Pastelitos de guayaba
Pastelitos are a Cuban bakery classic, and in Miami they are often ordered in the morning with a small, strong, sweet coffee (cafecito). They are crisp puff pastries filled with guava paste and cream cheese, brushed with syrup after baking so they shine. Guava is tangy-sweet and fruity, the cheese softens its sweetness and the pastry shatters into flakes. With ready-made puff pastry there is about half an hour of work, and a little over an hour in all with baking and cooling.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Filling and sealing 20 min
- Chilling 10 min
- Baking 25 min
- Syrup and cooling 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 donePrepare the filling
Heat the oven to 200°C. Cut the guava paste into 12 slices about 1 cm thick and divide the cream cheese into 12 portions.
Ingredients: 550 g puff pastry, 2 sheets · 200 g guava paste (guayaba) · 150 g cream cheese · 1 pcs egg for brushing
Cut the pastry
Unroll both pastry sheets. Cut each into 12 rectangles (3 × 4) — one sheet for bases, the other for tops. Lay the bases about 2 cm apart on a large lined baking tray. If they do not fit, use two trays and bake them one after the other, keeping the second in the fridge meanwhile.
Ingredients: 550 g puff pastry, 2 sheets · 200 g guava paste (guayaba) · 150 g cream cheese · 1 pcs egg for brushing
Add the filling
Put a portion of cheese and a slice of guava in the middle of each base, leaving a 1 cm border.
Ingredients: 550 g puff pastry, 2 sheets · 200 g guava paste (guayaba) · 150 g cream cheese · 1 pcs egg for brushing
A centimetre border — the pastry will seal.Cover and seal
Brush the borders with beaten egg, cover with the tops and press the edges with a fork. Chill the pastries 10 minutes — cold pastry puffs better.
Ingredients: 550 g puff pastry, 2 sheets · 200 g guava paste (guayaba) · 150 g cream cheese · 1 pcs egg for brushing
Pressed with a fork — the filling stays in.Brush and slit
Brush the tops with egg without letting it run down the sides, and cut a small slit in each for steam.
Ingredients: 550 g puff pastry, 2 sheets · 200 g guava paste (guayaba) · 150 g cream cheese · 1 pcs egg for brushing
Bake until golden
Bake 20–25 minutes until puffed and deep golden. Pale puff pastry is raw and doughy inside.
Ingredients: 550 g puff pastry, 2 sheets · 200 g guava paste (guayaba) · 150 g cream cheese · 1 pcs egg for brushing
Make the syrup
Meanwhile bring the sugar and water to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, and boil 2 minutes.
Ingredients: 50 g sugar · 50 ml water
Brush with syrup
As soon as they come out of the oven, brush the hot pastries with the syrup — they turn glossy. Cool 10 minutes, as the guava inside is very hot.
Ingredients: 50 g sugar · 50 ml water
Syrup while hot — they shine like bakery pastries.
Before you start
Where to buy guava
Guava paste (pasta de guayaba, goiabada) is sold in Latin American shops and online. Quince paste (membrillo), which also slices cleanly, can replace it — the flavour is different, but it also goes well with the cheese.
Variations
Cuban bakeries also make pastelitos with guava only, cheese only, or minced meat (pastelitos de carne).
Storage
They are best on the day they are baked. They have cream cheese inside, so keep them at room temperature for a few hours at most, then in the fridge up to 2 days. Refresh them 5 minutes in an oven heated to 180°C before serving.
