"Maria Short cultivated her childhood passion for baking while attending culinary school at Baltimore International College and graduating from L’Academie de Cuisine’s pastry arts program with honors. While teaching Merchant Marines how to cook, Maria met her husband, Dien, a Hawai‘i native who left after high school to see the world. Together they opened Short N Sweet in 2004 in Hawi, the northernmost town on the Big Island, before moving to a larger facility in Hilo in 2010. You’ll find a variety of pastries and luxurious made-to-order cakes, including the bestselling Hilo Bars: freshly ground macadamia nut flour, from sister company Kipuka Mills, added to an oatmeal cookie base, topped with a chess pie-like butterscotch filling, and sprinkled with more crunchy macadamia nuts. The Liliko‘i Bar, another local favorite, combines a shortbread base with liliko‘i curd, made with fruit sourced from East Hawai‘i Farms. Come hungry; you’ll want to try everything." - Maya-Lin Green
