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!
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
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Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
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Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
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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)
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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.
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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)
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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.
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Using a small cup of water and either a brush or your finger, gently wet the outer edges of the pastry.
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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.
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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.
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Use a sharp knife to make two cuts in the top of each pastry.
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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.
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Sprinkle turbinado or raw sugar all over the tops of the pastries.
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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.
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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.