Guava Cupcakes + Guava Frosting

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Guava cupcakes are fun to make and bursting with sweet tropical flavor! Filled with delicious guava paste and topped with an irresistibly creamy guava buttercream, these cupcakes are a summer treat guaranteed to impress!

Meet my new favorite dessert: perfect little guava cupcakes topped with a creamy guava frosting. And also stuffed with a bit of jammy guava paste (if you’d like). I rarely bake cupcakes with one dominant flavor, but these triple guava cupcakes are a delicious exception. They’re made with a few different guava products (nectar and paste) and are full of tropical vibes!

using guava paste

Guava has a beautiful sweet, slightly floral taste that I absolutely love. If you’re not familiar with the pink fruit, some say it comes across as somewhere between a pear and strawberry, but there are quite a few different types of guava with varying degrees of sweetness. And while I’ve been lucky enough to try fresh guava in Colombia, back home I have to settle for guava-flavored juices and pastes to get that wonderful tropical flavor.

One of my favorite guava products is guava paste or pasta de guayaba, which has a sweet and slightly tart flavor to it. The type of guava paste I buy is jelly-like in consistency, comes in slab form and is a mixture of just guava pulp, sugar and pectin. While I generally pick up guava paste at our local Mexican grocery store, it’s also readily available online and this is the brand I use.

For this cupcake recipe I use guava paste in two ways:

• First, I cut the guava paste into small cubes and add them to the center of each unbaked cupcake. After baking, the guava paste has a more creamy, jammy consistency that is such a treat!
• Second, I use guava paste to flavor the buttercream. To get the paste into more of a jam-like consistency, you’ll first need to cook it on the stove-top with a bit of water. It only takes about 10 minutes to get a smooth consistency and then you’ll just need to let it cool before whipping up your frosting!

You can store any extra guava paste at room temperature in an airtight container. And if you’re looking for more ways to use it, I definitely recommend baking it with a bit of brie cheese!

guava cupcakes

To make the cupcakes, I used one additional guava product: guava nectar. Nectar is similar to juice, but it’s a bit thicker and contains more pulp. Using guava nectar instead of milk or water gives these cupcakes a slightly more dense texture almost akin to pound cake. That being said, it doesn’t feel heavy or dry at all and has a wonderfully velvety feel to it! You can find cans of guava nectar at most larger grocery stores for about a dollar.

The rest of the ingredients for the cupcakes are pretty standard. You’ll start by creaming together the butter and sugar, and then add your eggs, vanilla extract and guava nectar in succession. Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt and your batter is ready to divide among 12 muffin liners!

As I mentioned above, I like to add a small cube of guava paste in the center of each cupcake, but it’s completely optional. If you do decide to add the little guava cubes, just barely tap them into the center of each cupcake as they’ll sink a bit during baking. Then bake them at 350 F (180 C) for 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean!

guava buttercream

And the finishing touch — guava buttercream! As I described above, you’ll first want to combine the guava paste with a bit of water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. You’ll then stir and mash the mixture for about 10 minutes or until it’s mostly smooth in consistency. I actually used a potato masher for this process, but the back of a spoon would work just as well!

Once the guava mixture has cooled to room temperature, simply beat it together with softened butter and then mix in powdered sugar until you get your desired consistency. I generally use about two cups of powdered sugar (240 grams), but you can add a bit more to get a stiffer consistency if needed. Just make sure to allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

For more delicious cupcake ideas, make sure to check out these recipes!

• gingerbread cupcakes + cinnamon cream cheese frosting
• spiced coconut carrot cake cupcakes
• chocolate hazelnut cheesecake cupcakes

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