GUAVA CAKE SLICES
GUAVA JAM:
3 GUAVAS
1 CUP WATER
1/3-1/2 CUP SUGAR
CAKE:
150g MARGARINE OR BUTTER
120g CASTER SUGAR
3 MEDIUM EGGS
175g SELF- RAISING FLOUR
1 TSP BAKING POWDER
RIND & JUICE OF 1/2 SMALL LIME
1-2 TBSP DESICCATED COCONUT
100g SOFT CHEESE
CRUMBLE TOPPING:
35g SALTED BUTTER
20g SUGAR
75g PLAIN FLOUR
1-2 TSP LIME ZEST
20-30g SLICED ALMONDS,TOASTED
INGREDIENTS
While visiting Bangladesh as a child, one of my favourite parts of the trip was the availability of fresh fruit right off the trees in the garden. My grandparents house have mango, coconut, star fruit and many other trees, as well as my favourite guava, which grow alongside the small lake.
Guava is a tropical fruit which can be found in many areas including Asia, Central and South America. The taste is quite difficult to describe but perhaps a little similar to a pear, with a hard skin, soft fleshy inside and lots of seeds. It also has high levels of Vitamin C, around 4 times as much as an orange. In the UK, produce from all over the world are available to us and can now be found in our local grocery shops.
I wanted to find a way to incorporate guavas into a simple dessert and started researching different recipes which include it. I came across the many recipes for Pastelitos de Guayaba (Guava Pastry) which is a Latin American dessert made using puff pastry and guava paste. I was not able to find guava paste easily in the UK, so I decided to try making my own guava jam using fresh fruit. I researched other flavours which complement Guava and chose lime and coconut, which is a well known combination. While looking for guava dessert recipes I also came across many that included cream cheese and I decided to use this to contrast with the sweetness of the jam I was making.
I decided to go with a simple lime and coconut sponge cake with pockets of guava jam and cream cheese swirled in, all topped with crumbles and sliced almonds for a bit of added texture, then baked and cut into squares to create Guava cake slices.
STEP-BY-STEP
1. Preheat oven to 190C / 170 C fan/ gas mark 5. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper, non-stick mat or just grease lightly with butter.
2. In a medium sized bowl, beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffy in texture.
3. Sift in the flour and mix with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough.
4. Split the dough between 3 small bowls, add the flavouring to each and mix together. (If the carrot flavour biscuits are too soft you may need to add some more flour to the mixture).
5. For each flavour, roll out the dough and cut out small circles using a tiny cutter or the end of an icing tip.
6. Place the circles onto the prepared tray with about 1-2 cm gap between them.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until slightly golden.
8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes on the tray or transfer to wire rack.
9. Meanwhile, place the icing sugar into a medium sized bowl and add water a little bit at a time, until it makes a thick, glossy texture which holds its shape well.