Pagipopo! (Samoan Coconut Cream Buns!)

Delicious. Fluffy, Coconut-ty Pagipopo - Samoan coconut cream buns!

My passion for making pagipopo stemmed from my pregnancy cravings for the delicious dessert pastry we as Samoans all grew up loving.  As a Sunday afternoon treat after a long, breezy ride in the back of our pick-up trucks, accompaniment to evening tea and koko Samoa with family and friends, or as a decadent dessert anytime of the week, Pagipopo is a Samoan classic that I will always have a special place for in my heart (and tummy :-)).

At one time, all bakeries in Samoa carried pagipopo, so growing up we never really had the need to make it ourselves.  A quick trip to the village bakery right down the road and we could have ourselves any amount of pagipopo we desired.  There was nothing quite like smelling the sweet aroma of pagipopo wafting all throughout the house even before seeing it, and then opening up that aluminum foil covering, breaking off a bun or three from the pan, and then ladling on the warm, sweet coconut sauce all over the pagipopo!