The Story Behind Hawaiʻi’s Dream Cake
And a recipe, too!
Everything has a story—even desserts.
Even before my mom died this year, I’ve wanted to know the story behind everything she made, from her vinha dʻalhos (she modified a recipe she learned from my Portuguese grandma) to pie crust manju (her grandfather used to sell them in Kona—and the manju recipes are top secret, apparently).
I’m fascinated with the story. (Which is why I’m a journalist. It’s definitely not for the money!)
So it’s no surprise when Zippy’s Restaurants, the beloved locally owned restaurant chain, announced its popular Dream Cake was back on the menu for the month, I wondered about its origin.
A lot of cakes seem to have a backstory—especially if they have interesting names.
Texas Sheet Cake—sometimes called a Texas Funeral Cake because people would bring this huge cake to large gatherings like funerals—is a chocolate sheet cake topped with pecans and an icing that has to be heated and poured on the warm, just-out-of-the-oven cake. It became popular in the 1950s, though some credit First Lady Lady Bird Johnson with introducing the South to this cake. (There are similar recipes in cookbooks and newspapers dating back to 1936.)
The origin of Devil’s Food Cake is a little unclear. One source I found cites a 1902 publication called Mrs. Rorer’s New Cook Book by Sarah Tyson Rorer with the earliest mention of the chocolate cake. One thing many people agree on, though, is the name: The first devil’s food cake—dense, moist and chocolatey—was created as a counterpart to the light and fluffy angel food cake.
I wanted to know the history of the Dream Cake.
Turns out, this cake is only called a Dream Cake in Hawaiʻi. But it’s not a uniquely Hawaiʻi dessert.
A Dream Cake is simply a chocolate chiffon cake with a whipped cream frosting and topped with chocolate shavings. (If you Google “Dream Cake” and “Hawaiʻi,” you’ll find a lot of recipes with yellow cake mix, coconut and crushed pineapple. Not the same.)
A lot of local bakeries have sold version of the Dream Cake, including Liliha Bakery and the iconic (now closed) Dee Lite Bakery in Kalihi. Even King’s Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant in California has its own version.
Zippy’s introduced the cake when Napoleon’s Bakery started making cakes, around 1983 or 1984. It was—and still is—one of its most popular cakes. (I would request one every year on my birthday!)
But in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Zippy’s removed it from its regular offerings. According to the restaurant, it’s a very labor-intensive cake. The chocolate shavings on the cake are all hand-shaved from huge bars of milk chocolate.
Who knew!
Last month the restaurant brought it back—a 6-inch version, with three layers of chocolate chiffon cake filled with whipped cream. Though it’s not on the regular menu at the bakery right now, you can always order it ahead of time.
Hawaiian Electric Co.’s Electric Kitchen published a recipe for the Dream Cake, which was later modified by Betty Shimabukuro at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (now Honolulu Star-Advertiser).
Here it is:
Chocolate Dream Cake
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Meringue:
8 egg whites (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
Frosting:
4 cups whipped cream
1 thick (king-sized) chocolate candy bar
Directions:
Combine cocoa powder in hot water in mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve; cool.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line bottoms of 3 9-inch round cake pans with parchment (or make 2 cake layers and 12 cupcakes).
Add oil, vanilla and egg yolks to cooled chocolate mixture. Whisk until smooth.
In large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
Add chocolate mixture to flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
To make meringue: In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add sugar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gradually add meringue to chocolate batter and stir until incorporated. Pour into baking pans and bake 30 minutes, until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack, then remove from pans.
Frost between layers, top and sides with whipped cream. Use a vegetable peeler to peel curls off sides of chocolate bar and use to garnish cake.
Happy Baking!
CTF