Guava Cake

I was born in Hawaii and spent my summers there as a kid, visiting my grandparents.  I've always loved guava juice.  It's pink, it's sweet, it's refreshing; it's just yummy.  Guava jam - pretty good.  But in all my years I never had guava cake.  Boy, was I missing out!

My in-laws visited Hawaii in the 80's and my mother-in-law never forgot the guava cake they tried while there.  So last year, for her birthday, I made a guava cake for her.  I had Googled "guava cake" and discovered that the cake she remembered was most likely a guava chiffon cake.  I did find a recipe to make it, but it was complicated and I was not going there.  Luckily, I also found a recipe for an easy guava cake that was more my style (and experience level).  Everyone loved it and I even made it look pretty (partly out of guilt for not having the stones to make a chiffon cake from scratch, ha ha):

This year, my daughter requested the same thing for her birthday.  This time I decided to go the simple route and just make the cake in a 9x13 pan.  This was mostly because I think it's easier to store in the fridge this way and I knew it would take us a few days to eat the whole thing.  Luckily, my mom (a "native" of Hawaii) came to visit for the weekend and we got to share some of it with her.  She approved!  And, just so you know, my husband has decided this is his favorite cake.  :)

To make this cake and the glaze, you need guava juice.  I made my guava juice from a can of frozen concentrate:

I actually prefer the brand Hawaiian Sun but it's not available here in AZ.  I found this brand at my local WinCo.  If you can't find this where you are, don't despair.  Thanks to the growing Hispanic population in the US, guava juice is more popular than it was in years past and you can sometimes find it in cans or bottles in the juice aisle.  I know Kern's is a popular brand. 

GUAVA CAKE

from Easy Guava Cake on Food.com 

also found at Kuki's Kookbook

For cake:

1 (18 oz) box yellow or strawberry cake mix (I use yellow)

1 1/3 cups guava juice

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

red food coloring, optional

For topping:

1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed

red food coloring, optional

For glaze:

2 cups guava juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

red food coloring, optional

Grease and flour cake pan(s).  Bake cake mix according to package directions, substituting 1 1/3 cups guava juice for water (and add food coloring until cake mix is desired color, if using).  Cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups guava juice and 1/2 cup sugar to boil.  Make a thin paste with cornstarch and a little bit of water.  Remove guava juice from heat and whisk in the cornstarch mixture until completely smooth.  Return to heat and boil for one minute.  Stir in food coloring, if using.  Cool glaze in refrigerator until at least room temp, about 30-45 min.  (If it gets really thick, beat it vigorously with a whisk until smooth again).

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add sugar and vanilla (and food coloring, if using) and beat until smooth.  Fold in the Cool Whip.

To assemble a 9x13:  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cake.  Repeat with guava glaze.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To assemble 2-layer round cake:  Remove cakes from pans and level.  Spread some topping on top of first cake and place second cake over.  Thickly frost the cake with remaining topping, piping some of the topping around the edge of the top of the cake (this will hold the glaze in place).  Spread glaze on top.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.