Guava Cake

Guava Cake

My dad celebrated his 59th birthday this weekend and I came across this Guava Cake recipe that I knew would be perfect! My dad's family is originally from Hawaii (though we're not native Hawaiian) so part of his heart lives in San Francisco where he grew up and another part of his heart lives in Hawaii. We don't really have any Hawiian food here in Albuquerque, so we don't usually get our hands on Hawiian grub very often. Whenever we go out of town, my dad (and now my brother, ha!) always try to find an L&L Hawaiian BBQ restaurant to get their fix.

My dad always asks for malasadas, ever since one of my aunts gave me a family recipe, but I have yet to venture out and make it. There's something about yeast and deep-frying that scare the heck out of me. My dad also has a cheat version using canned biscuits that he used to make when I was little, which is easier but I still haven't made that version either. One of these days I will make both!

In the meantime, I found this great Guava Cake recipe that is delicious and wonderful! I got this recipe from the Polynesian Kitchen and made only minor adjustments. I poked holes on the top of the cooled cake and then drizzled guava juice on top of the cake to add a little more pronounced guava flavor. I used about half a cup of juice, but you can add less or more to your liking-- just be sure not to add too much juice to where it becomes soggy. Also, there are several types of guava juice and some may not be pink in color, so if you want that pretty pink color, feel free to add a couple drops of pink food coloring to the glaze. I couldn't find the guava juice that I normally buy at the supermarket (I like Kern's), so I bought Jumex (which wasn't pink) so I added pink food coloring to the glaze.

This cake got the approval from everyone in my family! I ate three slices-- one before while I was taking pictures (the perks of a food blog!) and another two at family dinner. :-) I think this recipe will be around for awhile and I'm already thinking of some different ways to adapt the cake. Can you say sweetened condensed milk? :-)

My dad with his Redskins jersey I got him for X-mas (Go Royster!)

Guava Cake
slightly adapted from The Polynesian Kitchen


Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 package yellow or strawberry cake mix (I used strawberry)
1 c. guava juice (replace the amount of water called for the package with guava juice-- this varies depending on the brand, so just adjust it accordingly)
1/2 c. vegetable oil (or however much is asked for on the box)
3 eggs (or how many is asked for on the box)
1/2 c. guava juice (this is for drizzling on top of cooled cake for extra guava flavor!)

Cream cheese mixture:
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. package of Cool Whip, thawed

Guava glaze:
2 c. guava juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. corn starch
pink food coloring (optional)


Instructions:

Cake:
Bake cake according to package directions, substituting guava juice for water. I used a 9x13 pan for this recipe. Once cake is cooled, poke holes on top of the cake with a fork. Drizzle with guava juice and set aside to let the juice seep into the cake.

Cream cheese mixture
In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat in. Slowly fold in the Cool Whip and refrigerate until ready to use. (I added a couple of tablespoons of guava juice to the mixture as well. You can do this as well, but it didn't add much guava flavor.)

Guava glaze:
In a medium sauce pan, bring the 2 cups guava juice and sugar to a boil. Make a paste out of the cornstarch and a small amount of water. Once the guava and sugar are boiling, remove saucepan from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring back to a boil and boil for one minute. Add a couple drops of pink food coloring. (Some types of guava juice aren't pink in color, so if you'd like to get the pink color, you can definitely add  some pink food coloring to get that pretty pink guava color. I used "soft pink" from AmeriColor.) Cool in refrigerator.

To assemble cooled cake:
Thickly ice the cake with the cream cheese mixture. (Make sure there's enough room on the top for the guava glaze-- if you don't think there will be enough room, reduce the amount of the cream cheese mixture so that there's room for the glaze.) Glaze the top of the cake with guava gel. Refrigerate until ready to serve