guava paste

Panaderías in Puerto Rico are magical. Their brightly lit glass cases are lined with fresh-baked bread and rich pastries, begging you to order too many. As a child, I clamored for pastelillos (also called pastelitos) de guayaba. The pastries typically have a flaky crust and are filled with a generous smear of concentrated guava paste — an embodiment of tropical Caribbean flavor — and often with cheese, served glazed or dusted with powdered sugar. In East Harlem, or El Barrio, New York’s historic Puerto Rican enclave where I lived for some time, I discovered <a href="https://valenciabakeryny.com/">Valencia Bakery</a> on East 103rd Street, which made a bite-size version with a generous amount of confectioners’ sugar, creating a portal between the island and my new home. My recipe is inspired by theirs. These are excellent with coffee, and will keep for several days, benefiting from a reheat in the oven.

Pastelillos de Guayaba (Guava Cheese Pastries)

puff pastry (2 sheets)

milk of choice, including oat milk

queso fresco en hoja

confectioners’ sugar

Set out puff pastry to thaw for 40 minutes at room temperature.

Once pastry is thawed, line a 12-by-17-inch baking sheet with 2 pieces of parchment paper. (The double layer helps to protect your pan when you’re cutting the puff pastry.) Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare your egg wash by whisking egg and milk together. Keep it handy.

Lay one layer of puff pastry on top of parchment paper on the baking sheet. Make a 4-by-4 grid of guava stacked with cheese, spaced evenly, leaving about 1 inch of space in between. Top with the second puff pastry sheet.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the puff pastry into 16 equal pieces, touching the top lightly to determine where to slice. It’s OK if you don’t do a perfect job; these are especially good when the guava spills out and caramelizes along the edges. (And don’t worry too much about getting the cut exact, or pieces being odd sizes. It gives them character.)

Working quickly, use a fork to crimp all four edges twice on each side, then arrange them evenly on the baking sheet, leaving space between each. Brush the tops and edges lightly with the prepared egg wash and place baking sheet in the center of the oven.

Bake for 25 minutes or until pastelillos are beautifully golden brown, flaky and puffy.

Out of the oven, let pastelillos rest for at least 10 minutes before eating. (Guava is molten hot and will burn your mouth, badly.)

Once they’ve cooled, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar to taste. They can be eaten warm or at room temperature, and will keep for several days in an airtight container. Heat leftovers in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees to bring back their crispness.

In Havana — and in Cuban neighborhoods across the U.S. — pastry shops make many types of cakes and cookies, but the best-sellers are always the pastels and pastelitos, flaky pastries filled with meat, cheese, coconut custard or guava jam. According to “Paladares: Recipes from the Private Restaurants, Home Kitchens, and Streets of Cuba” by Anya von Bremzen (Abrams, 2017), the shape of the pastel correlates with the filling: Triangular pastels are filled with guava paste and cheese, while rectangular ones are filled with just guava. Versailles, a Cuban restaurant in Miami, follows this rule, but at home, just make them rectangular, and add a swipe of cream cheese if desired. You can find guava paste in bricks at Latin American grocers, or swap in about 1/2 cup jam or preserves for a nontraditional take.

Pastelitos (Guava and Cream Cheese Pastries)

kosher salt

puff pastry

All-purpose flour, for rolling

strawberry jam

cream cheese,

sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Prepare an egg wash: In a small bowl, beat the egg with a pinch of salt and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll one sheet of puff pastry into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle roughly the size of a standard sheet of paper. (Keep the other puff pastry sheet in the refrigerator.) Dust off any excess flour and lay the rolled pastry sheet on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Dip a pastry brush into the egg wash, and paint a line in lengthwise along the center of the pastry sheet, followed by three crosswise lines, evenly spaced, forming a grid of 8 rectangles, each approximately 3 inches wide and 4 inches long. Brush edges with egg wash. Lay a slice of guava paste in the center of each rectangle (or dot with dollops of jam or preserves, if using). Spread some of the cream cheese, if using, on top of the guava paste (about 1 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese per pastry).

Remove the second sheet of puff pastry from the refrigerator, and roll it out into an 8-by-11-inch rectangle, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking. Lay the second sheet of puff pastry on top of the first. Using the side of your palm, press around and between the mounds of filling, pressing out any excess air, and to glue the top pastry to the bottom, creating 8 even, rectangular pockets. Paint the top sheet of puff pastry with egg wash. Sprinkle the surface with sugar.

Using a knife or bench scraper, cut out and separate the 8 pastelitos following the original grid in between the indentations in the dough. Trim the perimeter to neaten the rectangles. The dough should still be cool to the touch; if it is warm, return the pastelitos to the refrigerator on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to firm up before baking.

Bake pastelitos until puffed and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Add tropical flavor to your dessert with a guava cheesecake! This PHILADELPHIA 3-STEP Guava Cheesecake is easy to make and perfect for summer parties. 

PHILADELPHIA 3-STEP Guava Cheesecake

pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

guava paste,

vanilla

eggs

graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.)

Beat cream cheese, guava paste, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended.

Bake 40 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

This recipe takes a little time, but the result is worth it. You can use the guava paste for pastry or cake filling, add it to your savory dishes, or serve it with salty cheese.&nbsp;

Guava Paste Recipe

2.2 lbs guava

water

To prepare, wash the fruits thoroughly and cut them in half. Scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and gather them in a bowl.&nbsp;

Pour a cup of water over the seeds and pulp. Let them soak in water for at least half-an-hour.&nbsp;

Strain the pulp and seeds, making sure that you get as much of the pulp as possible. Be careful in ensuring that the seeds are strained out.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, put the cut fruits along with the skin in a thick-bottomed pan with half a cup of water. Bring the fruit and water to a boil.&nbsp;

Turn down the heat and simmer the fruits in the water, stirring the pot frequently to prevent them from sticking to the pan.

Add the strained pulp to the pan of softened fruit.&nbsp;

When the fruit has softened, pour it into a blender along with the pulp. Puree the fruit until it resembles a thick smoothie.&nbsp;

Measure the pulp and add them back to the pan. Add an equal amount of sugar and stir in.&nbsp;

Place this on low heat and cook. Keep stirring it with a wooden spoon to ensure that it does not stick to the bottom and scorch. it should reduce by almost half. This will take time, almost an hour. The mixture will get thicker, forming a thick layer on the spoon.&nbsp;

Take it off the heat and beat with the wooden spoon for a couple of minutes. It will thicken further as it cools.&nbsp;

The guava paste is ready. You can store it in sterilized jars.&nbsp;

In Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean, <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020966-pastelitos-guava-and-cream-cheese-pastries">pastelitos</a> (also known as <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021996-pastelillos-de-guayaba-guava-cheese-pastries">pastelillos</a>) are flaky pastry turnovers that taste like bliss when eaten fresh from the bakery, their jammy guava centers fused with creamy cheese. These cookies capture a bit of that magic in packable, sturdy sweets that can be kept for days and easily shared or shipped. Instead of being filled with perishable cream cheese, these have it blended into their buttery dough to incorporate that tangy richness. Guava paste seals into the pastry while baking, delivering a chewy fruitiness with each bite.

Guava and Cream Cheese Twists

unsalted butter, softened

cream cheese, softened

fine sea salt

egg,

all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough

guava paste (see Tip)

Sparkling sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a large bowl and wooden spoon, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy and smooth. With the machine running, add sugar and salt, and continue beating until a little fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat until incorporated. (Reserve egg white.) Add flour all at once and mix just until incorporated. Halve the dough, and place each half on plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap, press each half into a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

When ready to bake, cut guava paste into 50 1/4-inch-thick rectangles (2 inches long, ½-inch wide). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

On a floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll out 1 dough rectangle until roughly 15 1/2 inches long, 6 1/2 inches wide and 1/8-inch thick. Trim the edges, then cut into 24 (2 1/2-by-1 1/2-inch) rectangles. (You will have 48 rectangles from the initial rolling; the final two rectangles will come from rolled-out scraps.) Transfer to a prepared sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. If the dough has gotten too soft to handle, refrigerate until firmer but still very pliable.

Place a guava paste rectangle in the center of each piece of dough on a diagonal. (It should not extend past the dough.) Take the dough corner opposite the top of a guava rectangle and wrap it over the guava paste so that the point meets the opposite edge; press the dough corner gently to secure. Take the corner diagonally opposite to the folded one and fold over the other end of the guava paste, pressing the corner gently against the other edge. Repeat with the remaining dough and guava paste. Chill and reroll dough scraps. If the assembled dough is soft, and you’d like to decorate the tops, chill or freeze again.

For a sparkly, crunchy and sweet top, lightly brush the top of the dough with the reserved egg white and sprinkle with sparkling sugar. (These taste just as good without any topping.) Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown around the edges, 13 to 15 minutes. (The paste may ooze out.) Cool completely on the sheets on wire racks. The cookies are best the day they’re made, but will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

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