I’ve seen many posts online using premade guava paste and wanted to make my own guava jam from scratch instead. This recipe gives you a homemade version where you can make your own guava paste and shortcut pastry puff dough–you won’t have to wait in a long line to eat them!
Background
Pastelitos de guayaba y queso are traditionally Cuban puff pastries that are made with a guava paste and cheese filling. This is one of the most famous pastelitos, or “small pastries,” and for good reason–they’re delicious. Historically speaking, pastelitos have various origin stories that include Cuban households inventing the small pastries for appetizers during meals, or even slaves working the sugar mills. Guava seeds originated from Central America and Mexico and were thought to be spread by birds (or more likely colonialism) to Cuba and eventually to Florida. Guava and cheese pastries’ popularity in Miami dates back to Cuban migration to Miami in the 20th century. Now thanks to places like Porto’s Bakery, we can enjoy them all over the world.
The guava paste / jam
After eating years worth of guava and cheese pastries (and waiting in many many lines at Porto’s), I had an abundance of pink guavas from my tree and wanted to make some homemade guava jam for some fresh pastelitos. If you don’t have time to make homemade guava jam or can’t find guava at the grocery store, you can also buy guava jam at the grocery store. I like using Hawaiian Sun guava jam as a backup. (I was able to purchase this at my local Filipino grocery store).
The cheese filling
When I first heard about guava and cheese pastries, I was a little confused since I often associated cheese with savory dishes. I quickly remembered I love a good cheesecake and this is where I started my cheese filling recipe. Many recipes call for just plain cream cheese in these pastries, but I wanted a creamier texture. I used a recipe similar to a cheesecake filling to get a creamier flavor using eggs, sugar, and salt. It gives you a subtle and tangy cheese flavor with sweetness from the sugar.
The puff pastry
This recipe will teach you how to make an easy shortcut for puff pastry that’s the same one I used for my egg tart recipe. You still get a homemade puff pastry without laminating, folding, and rolling for hours. Alternatively, you can also buy premade pastry puff dough from your local grocery store, just make sure to defrost on the counter before making your pastries so you don’t crack the dough. I’ve used pepperidge farm premade dough for my pâté chaud recipe.
Cooking tips
Serving
This recipe makes about 12 medium sized strudels or be extra like me and make 6 HUGE pastries. Either way, it’s fun to try and design different ways to score the top piece of pastry puff. Guava and cheese strudels are best eaten fresh from the oven, but you can also keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To reheat, you can toast them in the oven for a few minutes to warm them up and get the crust crispy again.
