PASTELILLOS DE GUAYABA (GUAVA CHEESE PASTRIES)
Panaderías in Puerto Rico are magical. Their brightly lit glass cases are lined with fresh-baked bread and rich pastries, begging you to order too many. As a child, I clamored for pastelillos (also called pastelitos) de guayaba. The pastries typically have a flaky crust and are filled with a generous smear of concentrated guava paste - an embodiment of tropical Caribbean flavor - and often with cheese, served glazed or dusted with powdered sugar. In East Harlem, or El Barrio, New York's historic Puerto Rican enclave where I lived for some time, I discovered Valencia Bakery on East 103rd Street, which made a bite-size version with a generous amount of confectioners' sugar, creating a portal between the island and my new home. My recipe is inspired by theirs. These are excellent with coffee, and will keep for several days, benefiting from a reheat in the oven.
Provided by Von Diaz
Categories snack, finger foods, pastries, dessert, side dish
Time 1h30m
Yield 16 servings
Number Of Ingredients 6
Steps:
- Set out puff pastry to thaw for 40 minutes at room temperature.
- Once pastry is thawed, line a 12-by-17-inch baking sheet with 2 pieces of parchment paper. (The double layer helps to protect your pan when you're cutting the puff pastry.) Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare your egg wash by whisking egg and milk together. Keep it handy.
- Lay one layer of puff pastry on top of parchment paper on the baking sheet. Make a 4-by-4 grid of guava stacked with cheese, spaced evenly, leaving about 1 inch of space in between. Top with the second puff pastry sheet.
- Using a pizza cutter, slice the puff pastry into 16 equal pieces, touching the top lightly to determine where to slice. It's OK if you don't do a perfect job; these are especially good when the guava spills out and caramelizes along the edges. (And don't worry too much about getting the cut exact, or pieces being odd sizes. It gives them character.)
- Working quickly, use a fork to crimp all four edges twice on each side, then arrange them evenly on the baking sheet, leaving space between each. Brush the tops and edges lightly with the prepared egg wash and place baking sheet in the center of the oven.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until pastelillos are beautifully golden brown, flaky and puffy.
- Out of the oven, let pastelillos rest for at least 10 minutes before eating. (Guava is molten hot and will burn your mouth, badly.)
- Once they've cooled, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar to taste. They can be eaten warm or at room temperature, and will keep for several days in an airtight container. Heat leftovers in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees to bring back their crispness.
GUAVA AND CREAM CHEESE TWISTS
In Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean, pastelillos (also known as pastelitos) are flaky pastry turnovers that taste like bliss when eaten fresh from the bakery, their jammy guava centers fused with creamy cheese. These cookies capture a bit of that magic in packable, sturdy sweets that can be kept for days and easily shared or shipped. Instead of being filled with perishable cream cheese, these have it blended into their buttery dough to incorporate that tangy richness. Guava paste seals into the pastry while baking, delivering a chewy fruitiness with each bite.
Provided by Genevieve Ko
Time 2h
Yield About 50 cookies
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a large bowl and wooden spoon, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy and smooth. With the machine running, add sugar and salt, and continue beating until a little fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat until incorporated. (Reserve egg white.) Add flour all at once and mix just until incorporated. Halve the dough, and place each half on plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap, press each half into a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
- When ready to bake, cut guava paste into 50 1/4-inch-thick rectangles (2 inches long, ½-inch wide). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- On a generously floured surface, using a well-floured rolling pin, roll out 1 dough rectangle until roughly 15 1/2 inches long, 6 1/2 inches wide and 1/8-inch thick. Trim the edges, then cut into 24 (2 1/2-by-1 1/2-inch) rectangles. (You will have 48 rectangles from the initial rolling; the final two rectangles will come from rolled-out scraps.) Transfer to a prepared sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. If the dough has gotten too soft to handle, refrigerate until firmer but still very pliable.
- Place a guava paste rectangle in the center of each piece of dough on a diagonal. (It should not extend past the dough.) Take the dough corner opposite the top of a guava rectangle and wrap it over the guava paste so that the point meets the opposite edge; press the dough corner gently to secure. Take the corner diagonally opposite to the folded one and fold over the other end of the guava paste, pressing the corner gently against the other edge. Repeat with the remaining dough and guava paste. Chill and reroll dough scraps. If the assembled dough is soft, and you'd like to decorate the tops, chill or freeze again.
- For a sparkly, crunchy and sweet top, lightly brush the top of the dough with the reserved egg white and sprinkle with sparkling sugar. (These taste just as good without any topping.) Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown around the edges, 13 to 15 minutes. (The paste may ooze out.) Cool completely on the sheets on wire racks. The cookies are best the day they're made, but will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
PASTELITOS (GUAVA AND CREAM CHEESE PASTRIES)
In Havana - and in Cuban neighborhoods across the U.S. - pastry shops make many types of cakes and cookies, but the best-sellers are always the pastels and pastelitos, flaky pastries filled with meat, cheese, coconut custard or guava jam. According to "Paladares: Recipes from the Private Restaurants, Home Kitchens, and Streets of Cuba" by Anya von Bremzen (Abrams, 2017), the shape of the pastel correlates with the filling: Triangular pastels are filled with guava paste and cheese, while rectangular ones are filled with just guava. Versailles, a Cuban restaurant in Miami, follows this rule, but at home, just make them rectangular, and add a swipe of cream cheese if desired. You can find guava paste in bricks at Latin American grocers, or swap in about 1/2 cup jam or preserves for a nontraditional take.
Provided by Daniela Galarza
Categories snack, finger foods, pastries, dessert
Time 1h
Yield 8 pastelitos
Number Of Ingredients 7
Steps:
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Prepare an egg wash: In a small bowl, beat the egg with a pinch of salt and set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll one sheet of puff pastry into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle roughly the size of a standard sheet of paper. (Keep the other puff pastry sheet in the refrigerator.) Dust off any excess flour and lay the rolled pastry sheet on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Dip a pastry brush into the egg wash, and paint a line in lengthwise along the center of the pastry sheet, followed by three crosswise lines, evenly spaced, forming a grid of 8 rectangles, each approximately 3 inches wide and 4 inches long. Brush edges with egg wash. Lay a slice of guava paste in the center of each rectangle (or dot with dollops of jam or preserves, if using). Spread some of the cream cheese, if using, on top of the guava paste (about 1 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese per pastry).
- Remove the second sheet of puff pastry from the refrigerator, and roll it out into an 8-by-11-inch rectangle, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking. Lay the second sheet of puff pastry on top of the first. Using the side of your palm, press around and between the mounds of filling, pressing out any excess air, and to glue the top pastry to the bottom, creating 8 even, rectangular pockets. Paint the top sheet of puff pastry with egg wash. Sprinkle the surface with sugar.
- Using a knife or bench scraper, cut out and separate the 8 pastelitos following the original grid in between the indentations in the dough. Trim the perimeter to neaten the rectangles. The dough should still be cool to the touch; if it is warm, return the pastelitos to the refrigerator on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to firm up before baking.
- Bake pastelitos until puffed and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
CHEESY GUAVA EMPANADAS
When we were growing up, my mother would serve us slices of guava paste with cream cheese on the side for dessert and my father would eat sweet jams with savory cheeses for breakfast. These components come together in this empanada recipe: the cream cheese adds creaminess and tang, while the saltiness of the queso duro balances out the sweetness of the guava. It's an easy assembly and the result can be eaten for any meal, or as a sweet and savory snack.
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Time 50m
Yield 10 empanadas
Number Of Ingredients 6
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
- Put 3 or 4 of the empanada wrappers on a flat work surface. Spoon 2 teaspoons of cream cheese on the bottom half of each, then spread to create a half-moon shape, leaving a 1/2-inch gap between the cream cheese and the edge. Divide the guava paste into 1-ounce sections; depending on how the paste is packaged, you can either cut it into planks or scoop out about 3 teaspoons per empanada (using 3 teaspoons rather than 1 tablespoon will make the empanadas easier to seal). Finally, top each empanada with about 2 tablespoons of grated cheese.
- Make an egg wash by whisking the egg in a small bowl with a splash of water. Brush the outer edge of each wrapper with the egg wash, then seal by folding each wrapper in half and pressing the edges together with your fingers. Arrange the empanadas on the prepared baking sheets, then crimp the edges of each with a fork, pushing down enough to seal but not enough to go through the dough. Assemble, seal and crimp the remaining empanadas.
- Brush the top side of each empanada with the egg wash, then bake until the outsides are dark golden brown and feel crispy to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes, then serve.
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