There are so many uses for Guava jam! Make this dulce de guayaba into guava paste (pasta de guayaba) to serve as candy, guava jam (mermelada de guayaba) for cake filling, and guava sauce (salsa de guayaba) to serve with your favorite sweets. It's a three-in-one recipe!
Why we ❤️ it
We had a guava tree in our backyard when I was a kid. The fruit was the most common variety at the time - reddish, small, but very sweet. It was perfect for making Dulce de guayaba (guava jam).
Discover why we love so much this versatile dessert, and how you can make three different products with the same recipe and ingredients.
Guava fruit (guayaba)
Guava is a popular fruit in the Caribbean. It's used here to make several desserts and also served in refreshing juices.
Guava is rich in pectin, a naturally occurring thickener. This is why we can reduce guava sauce until we can make it into a molded brick that can be cut into cubes.
What's guava paste?
Guava paste (or pasta de guayaba) is a sweet heavy paste made from the guava fruit.
Pasta de guayaba (guava paste candy) is very simple to make, requires few ingredients, and is very popular in our country, as well as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Central America.
Guava and guava jam
How to serve guava paste
Guava jelly or paste can be served as a candy, or as stuffing for baked guava desserts like guava pastelitos, in sweet empanadas, or fried in pastry as an appetizer to go with a cup of coffee. It is also served with cheese (queso blanco, queso de freír) on a cookie cracker as a snack. It's excellent baked wrapped in puff pastry.
What's guava jam?
Dulce de guayaba (guava jam) is a thick guava jam that can be served as a standalone dessert but is most commonly used as a filling for cakes, pastries, guava pies, and other desserts. It's produced using the same method as guava paste, only not reduced as much.
What to do with guava jam
Guava jam can be made into a sweet and savory bbq sauce, perfect with chicken pinchos or pork chops, as a cake filling, or as a topping for a guava tart. Add some strawberries when you make it, and make magnificent guava strawberry jam thumbprint cookies.
What's guava sauce?
Guava sauce is made from guava pulp, boiled, blended, sweetened, and reduced to a thick sauce that can be drizzled over other desserts.
Guava recipes
After guava paste and guava jam, guava casquitos are the best thing you can make with this fruit (although there is competition with guava juice). With dulce de guayaba I also made a delicious guava BBQ sauce that you will love.
Another of my favorite guava recipes is a guava and ricotta cheese pie that is a hit every time I make it.
Guava jam and guava paste.
Best guava for jam
There are several varieties of guava; each will make this dish slightly different, but in the end, pick the one you can find at your local supermarket or market. I personally prefer the small, pink ones, but these are not the type of guava that lends itself to mass production and sale, as it has to be picked ripe and spoils very fast and so are hard to find.
Top tips
- What to do if it is too soft: Reheat again and cook, stirring until it lifts from the bottom of the pot.
- What to do if it is too hard: Reheat again and stir in a tablespoon of water (or two) depending on the consistency you want (spreadable for cakes, more liquid as a sauce).
About this recipe
To make this recipe, you need fresh guavas. Using canned or jarred guavas is not recommended. I have only got good results using fresh fruit.
This recipe yields about 4 cups of guava sauce, around 2.5 cups of guava jam (dulce de guayaba), and nearly two cups of guava paste (pasta de guayaba). The quantities will vary depending on the guava you use. As some guavas have more pectin than others, it's impossible to predict the exact yield.
Video
Recipe
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Guava Jam [Recipe + Video] Salsa, Dulce y Pasta de Guayaba
Ingredients
- 8 guavas, washed (1½ lb [0.68 kg])
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2½ cup brown sugar
Instructions
Peel the guavas with a potato peeler or paring knife, and discard the peels. Cut them into halves and scoop out the seeds from the halved guavas. Cut the pulp into wedges. Set the wedges aside.- Put the seeds in a large heavy saucepan and add the cinnamon sticks plus 6 cups of water [1.5 liters]. Simmer covered over low heat until the seeds separate, and the pulp around the seeds have mostly dissolved, and the water is a light caramel color. Remove from the heat, discard the cinnamon sticks, and cool to room temperature.Using a strainer or food mill, strain the liquid and discard the seeds.
- Return this liquid to the pot, and add the sugar and guava halves. Boil until the guava becomes very soft, and the liquid has reduced to about 1½ cups. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.Pour the cooked guavas and liquid into the blender vase and blend. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stow to simmer over low heat. If there are splatters, reduce the heat.
How to make guava sauce (salsa de guayaba)
- To make guava sauce, simmer until it has thickened to the consistency of a thick smoothie, and liquid enough to drizzle. Remove from the heat.Pour into a clean airtight container or jar and keep refrigerated for up to a week. It'll be slightly thicker once it has cooled.
How to make guava jam (dulce de guayaba)
- To make it into guava jam, or to be used as a cake filler, simmer until stop when it has thickened to the consistency of yogurt. Remove from the heat.Remove from the heat. Pour into a clean airtight container or jar and keep refrigerated for up to a week. It'll be slightly thicker once it has cooled.
How to make guava paste (pasta de guayaba)
- To make into guava paste, wait until the paste starts lifting from the bottom, and pour it into a small square casserole pan or loaf pan lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Form an even layer.Cool to room temperature. Once cooled completely, you can cut it into little jelly cubes or sticks.
Tips and Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
FAQs
Guava jam is made by boiling guava fruit and sugar to reduce to a thick paste.
You can dissolve guava paste into small amounts of boiling-hot water – starting with a tablespoon of water – until you get the consistency you want and a smooth texture.
You do not need to act pectin to make guava jam, as pectin naturally occurs in guava and guava jam thickens very well without it.
To make guava paste you keep boiling guava jam until it has thickened enough that it lifts from the bottom of the saucepan. It is then left to cool to room temperature in a mold.
Published June 6, 2011, revised
