gem blender from New Zealand springs to life and swirls out your perfectly blended fruit ice cream introduction. It’s so enjoyable to look at it dispense results easily into your sparkling waffle cone.
Pina Coladas are my guilty delight, so I go all-in for the haupia base combined with pineapple. The ice cream, robust-armed out of a bathtub, swirls out as a luscious, fruity soft serve. The sensitive waffle cone is crisp and holds up long sufficient to contain a maximum of the drips, though napkins are exceedingly endorsed because the ice cream will succumb to the heat quicker than you believe you studied.
Kelli is going on the recommendation of the gal working the stand, who says to combine strawberries and combined berries with vanilla ice cream. The result isn’t as sweet as we assume, but the texture holds higher within the unrelenting warmth. It’s just okay. Since there are way greater options, you need to dial in what you, without a doubt, like.
What surprises me greater is the scale: It’s at least double that of a popular McDonald’s vanilla cone. For $9 (ask for the $1 kamaaina cut-price), however, it can effortlessly be shared among two adults. A Keiki cone is more or less the scale of a McDonald’s cone for $6, and a cup is $eight.
Before we jump returned into the vehicle, we detour Penny’s Malasada truck near the tour bus drop-off area and parking lot. Penny’s has another truck in Kahuku (as though it is any nearer); however, PCC is their unique outpost, opened just over a year in the past.
