Guava Pie
Pay de Guayaba del Restaurante Panamá, recipe courtesy of Chef Luis Osuna and Chef Olivia Vidaurri
Recipe Yield
2 pies
Cooking time
40 minutes
Rate this recipe
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 3 1/3 cups (about 10 ounce) crumbled Maria cookies
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
For the filling:
- 1 envelope (about 7 grams or .25 ounce) unflavored gelatin
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 pound (about 2 cups) cream cheese
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 cups fresh guava cleaned and diced
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
- Cajeta or dulce de leche homemade or store-bought
To Prepare
To make the crust:
- Set rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Place the crumbled cookies in a medium bowl. Melt the butter over low heat, pour over the crumbled cookies, and mix well. Split the mixture between two pie molds and press into the bottom and sides of the molds to form a crust. Bake for 18 minutes until set and golden, then remove from oven and let cool.
To make the filling:
- In a small bowl, combine the gelatin with the water. Let it puff up and rehydrate, then mix until diluted. If the gelatin won’t dissolve completely, you may want to place over a water bath for a minute or two.
- Fit a mixer with the whisk attachment and whip the cream cheese on medium speed for a couple minutes to soften. Incorporate the heavy whipping cream and sugar, continue beating until well mixed and it holds steady and hard peaks, as if you were making whipped cream, being careful not to over beat.
- Reduce speed to low, add the rehydrated gelatin and mix just until it is all incorporated, puffed up and uniform.
- Turn out into the cooled pie crusts and chill for at least an hour.
To make the topping:
- Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and set over medium heat, once it comes to a simmer, cook for 3 minutes until the sugar dissolves, making a simple syrup. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Place the guava in a bowl, pour the cooled simple syrup over it, and mix well. Strain the guava in a colander for a few minutes to drain off excess simple syrup.
- Top the chilled pies with the guava, sprinkle pecans all around, and drizzle with cajeta.
Comments
55comments inGuava Pie
Mary from Philly
Jan 27
Pati,
I just have to write to tell you how much I love your show! I’m spending the day with you watching your Q&A marathon on Create TV. I watched this episode earlier, and your son brought tears to my eyes when he pointed to this pie with his mouth still full wanting a second piece. I so enjoy watching your boys grow up on your show. Their sheer delight and appreciation for you and the food you prepare them is written all over their faces. It brings so much joy to your viewers especially me and my husband, who is usually a curmudgeon. Yours is only one of two cooking shows that he’ll watch with me so that’s really saying something. I often watch with my laptop nearby so I can visit the places that you go to in Mexico, and feel like I’ve been transported there with you. I have to keep the tissues close too! I plan to try this recipe along with some of the others that I’ve seen and learned today watching the show, and can only hope my family has the same reaction as yours. Congratulations to you and your team on a wonderful show and website. Please keep up the great work and show!
Pati Jinich
Jan 27
This is such a sweet message Mary, you truly made my day. Big hugs to you and your husband 🙂
Claudia Meyers
Jan 27
YUMMY! MUCHO GUSTO
Pati Jinich
Jan 27
Igualmente, jaja!
Lisa from Texas.
Nov 21
Cut the guava in half first. Use a melon ball scoop to scoop out seeds. Then dice guavas. Sieve the seeds with pulp to get pulp. Then mix pulp with strained sugar water and add 1/2 packet of dissolved gelatin. Set aside. Use a few spoonfuls of creamy filling and fold into pulp. When assembling pie, pour pulp mix on bottom of pie, then scoop the creamy filling around the sides of pie first then fill on top with the rest. Then assemble as instructed. No wasted ingredients.
You will have a pie with the guava on the bottom and the top.All the flavor with No seeds to break teeth or cause intestinal problems.
Pati Jinich
Nov 21
Wow, thanks so much for sharing this Lisa, gracias!
Lisa from Texas
Nov 21
This is a delicious pie. Thanks for sharing the original recipe. I gave you credit when I served it.
I’m just a cheapskate and hated to throw away perfectly good and tasty sugar syrup. I did have some syrup left over so I used it in my iced tea. It is now on my roster of flavored teas. Guava tea, peach tea, rose blossom tea, etc.
you have inspired quite a few recipes from this one recipe.
I wish I could send you the photo of my pie. I think you would be proud of me and yourself for being such a great inspiration.
Pati Jinich
Nov 25
Such a great idea to make iced teas Lisa, thanks so much for sharing! Please send the photo of your pie to hola@patijinich.com 🙂
Tatyana
Dec 08
Dear Patie, I just wanted to say thank you so much for your tv show that we love it. You make recipes available for anyone, and when you said available, it really is! Thank you for making cooking so much fun. Thank you Patie, don’t stop cooking!
😊❤
Pati Jinich
Jan 02
Thanks to you for so much kindness Tatyana, so glad you have been tuning in and enjoying the show!
Easy, delicious, and refreshing!
Nov 22
This recipe was straightforward to make but I did mess up when adding the gelatin, I didn’t read carefully that the water was room temperature water when adding to the gelatin and that it was a hot bath to melt the granules. Nonetheless, the recipe still turned out and I used your homemade cajeta recipe which was amazing! I added in the crust toasted pecans and instead of whole guavas, I had previously made a guava puree which was the reason why I stumbled upon this recipe. I needed to use the puree before it went bad. My parents and co-workers loved the pie! Light, refreshing and lighting sweet!
Pati Jinich
Jan 01
Thanks for sharing, so glad everyone liked it!
Kimi
Sep 16
This is a delicious , easy to execute recipe. Here on Maui it is guava season so I tried this with white and pink fresh guava. I did peel and seed the guava which I recommend however a lot of the guava flavor is in the pulp . To compensate this I sieved the pulp to remove the seeds and replaced the water in the simple syrup with the pulp and lemon juice . I made one pie and made the syrup with 1/3 c sugar and 1/3 cup pulp and lemon juice. I chilled the fruit and syrup separately then combined them when I assembled the pie , I didn’t strain it as it thickened up nicely. I used an high quality jar of ice cream caramel sauce .Followed the recipe for everything else .thanks for the great recipe and educating me on Mexico !
Pati Jinich
Sep 26
Wow, this is such a great tip, thanks so much for sharing Kimi!
Maricela
May 27
Wow! I have to make this. I ❤️ guavas. I will try it with strawberry guavas hard to find in store but my cousin has a strawberry guava tree. Thank you Pati. Love to relax n see your shows you take us all over😁 n we get to feed our family great recipes.
Pati Jinich
Jun 10
Strawberry guavas? Yum! Please let me know how it comes out. Thanks so much for tuning in you guys, un abrazo!
Kay
May 14
What is a Maria cookie? I’m in Northern Ca if you can suggest a subsititute
Pati Jinich
May 17
Vanilla wafers work well Kay, but if you are in California, you will find Maria cookies everywhere 🙂
Rosa Amezcua
Mar 07
This is one of my favorite pies!!
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe
Pati Jinich
Mar 08
With pleasure Rosa, it is one of my favorites as well 😉
Dale Shield
Mar 20
making the guava pie, should I use small, medium or large guavas, or does it matter
Pati Jinich
Mar 20
The size really doesn’t matter Dalen, try to find ripe ones which tend to be sweeter 🙂
Esmeralda
Nov 02
I loved the Season 8 with all the Sinaloa places as that’s where my family is from. This pay is amazing! And super easy to make ! I’m making it again for thanksgiving.
Pati Jinich
Nov 03
So glad you liked it Esmeralda, thank you!
Daviana
Apr 06
I’m not a sweets person , but when I saw your guava pie my mouth was watering so much lol.
I can’t wait to try it 🙂
Pati Jinich
Apr 11
This is perfect for you Daviana! Because of the tanginess and tart of guava, this pie is sweet but not too much and maybe better for you to skip the dulce de leche drizzle; let me know how it comes out!
Janeth Lemieux
Sep 26
I love this pie, my family and I. Want to said thank you
Pati Jinich
Sep 28
Thanks for the feedback Janeth, greetings to all 😉
Marion martinez
Sep 11
I am married to a Cuban man for 42 years and I cook a Cuban food and we both love guava so I’m going to try to make this pie but I’m not sure what you drizzled on top I don’t know what that is is it caramel
Pati Jinich
Sep 17
Cajeta is Mexican dulce de leche Marion. You can prepare it at home (http://patijinich.com/pati_2020/homemade-cajeta-or-dulce-de-leche/) or you can buy it. It is really yummy. Enjoy 😉
Tom
Sep 05
I was watching the video of the restaurant, and it almost looked like Panamá Restaurantes y Pastelerías serves these pies with seeds removed from the guava. Could my eyes have tricked me while I was watching the video?
My family tried this recipe and completely loved the amazing flavor but did not like the texture from the seeds. I am still wondering how to solve this one.
Pati Jinich
Sep 06
I guess you can remove the seeds? But I would suggest doing so after letting the guavas sit in the syrup for a little while, so they can soften up 😉
Lisa from Texas
Nov 21
I cut the guavas in half and then used a melon Baller scoop to scoop out the seeds with the pulp. (if you don’t have a melon baller scoop, you can always use a teaspoon ) What’s left is the guava meat. I diced that and soaked it in the sugar syrup.
I agree with you. The seeds are very hard and could break a tooth. Plus if you have intestinal things like diverticulitis, eating small seeds is not a good idea. I did save the seeds and pulp and I sieved them to remove the seeds and I kept the pulp. And then use the pulp with some of the drained off sugar syrup, mixed it together with some prepared gelatin and then fold in a heaping spoon or two of the cream filling and used it at the bottom of the pie to make a layer of a tangy guava cream . That worked pretty good. I used the rest of the guava flavored sugar syrup in my tea. (Because I’m from Texas and we love our iced tea and it has to be sweet). So I wasted nothing and made the most of all the guava flavors.
Charles H. Rosine
Sep 05
Can’t wait to make it Thanks Patti.
Pati Jinich
Sep 06
Thanks to you Charles, enjoy 😉
Laura Pichardo
Sep 05
Vivo en Connecticut, no es fácil encontrar guayabas, haré lo posible porque suena deliciosa esta receta. Gracias
Pati Jinich
Sep 05
Ojala que las encuentres Laura, buena suerte!
Amanda Maldonado
Jun 02
I split this recipe and made only 1 pie. I also made a mistake and let the gelatin out by accident but the recipe still turned out. My boys loved it but asked next time if we could use canned Guava shells instead because the seeds were hard for them to get past. My husband and I loved it though as we eat the fruit regularly. By the way I forgot how much I love Cajeta, I ended up heating just a few seconds in microwave to get a good drizzle going. I think next time I make this we will try the canned shells at least to appease the boys but we definitely make again!
Pati Jinich
Jun 02
Thanks for your message Amanda, I think canned guavas will work perfectly, except you might need to skip the simple syrup or use just a little bit, so your topping won’t turn out way too sweet. Enjoy!
Deb Robichaud
May 02
Can’t wait to try this…saw it on show today and my mouth hasn’t stopped watering!
Pati Jinich
May 04
Yay Deb, enjoy!
Liza V.
Jan 14
Question…have you ever not made two pies? Can you split the recipe in half with good results? I have everything on hand enough of the cream cheese…
Pati Jinich
Jan 15
Go for it, Liza!
Laurie
Jan 04
How do you deseed guavas as the seeds take up most of the fruit? I note your picture looks like seeds are in it… but I tasted before putting it on top seeds are super tough. Flavors are wonderful … but I think I’ll put it through a swivel before serving to company
Pati Jinich
Jan 23
Oh you don’t have to deseed them. Thanks for catching that, Laurie!
Cameron U
Dec 17
I’ve had this recipe saved since it came out And finally got around to making it. I didn’t have Maria cookies so I used ginger snacks instead. The results were amazing! I just wish I realized the recipe makes two pies because they’re too good not to eat 🙈
Pati Jinich
Dec 17
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Cameron!
Gigi Pravda
Nov 21
Hi Pati-
Guava pie turned out beautifully. I had to adapt the recipe a bit to accomodate a GF (gluten-free) person and because, unbeknownst to me, my father ate a significant amount of the cream cheese!
I used Alice Medrich’s Oat Flour Tart Crust recipe, cream cheese & fromage blanc + mascarpone cheese to make up the difference & added 1/2t Tahitian Vanilla extract.
Everyone was ecstatic! We had to wait for the fellow from Michoacan & the intoxicating scent of the guavas nearly drove us mad. It hit all the right notes, not too sweet. The only other woman in the group went back for seconds & they all wanted a piece to take home! 🙂
Pati Jinich
Nov 30
Yay! Your adaptations sound great, and I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it, Gigi.
Gigi Pravda
Nov 17
Hola Pati! Mmmm…. super yum! Always looking for something to do with fresh guava. I came home yesterday with a 3lb bag of local green ones that are so ripe the whole house smells exotic! Today I will be making this pie for a friend who is from Michoacan, where this is a specialty. I did order Ate, which I planned to layer between the crust & the filling, but it has not arrived so it’s going to be just like yours – fabulous!
I learned of eating cream cheese & guava from my mother, who spent time in Cuba in the 1940’s. They ate it as a sort of appetizer. Cream cheese with diced guava (usually pink) strewn over, then scooped or spread on a biscuit or sweet cracker.
Let you know how it goes!
Pati Jinich
Nov 18
I hope it goes well, Gigi!!
Chuco E.L.A ,ca
Nov 09
Looking at you for the first time eating that wuava 🥧 got me hook in your show plus I’m Craving that pie so much thank you
Pati Jinich
Nov 10
I’m so glad you got hooked on the show, Chuco!
Anonymous
Nov 04
Pati! This recipe looks incredible. I would love to try it, but I have a question. What is the best way to get guava if you live on the east coast? I live in NYC and I know you’re in Maryland, so I thought you might have a suggestion. You’re the best!
Pati Jinich
Nov 16
Try your local grocery store…they might have it, or head to a more speciality produce store, or online like Melissa’s.