All the flavors of authentic guava pastelitos without all the work. My no-bake guava pastelito tarts are not only easy to make they are impressive for entertaining.
No-Bake Guava Pastelito Tarts
I was recently in Miami for a week to attend and teaching a photography panel for the Hispanicize conference. We drove up as a family, so after the conference day wrapped, we would head out to enjoy Miami. One of the sweetest highlights of the Miami was all the amazing guava pastelitos. I ate my fill as they are impossible to find here in South Texas.
Pastelitos are a Latin American dessert mad with guava, cream cheese all wrapped in a delicate puff pastry and baked until crisp. In Miami, the local bakeries churn out batch after batch as customers cannot get enough of them. I can understand the addiction – the combination of tangy cream cheese and sweet guava paste is irresistible.
I recently had a craving for a guava pastelito, but – I had no want to crank on the oven when the temps outside were hitting 98 degrees, hello South Texas summer.
I decided to whip up a no-bake version of the famous guava pastelito. All the flavors of a pastelito – guava, cream cheese served in a flaky cup, no oven time. I blended cream cheese with sweetend condensed milk and vanilla to make a creamy cheesecake filling. The filling can be made a day in advance and spooned into shells before serving then add a spoonful of guava jam over the cheese filling.
You can use guava jam or guava paste, cut into tiny slivers or cubes. I used guava jam as it what I had on-hand. They make for a handy last-minute dessert and are ideal for entertaining.
No-Bake Guava Pastelito Tarts
Yield 30 Makes
All the flavors of authentic guava pastelitos without all the work. My no-bake guava pastelitos are not only easy to make they are impressive for entertaining.
Ingredients
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 boxes of Mini Baked phyllo shells (15 ct. Box)
Guava jam or guava paste, cut into tiny cubes
Instructions
In an electric mixer beat cream cheese until smooth. Add condensed milk a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Beat in the lemon juice, if using and vanilla. Fill tart shells with filling and place in the fridge to chill for 1 hour. When ready to serve spoon guava jam or guava cubes over cheese filling.
Notes
Cheese filling can be made a day in advance.
Courses Dessert
Cuisine Latin
Photos by Jason David Page.
As a Florida boy from Tampa, and a long time south Florida resident, I am personally a fan of the straight guava paste filling without the cheese. You can usually find a mixture of both available down here and I like the straight fruit. I can get the paste in any grocery store down here, and I have been thinking of just scooping it into the puff pastry “cupcake” shells and baking it that way, without the rest of the fuss.
Yay for a no bake simple dessert for South Texas summer! Now to get some guava jam. I think I’ll make some for the Fourth of July, using a blueberry topping for part of them for a red, white and blue dessert…not Hispanic but a South Texas combination of cultures.