Cream cheese coffee cake meets tropical guava pastry in this Puerto Rican guava cake known as Panetela de Guayaba!
In Puerto Rico, this recipe is called panetela de guayaba y queso (Guava cake with cream cheese). In Cuba they call it masa real.
This simple snack cake may have different names, but everyone calls it delicious!
It’s also not necessary to have the cheese at all, but guava and cream cheese are one of my favorite combinations!
For me, they go together like peanut butter and jelly. Try my mini guava cheesecakes and you’ll know what I mean!
The sweet, concentrated guava is balanced perfectly with tangy cream cheese.
If you’ve never worked with guava paste before, you can find it in the Hispanic section of grocery stores or online.
The best way I can describe it is like a solid piece of guava jelly that’s easy for slicing or melting. It adds so much flavor without any fuss, like my 2-ingredient guava pastelitos (puff pastries).
Now, this panetela de guayaba is what I call an “everything cake.”
It’s great for dessert of course, but also perfect with coffee in the morning for breakfast, or a tasty afternoon snack. The texture of this cake is somewhere between cake and cookie bars.
You’ll see when you make the batter that it’s pretty stiff. This is normal and you’ll have to spread the batter out in the pan.
Divide the dough and spread half in a greased 8×8 pan. It may not seem like enough dough, but it will be plenty!
Next, top with a layer of guava paste and slices of cream cheese (if using).
The remaining half of the cake batter is spread over the top, and then it’s baked.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving for a pretty appearance and enjoy!
You may also like: our popular easy flan cake recipe!
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If you love this recipe, you should also try making my sandwich de mezcla recipe, or pastelitos de hongos from Karla Tatiana Vasquez’s SalviSoul Cookbook.
Panetela de Guayaba Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 ounces Guava Paste
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 8 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 teaspoon Pure Almond Extract (optional)
- Powdered Sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- Slice the guava paste and cream cheese into 1/4-inch thick slices; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and almond extract.
- Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Divide dough in half and spread half into the bottom of prepared pan.
- Top with slices of guava paste in a single layer. Add cream cheese slices evenly spaced on top and cover with remaining dough.
- To make this easier, add dollops of dough across the top of the cream cheese and carefully spread the dough to the edges until completely covered with no gaps.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until fully set in center of cake. Let cool on wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.