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READY IN 2¼ hrs

Easy Haupia

Read Reviews (15)

"This is a traditional Hawaiian desert often found at luau's." — Hawaiian Deelit

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Original recipe makes 24 pieces Change Servings

5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups coconut milk

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Directions

Place the cornstarch, sugar, and salt into a saucepan; stir in 1/4 of the coconut milk to make a smooth paste. Stir in the remaining coconut milk, and bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened so that it coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish; refrigerate until cold.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 5 mins
COOK 10 mins
READY IN 2 hrs 15 mins

Footnotes

Cook's Note
If you can't find canned coconut milk, you can make your own by pouring 2 cups boiling water over 4 cups grated coconut. Let stand for 20 minutes; strain and measure coconut milk.

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Since leaving my childhood home 20 years ago, I have frequently yearned for my favorite desert, haupia. When visiting family in Hawai'i, I am on a constant search for the wiggly, creamy goodness found in this coconut treat. When I decided to do a mini Hawaiian feast last night, I knew I had to include haupia...I found this recipe, tried it out and OMG I'm so thrilled! The flavor is spot on, the texture perfect. I'm in heaven! BTW, the quality of the coconut milk you use makes all the difference. If it doesn't taste awesome out of the can, it's not going to taste good in haupia. I've tried no less than 10-15 different brands and have only found one that I like.

—maizu

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Jul 27, 2010

I cooked this beyond the 5 minutes because it was not getting thick enough. I cooked aprox 9 minutes. I sprinkled coconut and put it in the fridge to get hard. It never got hard. I have no clue what I did wrong, especially considering I cooked it even longer than reccomended. I'm very disapointed.

—My4boys

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18 Ratings

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Jan 15, 2010

This is my longest review ever... Sorry! I've never had haupia but I had a can of coconut milk in the pantry and this looked like a simple recipe. Upon reading the previous comments, I decided to change up the order just a little. To get a good texture, instead of mixing all of the ingredients in the pot, I separated out 1/2 cup of room-temp coconut milk and whisked in the cornstarch until it was dissolved. In the pot I put the rest of the coconut milk, sugar, and salt and heated it up until the salt and sugar were dissolved, then stirred in the cornstarch mixture. I cooked it at a higher temp (med to med-high) because nothing happened at a low temp (maybe because pot is heavier or because I have a glass cooktop?) I made sure to keep stirring it the whole time so it wouldn't burn, and let it cook until it was pretty thick, to avoid the raw-cornstarch flavor one reviewer mentioned. I sprayed a glass baking dish very lightly with cooking spray (possibly unnecessary) and poured in the mixture. Off to the fridge it went and jsut now I flipped it onto a seving dish. It sliced it into squares easily and had a great taste. It could be sweeter and/or more coconutty, for more of a desserty feel, but it is great and I will be taking it to dinner this evening at the house of a friend whose son is allergic to milk and gluten!

—Carla

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Jul 29, 2009

this was very easy, I scaled the recipe down to serve 18 so I could just us a can of coconut milk. I put it in an 8x8 pan and it was very thin. Growing up I remember eating haupia like a jello jiggler so this was how I remember eating it. Next time I'll double the recipe and stick it in an 8x8 so it'd be thicker.

—Soifua

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Jul 26, 2010

People loved this, and ate half the pan before I could set it out for the luau for my friend's birthday. Definitely like the stuff I've had in Hawai'i.

—Lisa B.

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Sep 08, 2009

First off, I'd like to say ALOHA to Ms Hawaiian Deelit. Hey, I used to live in Kingsland, GA too! Now the other day, bf and I got together and made a mini-feast of lau lau, limu poke, lomi salmon, and of course poi. At the end, even though we were stuffed.. we both felt something was missing but couldn't quite figure it out. Then we realized--HAUPIA!! To make up for that, I searched for recipes online and decided on this one because there was salt in it (salt makes desserts have depth and not taste like you're eating a sugar cube). The only tweak I made to the recipe was that I used half white sugar and half coconut palm sugar. It got thick really fast when I was making it, so I thought I did something wrong, but I just kept mixing it over low heat until it was completely smooth. Let it chill for a couple hours and voila--homemade haupia. I thought this was really delicious and rich and creamy--just like tutu used to make. BUT the bf said that while the flavor was good, it wasn't 'gelatinous' enough for him. I guess he likes the mass-produced-from-envelope style in the restaurants better. To each his own, but I love it! Thanks!

—abc

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Jul 22, 2012

Used arrowroot instead of cornstarch and used half coconut sugar and half white sugar for the white sugar. It was yummy. will make again

—wwbee101

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Aug 10, 2011

Tasted just like the real thing. Love, love, loved the recipe and was surprised by how easy it was to make!

—skorpio2180

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Nutrition

Calories
52 kcal
3%

Carbohydrates
4.1 g
1%

Cholesterol
0 mg
0%

Fiber
0.2 g
< 1%

Protein
0.4 g
< 1%

Sodium
15 mg
< 1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Easy Haupia

Serving Size: 1/24 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 24
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 52
Calories from Fat: 36

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4g 6 %
Saturated Fat 3.6g 18 %
Cholesterol 0mg 0 %
Sodium 15mg < 1 %
Potassium 42mg 1 %
Total Carbohydrates 4.1g 1 %
Dietary Fiber 0.2g < 1 %
Protein 0.4g < 1 %
** Sugars 2.1g
Vitamin A 0 %
Vitamin C < 1 %
Calcium < 1 %
Iron 6 %
Thiamin < 1 %
Niacin 1 %
Vitamin B6 < 1 %
Magnesium 3 %
Folate 1 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.