Discovery Weekends: Sweet Taste of the Tropics At Plumeria Flours

I finally had a chance to redeem a gift certificate from Plumeria Flours. It was a gift from a friend of mine (Thanks Sengita Warich!) and after a long hard work week, I felt it was about time to redeem it.

Plumeria Flours has a cozy shop tucked away in a strip mall near Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza.  One of their specialties is square tropical-flavored cupcake, which is what my gift certificate was good for – six of them! OMG, I do not think I can finish six cupcakes!

They had four flavors available that day: Mango, Papaya, Guava, and Kona Coffee. Since my favorite fruit is mango, I got two mango cupcakes. Also, two Kona Coffees, and one each of the papaya and guava. I think of the bunch, Kona Coffee is my favorite: good coffee flavor complemented by a mocha frosting. Yummy. My next favorite: you guessed it – mango. The cupcakes were topped with a thin layer of whipped cream frosting, appropriately flavored of course. This ratio was okay for me, since I usually do not like too much frosting. However, I felt it could use just a tad more. The frosting may not be enough for most people though, but there was more than enough cake, which I think is the most important part.

I was disappointed that they did not have Haupia cupcake that day. Haupia is a traditional coconut-milk based dessert or snack. It has a similar consistency to gelatin, but richer. Haupia is one of my favorite snacks while I am in Hawaii and reminds me of being in Hawaii.

Another specialty item is their chocolate covered and plumeria decorated Oreos. I did not see any while I was there, perhaps because it was late on a Friday afternoon. If you check out Plumeria Flour’s website, you can see how gorgeous these cookies are (The website did say that it is Out-of-Stock).

However, the caramel popcorn was very tempting and quite inexpensive too. I think $6 per bag. The popcorn had names like “Kalua Pig”, “100% Hapa”, “Humuhumunukuapua’a”. The names reflect the flavor: “Kalua Pig” was Bacon Caramel and “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” (the Hawaiian state fish, a type of triggerfish) was Seaweed infused, if I remember. I don’t remember what “100% Hapa” was made out of… but I did remember discussing the contradiction in the name (“Hapa” is a pidgin Hawaiian word derived from the word “Half” … so, go figure, 100% = Half?).  Anyway, with six cupcakes, I decided it maybe prudent to save popcorn for a later trip.

For the fall, Plumeria Flours have limited hours: only Wednesday – Friday, 10 am – 5:30 pm. You can catch them at different Polynesian events in the San Francisco Bay Area. Check them out at PlumeriaFlours.com.