Hidden Gem: Short N Sweet Bakery & Café in Hilo, Hawaii

The menu items in this post were provided by Short N Sweet Bakery & Cafe but the opinions expressed here are my own.

One of the most globally known sweet breads, King’s Hawaiian, was born right here in Hilo, HI. Robert Taira was born in Hilo and owned Robert’s Bakery. This is where he developed the King’s Hawaiian Sweet Bread recipe. My mom remembers when her mom would buy their Dream Cake, chocolate spongy chiffon cake with whipped cream frosting and tons of chocolate curls. When my mom was of driving age, she would go and pickup her own Dream Cake and Long Johns (donuts filled with a custard cream) and sneak chocolate curls from the cake on her way home (so many chocolate curls, no one noticed). She also remembers that the bakery was so busy, cars always going in and out. This building continues to make baking memories with Short N Sweet Bakery & Café.

Maria Sweet, and her husband, Dien, are the owners of Short N Sweet Bakery & Café. Maria has had a fascination with baking since she was little. Her love of the craft led her to the Baltimore International Culinary College and then onto graduate with honors from L’Academie de Cuisine’s Pastry Arts program. She began her culinary career as a pastry chef, working in restaurants, catering companies, and patisseries. She also worked as a pastry instructor, teaching Merchant Marines how to bake. This is where Maria met Dien, who was a merchant marine working as a chief steward. Dien was raised in Hawaii, but after high school, his merchant marine career took him all over the world – Asia, Polynesia, South and Central America, Europe, and Africa. After 20 years, it was time to return to home to Hawaii.

In 2006, they opened Short N Sweet Bakery & Café in Hawi, blending their love of baking while utilizing the local, fresh bounty that the Big Island offers. In 2011, the old Robert’s Bakery location was available with a larger facility, enabling them to expand their menu and offerings by adding artisan breads, croissants, and bagels. In 2010, Short N Sweet Bakery & Café was featured in BRIDES Magazine’s “America’s Most Beautiful Cakes”. In 2016, they received 1^st Place for Best Desserts in Tribune Herald’s Best of Hawaii East.

Let’s look at some of the menu:

Eggs Benedict ($10.95, available on Sundays for brunch) starts with a house-made English muffin topped with Canadian bacon, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, and served with breakfast potatoes and fresh papaya. This was the first time I ever had a house-made English muffin and absolutely loved it. It was thick and held up well to the runny yolk and hollandaise. The poached eggs were perfect with yolk flowing like lava. The hollandaise was silky like it should be and very light on the lemon juice just how I like it. The breakfast potatoes were much different than what I see on the mainland which are usually underdone/overdone and bland, but these potatoes had a baked potato flavor with a smashed potato texture and simple seasoning. Rating: 5/5

Herb Roasted Chicken Panini Sandwich ($9.75) is made with thinly sliced herb roasted chicken, house-made basil pesto, mozzarella cheese, roasted red bell peppers, and organic local greens atop house-made focaccia bread. This was a beautiful panini with grill lines from the press, contrasting colors from the bread, and the green from the pesto and greens. It was a refreshing sandwich right down to the fresh local produce. The pesto was just strong enough in flavor yet lets the herb roasted chicken shine through. The focaccia bread had a perfectly formed crust on the outside yet is spongy on the inside. Rating: 5/5

Portuguese Sweet Bread ($6) gave my mom the chills when she tried it. It took her back to her childhood when her mom brought back sweet bread from Buck’s Bakery in Honolulu. This was a bread that was sold as a fundraiser and folks would rapidly buy them up. It had a different look and taste from King’s Hawaiian, yellow interior probably from more yolks and a spice that gave it a special flavor and aroma. Maria did a lot of research on old Portuguese sweet breads and came up with a recipe that is so onolicious. It had a beautiful golden-brown exterior with light yellow, fluffy interior. Next time, I’m going to buy a bunch of these so I can take them home with me. Rating: 5/5

Lilikoi Bar ($3.25) reminded me of a lemon bar, sweet and tart, but with a lilikoi (passion fruit) curd on top. It was just so Hawaii and so ono! Rating: 5/5

Kohala Crunch Bar ($4.95) is a creative dessert combining chocolate mousse and candy bar into one. It had sweet, rich, chocolate flavor and a nice contrast of silky mousse on top and crispy, candy-like texture on the bottom. Perfect for the chocoholic! Rating: 5/5

Hilo Bar ($2.75) is another creative dessert combining oatmeal cookie crust with chess pie like filling with macadamia nuts. It tasted like something your grandma would make. So good! Rating: 5/5

Short N Sweet Bakery & Café, in a nutshell, carries on the baking legacy of our small-town Hilo.

Atmosphere: 5 out of 5 stars

Décor: 5 out of 5 stars

Service: 5 out of 5 stars

Food: 5 out of 5 stars

For more information:
Short N Sweet Bakery & Cafe

374 Kinoole St.

Hilo, HI 96720

+1.808.935.4446

Hours: Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Parking: Free parking in lot or street parking

Seating: Interior and exterior

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