guava cream cheese tarts

A long, long time ago, I lived in California.  And every winter back here on the east coast, usually when I have reached the wearing only sweatpants and uggs phase, I start to wonder why I left. This winter seemed especially brutal.  My nostalgia this year developed a razor sharp focus on a Cuban cafe I used to go to when I lived in Silver Lake, in Los Angeles.  It had brutally strong coffee and some of the best desserts in the neighborhood.  And everyone raved about one in particular: a guava cream cheese pie. I needed a slice of this pie this winter. But since getting on a plane to Cali was not in the cards, I thought I’d take a crack at the recipe.

  The ingredients are a traditional Cuban mix of guava paste, cream cheese and dough.  If you live in an area with a large Hispanic population, they probably sell this at the corner deli.  Otherwise, check the specialty foods section of the supermarket.  Most people seem to wrap the guava and cream cheese in phyllo dough. I wanted to make a tart.  Not sure why, it just sounded good.  It took me all winter to develop the recipe.  I had a few false starts (like not realizing using eggs with the cream cheese would make…cheesecake). But with spring finally here, I think I got it. Frankly,  I’m sure the tart at Café Tropical is better.  But it has been over a decade since I had a slice.  My memory is fuzzy enough to say that this very, very close.  And I am eating  a tart while listening to the birds chirp outside my window.  And if you are nowhere near Los Angeles either, this is as good as it gets without the ocean.

guava cream cheese tarts

ingredients for crust:

adapted from williams & sonoma  essentials of baking 2003 edition

• 1 & 1/4 c. (200g) unbleached flour
• 1/2 c. (60g) confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into bits
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 tbl. heavy cream

ingredients for filling:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 3 tbl. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 14 oz. block guava paste
• 3 tbl. lime juice
• 2 limes for garnish (optional)

 

In an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar and salt on low to combine.  Add butter. Mix on low until you have large, coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, lightly beat 2 of the egg yolks( save the 3rd for the egg wash).  Add the heavy cream to the yolks and stir to combine.  Slowly add this to the mixer, while still beating on low.  Continue to beat until the dough comes together into a smooth ball.

Remove dough from mixer and form into a ball.  Wrap in plastic and flatten into a disk.  Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

When dough is ready, remove from fridge.  Cut dough into six equal pieces.  Roll  each piece into a ball, then roll out to fit into the mini tart pan with a little overhang.  Place into mini tart pan, pressing dough against the bottom and sides of the pan.  Fold over extra dough hanging over the edge back into the shell and press against sides.  If you have a lot of extra dough, trim to 1/2″ over the edge of the pan.  Chill shells in the freezer for 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 400º.  Remove from freezer and prick the bottom all over with a fork.  Line with aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights or dried beans( I keep a bag of dried beans in my cabinet just for this purpose.  You can’t eat them after you’ve used them as pie weights).

  Par bake(this means partially bake.  It’s a way of keeping your crust from getting soggy) for 10 minutes with the foil on.  While they are baking, making your egg wash by mixing the egg yolk with 1 tbl. of water.  Remove shells from oven and reduce oven temp to 350º.Remove foil, brush inside of crust with egg wash and bake 5 minutes more.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack while you make the filling.

  To make the filling, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a food processor and run for about 5 minutes or until smooth.  Scrape down the sides if need be.  Meanwhile, cut guava paste into large chunks and place in microwave proof bowl with the lime juice.  Heat on low power, 1 minute at a time, until guava gets soft and starts to combine with the juice.  Put in clean food processor(sorry to make you have to wash it!) and process until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Divide equally among the six tarts and carefully spread on top of the cream cheese.  Make sure to have it touching the side of the tart shell.

  Bake on a baking sheet for 20 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Don’t be alarmed if these puff up a lot while baking.  They shrink down while cooling.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

to make the lime flowers:

make 6 slices equally spaced from each other through the white part of the lime.  Cut another slit right next to it to make a triangle.  Cut the triangle out, then slice the lime thin (I was wishing I had a mandolin here). It took me 2 limes to get 6 slices.