Guava Spice Cupcakes



I've been craving for guava cake for a long time--the pink-light-and-fluffy-melt-in-your-mouth kind you can get in Hawaii. I stumbled across a few recipes online, and most require fresh guava or pulp, aside from guava nectar/juice. Truth be told, I didn't look hard enough for the pulp, as I'm sure I would've found some had I gone to the Asian markets in our neighborhood. This recipe is modified from the original. One of the major changes was replacing the guava pulp with guava juice concentrate. The end result was nothing I expected, but it came out pretty good, nonetheless. While the guava is subtle in taste, the cloves and nutmeg are prominent in this recipe, which makes it perfect for the fall/winter season. I think cream cheese frosting would be a perfect match.

In the meantime, I'll keep my eyes peeled for that guava pulp.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups white sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup guava juice concentrate (such as Hawaii's Own)
1/2 cup guava nectar
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one 13 x 9 inch pan.
2. Sift together flour, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.
3. In another bowl, mix together guava concentrate and juice.
4. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time.
5. Add flour mixture and guava mixture alternately to creamed mixture.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes.

**For cupcakes, bake for 15 minutes. Makes about 30 cupcakes.