Guava!

I love tropical fruit.  There's just something about the intoxicating sweet perfume of fruit like guava, passion fruit and mango that instantly transports me to white sandy beaches and beautiful blue water.  My original inspiration for this dessert was a tart recipe in one of  Bobby Flay's cookbooks.  The first time I tried it I switched things up to make it in a bar form, much like a lemon bar.  For this incarnation I used a graham cracker crust in a tart pan because I really like them and they're just so easy to make.  And in case you're wondering if I'm cheating by making a tart, NO!  A tart is essentially just a flattened out pie so why the heck not!

Guava paste and cheese is a popular combination in some Latin American cuisines, often inside of little turnovers.  This is kind of an inside-out version, all tarted up to be fancy!  I think you'll enjoy the rich, orange-scented cheesecake filling topped with the sweet guava paste.  This would make an excellent dessert to finish off a meal with Latin flavors, or with tea or coffee and your best friends.

Guava Cheese Tart

I made this in an 11" tart pan with a removable bottom.

CRUST

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

6 Tb. unsalted butter, melted

FILLING

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Zest of one orange

3 eggs

TOPPING

1/2 of a 21 oz. can of guava paste (you can find this at a Hispanic grocery store)

1/2 cup guava nectar

Combine your crust ingredients and mix well.

Press firmly into a greased 11-inch tart pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and let cool.

Combine the cream cheese and sugar in a mixer bowl and beat until smooth, scraping the bowl often.

Add the vanilla and orange zest, beat to combine and keep scraping the bowl.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate each.  Scrape the bowl between each egg to make sure you get all the lumps.  The batter should be perfectly smooth.  Once all the eggs are mixed in, STOP BEATING!!  Otherwise your filling will have a grainy texture from too much air being incorporated.

Scrape the filling into the cooled crust and bake in a 350 degree oven for
approximately 20 minutes, until the filling is lightly puffed and jiggles slightly.

This is a 21 oz. can of guava paste.  Use half of it.  You can save the other half to eat with cheese.  I'll post another recipe with guava paste so it won't go to waste!

Melt the guava paste with the nectar in a saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk frequently until everything is smooth.

When the tart is done baking, let it rest for about 5 minutes then gently spread the warm glaze over the top, using an off-set spatula.  Be sure your glaze is warm when you do this, it thickens up very quickly as it cools and will tear your filling up if it is not warm enough.

Enjoy!