Guava Cream Cheese Cake
This little gem comes from my baking days in a nearby Seattle restaurant. This cake is closer to a pound cake than a cheesecake (as the name implies), and is better after being refrigerated (or frozen) then slices and toasted in a pan.
This is a moist, dense cake with a fragrance you won't know unless you grew up somewhere tropical. It's a subtle flavor - almost peachy - but then something else wafts by and you're clearly inhaling something new.
The most challenging component of this recipe is the Perfect Puree. It's an ingredient I could get easily through the restaurant, but it isn't available retail anywhere in Seattle. Even wholesalers didn't have it for a while, so I was doubly lucky to find a local grocer who took the time to track it down for me. Perfect Puree is available directly from the company via mail order if you can't find it in your area.
Guava Cream Cheese Cake
2 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature
2 lbs butter, at room temperature
8 c sugar
2 T salt
2 T vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Zest of 1 lemon
20 large eggs, at room temperature
2 lbs sifted AP flour
2 T baking powder
30 oz Perfect Puree Pink Guava puree, at room temperature
Note: This formula makes five 9" cakes, and will likely not fit in your mixer. After dividing the recipe in half, I was able to fit the mixture into my mixer's 7 qt. bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 300F.
- Add the cream cheese, butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and lemon zest into the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Cream the ingredients until very light and fluffy, around 10 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl down when necessary.
- Combine the AP flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
- Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl in 3 separate additions, scraping down each time.
- When the mixture is completely combined, fold in the guava puree.
- Pour the mixture into five 9" cake pans (or a combination of loaf pans, cake pans, etc) that are lined with foil or greased and floured.
- Bake for 80 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Note: If you use different sized pans for this recipe, you will have different baking times for each, so watch each closely.
More Info
Perfect Puree of Napa Valley













































Comments
curious as can be
Which Seattle restaurant did you used to bake at? Your photography is seriously stunning, Jenny.
Thank you!
Well, I have to say I'm lucky - I'm no photographer, I have a little cheapie point and click that fits in an Altoids tin (it's more discreet that way).
As far as the restaurants, I was the weekend baker working for Bennie Sata at Tango, but really, nothing more than that. She taught me loads, and all of my best tricks are usually hers!