I first heard about this guava cake from my cousin Manju who lives in California. Every three weeks or so we have these long phone conversations where we update each other on stuff that has happened since we last talked. Along with gossips and stories from India and elsewhere, we also talk about food. She is a fantastic cook who also loves baking, and is the one who regularly lets me know about this new recipe in that blog and that cake in this magazine. It was during one of those fun chats that she told me about this Hawaiian cake which was all the rage in California ( this was a while back, and she also gave me the name of the particular bakery, whose name I now forget). She suggested I try this recipe from The Polynesian Kitchen and I promised her I would, soon. I bookmarked the recipe and then, like always, forgot about it.
Now, I love guava, both the white ones and the red ones. It was a fruit we regularly enjoyed in India. There used to be two big guava trees in my grandparents’ house and my sister and I would climb up the trees, pluck the big, round, juicy fruits fresh and eat it. It was also used to make juices, jams and jellies. A few weeks back, I came across this guava buttercream crafted by the lovely Bonnie at the awesome blog, Thirsty for Tea. She uses guava paste in her recipe. This reminded me about guava cake, and I decided to make this. Thanks Bonnie!
This is a very exotic, very tasty cake. If you are a guava fan, you will love this one. My only gripe is that it uses a boxed cake mix, which I am not a huge fan of. I enjoy the art of sifting, scooping, and measuring flour, sugar and whatever ( and making a total mess of my kitchen ) so much, that I only use a cake mix when I absolutely have to. You could use either a yellow cake or a strawberry cake mix; I used the latter, which gives it a beautiful pink shade. I took this beauty to a party where it was much admired, loved and gobbled up by everyone. Thanks Manju chechi!
Packing this to Fiesta Friday #28 at The Novice Gardener.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Recipe courtesy: The Polynesian Kitchen
Ingredients:
1 pkg Yellow Cake Mix or Strawberry Cake Mix
1 C Guava juice, or the amount called for in the cake mix
3 Eggs
1/3 C Vegetable oil
1 8-ounce Package cream cheese, softened
1/3 C Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 small pkg Cool Whip, thawed
2 C Guava juice
1/2 C Sugar
1/4 C Cornstarch
Method:
Bake the cake according to package directions, substituting guava juice for water.
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.
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. Remove guava juice from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring back to a boil and boil for one minute. Cool in refrigerator.
To assemble: Thickly ice the cake with all of the cream cheese mixture. Glaze the top of the cake with guava gel. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Your cake is so beautiful! The guava gel flows over so beautifully. Thanks for sharing at FF, and have a wonderful weekend. 😀
Thanks a ton Kaila…the gel is the star of this cake. Have an awesome weekend!
What a gorgeous presentation! Your cake looks delicious!
Thank you so much Julie!
Oh my, you had me at guava, absolutely love the fruit, never had it in a cake though, what a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing:)
Thank you so much Lily!…You will really enjoy this one..:-)
Anu, it looks lovely! Now, when can I taste it ?
Love ur blog !
Thanks to you, Manju chechi!..you can taste it as soon as you guys come to Houston… 🙂
That is such a gorgeous cake! Love the guava flavor, very unusual 🙂
Thanks Naina!..definitely unusual…before this, I had never heard of guava cake either.
Oh my goodness! This looks absolutely divine. I love guavas and never thought to bake them in a cake. Awesome presentation as always! 😀
Thanks dahling!…do try this and let me know.
What a gorgeous cake! Just look at the colours… It looks so moist too. Thank you for bringing this lovely cake to Fiesta Friday, enjoy the party!
Thank you so much!…you are such a wonderful host!
Wow oh wow! This is one gorgeous cake! I will have a very large piece, please! 😀
One very large piece coming up… 🙂 …thank you so much Chef Julianna!
This looks amazing 🙂
Thanks a lot!..:-)
Guava is such a beautiful fruit and flavour… though I think I’ve only ever had it before as juice. So lovely that you’ve made this gorgeous cake using such an exotic ingredient – it’s so pretty, as well as aromatic I’m sure! Thanks for bringing it along to share with the Fiesta Friday crowd!
Yes, it is very aromatic, specially the guava gel. Thank you so much for being such a wonderful host at FF!
OMG…this looks so good!! I’ve had guava cake a few times, from a Hawaiian bakery in LA called King’s Hawaiian (the same as the brand of bread). Your cake looks very similar to that cake..I love the pink color of the cake itself, and the texture looks very fluffy! I am obsessed with all things Hawaii related, and I’m definitely going to make this! And thanks so much for the shout out…so very sweet of you! 😉
Maybe that’s the bakery my cousin was talking about. Will try it when I visit California next. Thanks Bonnie!
You MUST go!! King’s Hawaiian in Torrance…there’s a restaurant and bakery. 😉
what a stunning looking cake, looks like summer in cake form, i love it!
Thank you so much Michelle… 🙂
Anu, Guava cake wow that’s sounds so intersting and looks delicious
Thank you Vidya!
Wow, this looks awesome and delicious. I hope your cousin is vicariously enjoying this cake through you (it’s so hard to find guavas here in California). And it’s so pretty!
Thanks a lot Joyti!…and welcome to my blog… 🙂
A guava cake is ingenious! It looks so pretty too.
Thanks a lot Anjana!
What a pretty cake, inside and out! Nice pictures and great recipe I would like to try. Why not as my brother lives on the big Island of Hawaii 🙂
Thanks a lot!…Hawaii…wow…hope your brother likes this one… 🙂
Your cakes are spectacular!!!! If only I had a ounce of your cake decorating skills…loll
Thanks you so much Ummey…you’re just too sweet!… 🙂
I love guavas and never tried guava cake… this looks heavenly Anu….just love that melting guava gel on the cake…gorgeous ….
The guava gel is the star of the cake. Do try this one Chitra and let me know how it turns out.
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