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Flakey, sweet, and delicious pastries found in many bakeries, the go-to treat for many, the combination of the sweetened cream cheese with the guava paste makes you crave it!
That is what Pastelitos de Guayaba are. But did you know that it is such an easy and quick dessert that you can make with few ingredients? You can even surprise friends with it, you know why? Because you can also freeze them so you can just pop them later in the oven when you have a surprise guest visit. Guava Pastries are an easy to make Latin dessert originally from Cuba. |
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For those of us who are Hispanic, this pastry fills our hearts with joy and memories of being at family gatherings. It is such a traditional dessert that it is hard to find a Latino bakery that doesn't have them. I remember the first time I tasted one, my dad went to the bakery near home and brought back a bag that felt warm to the touch. I wondered what was inside and he explained it was this guava pastry, which he explained was a combination of sweet and salty flavors. The feeling of home invaded my heart when I tasted it, becoming one of my favorite sweet pastries. After recalling this childhood experience, I wanted to share this curious taste with others.
Now, let's see how easy is to make!
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Ingredients:
8 Ounces Cream Cheese ¼ tsp Salt 2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract 1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar Guava Paste Flour 1 Package Frozen Puff Pastry 1 Egg Optional: Cream or Turbinado |
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Step One: Sweetened Cream Cheese
Before starting to mix all the ingredients for the sweetened cream cheese, of course, our main ingredient is the cream cheese, make sure to have it at room temperature. It is important to have it at this specific temperature so it will be easy to mix it and all the ingredients will integrate perfectly.
Take the 8 ounces of cream cheese and put it in a bowl, start mixing it by itself, you can use an electric hand mixer or even a whisk, with the item you prefer the most. If you use a whisk it will perfect to have a five-minute quick arm workout! Mix it until you see a soft texture, then add the salt, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar; continue mixing it until all the ingredients get evenly incorporated and have a creamy-soft texture. Before doing the next procedure, taste it so you will know if you have to add more sugar or not. If you think it tastes as you like, scrape the bowl and transfer the mixture to a piping bag, and set it aside.
Take the 8 ounces of cream cheese and put it in a bowl, start mixing it by itself, you can use an electric hand mixer or even a whisk, with the item you prefer the most. If you use a whisk it will perfect to have a five-minute quick arm workout! Mix it until you see a soft texture, then add the salt, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar; continue mixing it until all the ingredients get evenly incorporated and have a creamy-soft texture. Before doing the next procedure, taste it so you will know if you have to add more sugar or not. If you think it tastes as you like, scrape the bowl and transfer the mixture to a piping bag, and set it aside.
Step Two: Guava Paste
Photo Credit: Instacart
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Cut little sections of guava paste, considering what you think will be enough to fill the pastries. It is quite firm to the touch and easy to cut, so you don’t have to worry to get it all over your hands. Then set it aside.
You can also use regular Guava fruit instead or, preserved Guava. If you have the fruit it is necessary to boil it, so it will be soft to blend. After boiling it or take it out of the jar, if it is preserved, just blend it having in mind how much you will use. Use a strainer to take the little seeds out. After that you will have kind of a paste but not exactly what is need it, you must add sugar. Add sugar as you prefer and start stirring at medium heat until you have a jelly texture, put it in a container to cool and set aside. Before going to the next step, heat the oven to 400 F. |
Step Three: Puff Pastry
You can make the puff pastry, but to make it easier, do not forget to pick up frozen puff pastry from the supermarket! Take your pastry and live it outside of the freezer 40 or 45 minutes before using it, so it will be easy to handle. Take your puff pastry and unfolded it on a floured surface, after you placed it add a little bit of flour over it so at the time of roll it the roller does not stick. Why are we doing this? The puff pastry will PUFF! So, we must make sure it is thinner than we already have.
Take your now thin pastry and cut it into equal square pieces, remember that you must have pairs to have a base and a top. Repeat until you have the needed pieces. Now you are ready for your next step!
Take your now thin pastry and cut it into equal square pieces, remember that you must have pairs to have a base and a top. Repeat until you have the needed pieces. Now you are ready for your next step!
Step Four: Egg Wash
You will need an egg wash to help you glue your base and top and also to put it over your pastries to help them have that golden look.
Take an egg. Make sure that you mix it well in bowl, it won't be grateful if you find a bit of cooked egg over your sweet pastry.
Take an egg. Make sure that you mix it well in bowl, it won't be grateful if you find a bit of cooked egg over your sweet pastry.
Step Five: Filling
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Take your cut puff pastries pieces and placed the bases into your lined baking sheet. Take the sweetened cream cheese and start piping it onto your pastry, make sure to leave a ½ inch of space at the edges.
When you finish with the cream cheese, you can take now your guava paste, start placing it the amount you want in each pastry, when you finish take your egg wash and brush the edges to help you glue the top and the base of the pastries together. Now, let's lay the tops on, and if it is necessary you can even stretch them a little bit, just gently. Use your fingers to press lightly until you have all your pastries sealed and almost ready to go to the oven. Take your egg wash one more time and brush the tops, so when they are baked you will have that beautiful golden look. Finally, take a knife and score the top, this will help you decrease the puffiness a bit and make it easier to eat. Now we are in our last step, the oven. |
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Step Six: Oven!
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Now, your pastries are ready to go! Put them in your preheated oven for about 12 to 15 minutes. They will be puffed up and golden, when you see that 12 minutes already passed, go and check them out. Do not worry if you see the filling losing out, that is one of the best characteristics of the Pastelitos de Guayaba!
When you see them with that beautiful golden color, they are ready to take out, remember before taking a bite let it cool a bit, so you do not burn yourself. |
Final Step: Let’s Eat It!
Take a bite of that delicious pastry you just bake! You can taste how delicious is the mix of guava with cream cheese and how everything is all wrapped up in a perfect-imperfect flaky light puff pastry. Without a doubt, you will want to eat all of them and even bake more!
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I never thought I will ever bake Pastelitos de Guayaba, as many people after reading this, I thought that they were hard to bake but to my surprise, it wasn't. This pastry is beyond delicious and easy to make, you do not need too many ingredients and even you can play with the forms and filling of it. I made a little rectangle and a little circle to add variations to my pastries. You can even add powdered sugar on top to make them look cute. Also, I made pastries with hazelnut cocoa spread mixed with the cream cheese and others with just the cream cheese. They were delicious, however, nothing compares to the original mixture of Guava with cream cheese. |
A quick note: Put them in the freezer and surprise a guest with them later!
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