Cuban Guava Cream Cheese Pastries

This post is proof that just seeing a charming photo on Instagram can lead to a day of exploring the Internet and Pinterest for the perfect way to recreate the photo at home.

Well, not the photo itself, but rather, the subject matter of the photo.  A fellow blogger, the amazing pastry chef Michele from ‘Studio Baked’  had posted the most charming little pastry, inspired by her visits to Porto, a Cuban bakery that is famous for these little delicacies.  Officially, they are called Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso, or Guava and Cream Cheese Pastries.  I poured over about six different sites to see if I could find some common denominators for making these at home.  

Here’s what I learned.  This is a simple treat consisting of puff pastry, guava paste, cream cheese, an egg, and some sugar.  That’s it.  Most seem to be quite happy using ready made puff pastry instead of making your own.  This already makes the recipe a winner in my books.  We know how I feel about spending the time to make puff pastry from scratch.  Now, I’m not against taking the time to make a rough puff pastry, or even making said puff pastry with all the classic steps, if it will be used for something like croissants.  Obviously you don’t want to cut corners with a recipe that requires a good laminated dough.  But when it comes to a little treat, a snack or nibble that you have a sudden desire to whip up, just move on, and use the ready made sheets that we can find in the grocery store.  Or if you really need to placate your cooking soul, search out the superior all-butter ready made puff pastry.  There is a place here in Toronto where I pick that up.  It is absolutely gorgeous to work with.  And it isn’t cheap.  So I save it for special occasion recipes.  No, for today, we are going to use good ole pastry sheets we can pick up from the freezer in any decent grocery store.  This is supposed to be a fun recipe!

The second ingredient you will need is cream cheese.  You know, in this case you can use a brick of Philly cheese if you want!  I pick up my cream cheese fresh from the cheese monger, so it is already soft and ready for spooning onto the pastry.  But if your cheese is still a little firm, you can just slice off small pieces for each little pastry.

The star of this pastry is the guava paste.  This may be a little more challenging to find, depending on where you live.  Guava paste is a thick, dense block of puréed cooked down guava and sugar.  Once cooked down it is cooled and pressed and dried in the sun.  It’s almost so thick, that it might be like fruit leather in texture.  You will most likely need a knife to cut through it.  But it was no biggie at all.  I found mine at a local dry goods shop that carries ingredients and food items from all over the world.  Guava paste is common in the islands, in fact, a friend of mine from Granada calls it guava cheese.  But it is exactly what I described above.  So check out your local grocery stores that cater to the Caribbean island demographic.  If all else fails, you can definitely get it here online.  But don’t be surprised if you’ve been walking past it all these years in the Caribbean section of your grocery store and you never even knew it.  (and if you truly can’t find it, don’t worry, I’ll be describing some alternatives down below!)

This is such a simple recipe.  It is really just a matter of taking one sheet of puff pastry, cutting it into sections, placing some cream cheese and guava paste onto each little square, and covering it with another piece of pastry.  I then take a fork and press down the edges lightly, and brush the tops with an egg wash and sprinkle with some raw sugar.  They get popped into the oven, and next thing you know, you are enjoying the most delightful little breakfast or snack with a cup of strong coffee.

These will be a great addition to your recipe collection for when you want to bring something to a potluck, or for a dessert table.  Pile them high on a cake stand, and watch them disappear!  They taste amazing- the guava paste is such an intense but pleasant flavour of sweet guava (that’s the major reason for the cream cheese- it’s a mildly salty contrast to the sweet filling)

So this is how I decided to make my version of Guava Cream Cheese Pastries:

I thawed and opened the two sheets of puff pastry.  I didn’t even roll them out larger (they usually come in a 8 x 9 (20 x 23 cm) inch rectangle- which was just perfect)  I took the back of a knife to score the sheets into 16 ‘squares’.  A 2 inch (5 cm) square is perfect.  Then I used a pizza cutter to actually cut them out.  The first sheet’s squares get laid out onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  I used an oversized sheet (one that covers the entire rack of my oven) but you can use two regular baking sheets. 

Use a tea spoon to dollop (or use a knife to cut) smallish sections of cream cheese and place them onto each square.  Make sure that there is a good 1/2 inch around left bare.  Cover the cream cheese with a small portion of guava paste that you have cut.  Don’t cut them any thicker than 1/4 inch (5 mm).  Use a little cup of water and a brush or just a finger to lightly dampen the edges of the bottom puff pastry.

Now take the second sheet’s worth of squares and lay one on each guava covered square.  Gently push down to make the edges adhere.  Once they are all covered, use a fork to gently crimp the edges, don’t worry if you haven’t pushed through to the bottom.  Take a sharp knife and make two score marks on the top of each. Whisk and egg and a little water in a cup and then brush this over the tops and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Into the oven, and in no time you will see them puff up into the most extraordinary little bundles!  When they are a lovely shade of golden brown let them cool on a cooling rack for a good 10 minutes.  This is because the guava paste gets extremely hot in the oven, and you don’t want to burn your tongue or the roof of your mouth when you bite into one!

So, what happens if you just can’t find guava paste?  Is that it, you can’t make these?  Nah! Already as I was baking my first batch, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t orange marmalade be amazing in these!  Or plum butter!! Guava paste is similar to a Quince version, so if you can source that, go for it.  Whatever other options you decide to use, just don’t pick something too runny or thin.  The heat will only make the filling even runnier, and then it will be a messy little treat! You wouldn’t want the ooze to break the seal between the two pastry sections and drip out.   If I think of more ideas, I’ll let you know.  If you think of any, you let ME know!!

Thank you Cuba for these little treats.  And thank you Michele, for posting a lovely inspiring photo to get me started!

ps, you can store the guava paste sealed well, in a cupboard, it doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

Love Jen

5 from 2 votes

Print

Cuban Guava Cream Cheese Pastries

A simple little pastry treat that comes from Cuba!  Puff pastry, wonderfully sweet guava paste and cream cheese for balance come together to create this famous little pastry.  It couldn't be easier to bring these together.  Perfect for breakfast or coffee break.  Take two, they're small!

Course Baking

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Cooling 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 16 squares

Ingredients

• 1 package puff pastry dough two pastry sheets in the package, thawed in the fridge overnight, or on the counter for a couple of hours.
• 4 ounces cream cheese (115 grams)
• 5-6 ounces guava paste (225 grams) Or about 1/2 a typical package
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tbsp Raw or turbinado sugar
• Icing sugar is an optional garnish as well.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheets and lay on a flat surface. They should be roughly 8 x 9 inches (20 x 22cm) Use the back of a knife to lightly score both sheets into 16 equal sections (4 squares across and 4 squares down)
4. Use a pizza cutter to cut the first sheet into the 16 squares. Place the squares onto the baking sheets, leaving room between for puffing up in the oven. This will be 8 squares per baking sheet.
5. Cut the cream cheese into 16 equal portions, then lay each one in the centre of each of the squares. Alternatively, if your cheese is soft (you could use softened cream cheese in the tub, then just spoon a good tsp full onto each square)
6. Cut the guava paste into 16 equal portions (don't make them any thicker than 1/4 inch or 5mm. Place the guava on top of the cream cheese.
7. Using a small cup of water and either a brush or your finger, gently wet the outer edges of the pastry.
8. Cut through the score lines in the second pastry sheet, and place a square on top of each guava filled square, pressing down lightly to seal the two squares.

9. Use a fork to gently crimp the edges down. You don't have too press hard or all the way through. Just enough to help them stick together.  The baking process will still allow them to puff all the way up.

10. Use a sharp knife to make two cuts in the top of each pastry.
11. Whisk the egg and a tsp of water together in a small cup. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the egg wash onto the top of each pastry.
12. Sprinkle turbinado or raw sugar all over the tops of the pastries.

13. Bake the pastries in the centre of the oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving, to give the guava a little time to cool down.  If you are using two baking sheets, rotate half way through, to get an even baking on all of them.

14. You could also dust the tops with powdered sugar if you so desire.

Recipe Notes

If you can't find the guava paste anywhere, and you don't want to use Amazon etc, you can definitely use quince paste.  Or how about a nice thick blood orange marmalade?  Or even plum butter would be amazing!  Just use something with substance.  Even a really thick and dense rhubarb compote would work.