almost every year since then.

My Instagram post of the exterior of Leonard’s in August, 2013.

My first trip to Oahu was as an alumni relations officer for the University of Pennsylvania, so it is only fitting that I first learned of malasadas when I was a student at Penn. Each year, Penn hosts, “Spring Fling,” a weekend festival for students featuring parties, performances, band, fun games and activities, and a break from attending classes, writing papers, and taking exams. Held in the Quadrangle at Penn, there were many food booths on the perimeter of the lower Quad area, and one food booth that was there every year was the Hawaii Penn Club, manned by students from Hawaii. They sold malasadas in their booth. I did not think much ofsell cakes, cookies and other goodies, but honestly, we only come for the malasadas), and the Portuguese origins of the malasadas. Here is a bit of the history of Leonard’s, also from their website:

In June 1882 the British sailing ship ‘Monarch’ brought Arsenio and Amelia DoRego from San Miguel Island, Portugal to Maui, Hawai’i under contract to work the sugar cane fields. Some 33 years later, their grandson Leonard was born. In 1946 Leonard and his wife Margaret moved to Honolulu with their daughter Diane, age 8. Leonard worked at Snowflake Bakery until he founded Leonard’s Bakery℠ in 1952.

Leonard and Margaret were no strangers to hard work, both coming from very large families. The bakery prospered. Not long after opening, Leonard’s mother suggested making malasadas for Shrove Tuesday