Ingredients
Paste
- 2 kgripe guavas
- sugar, equal in weight to the sieved pulp
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tspbutter
To finish
- caster sugar, for rolling
Directions
- Wash the guavas, top and tail them, and chop them roughly with skins and seeds and all.
- Simmer them with a little water for about 20 minutes, until completely soft.
- Push everything through a sieve or a food mill to leave the seeds behind.
- Sieve rather than blend. Guava seeds are as hard as gravel, and a blender simply distributes them through the paste.
- Weigh the pulp and measure out an equal weight of sugar.
- Weigh it rather than guessing. The ratio of pulp to sugar is what makes it set firm enough to cut, and guava varies a great deal in water content.
- Cook the pulp and sugar together in a wide heavy pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a long wooden spoon.
- Stand back and keep stirring. It spits violently as it thickens, and left alone it catches on the bottom within seconds.
- Cook for 40 minutes to an hour, until it darkens to a deep red and pulls away from the base of the pan in one mass.
- The test is the spoon: drag it across the bottom and the trail should stay open for a couple of seconds before closing over.
- Stir in the lime juice and the butter, which gives it gloss and helps it release.
- Pour it into a buttered paper-lined tray to a depth of about 2 cm.
- Leave it uncovered at room temperature for at least 12 hours, and up to two days, to dry and firm.
- It has to air-dry rather than chill. The fridge makes it sweat and it never reaches the firm sliceable texture that earned it the name cheese.
- Cut it into cubes or diamonds and roll them in caster sugar.
- It is made in Dominica when the guava crop comes in heavy, as a way of keeping the fruit through the year.
Technique
- There is no dairy in it at all. The name comes from the firmness and from the way it is cut and served.
- Kept in a tin with paper between the layers it lasts for months.
- It is eaten with a sharp hard cheese, which is where it meets its Brazilian cousin goiabada.
Substitutions
- Tinned guava pulp, which works well and skips the sieving entirely.
- Pink or white guavas, which differ in colour more than in flavour.
Variations
- Goiabada, the Brazilian version, softer and sold in blocks.
- With a little cinnamon or clove cooked in.
- Guava jelly, made from the strained juice alone.
History
Made in Dominica when the guava crop is heavy, preserving the fruit as a chewy sweet.
Frequently asked questions
What is Guava cheese?
Guava cheese is a dessert from Dominica: guava pulp boiled with sugar to a firm paste, cut and rolled in sugar. Made in Dominica when the guava crop is heavy, preserving the fruit as a chewy sweet.
How long does Guava cheese take to make?
Guava cheese takes 30 min plus 12 hr drying of preparation and 1 hr 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 40 pieces. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Guava cheese?
Yes, within limits. Tinned guava pulp, which works well and skips the sieving entirely. Pink or white guavas, which differ in colour more than in flavour.
What is the most important thing to get right in Guava cheese?
Sieve rather than blend. Guava seeds are as hard as gravel, and a blender simply distributes them through the paste.
