Guava

This showstopping pie is inspired by the classic flavors of guava and cheese pastelitos but takes a fraction of the effort.

A stupid-simple, ultra-comforting, dairy-rich pudding made with five ingredients.

“My mother (like many Puerto Rican mothers) has always had a copy of Yvonne Ortiz’s A Taste of Puerto Rico in our kitchen,” writers chef and recipe developer Gabriella Vigoreaux. “I can tell which dishes she’s made the most because the book just naturally falls open to those recipes. Only during quarantine have I started using it myself, marking new territory with soffritto stains on the pages my mother managed to keep pristine all these years. I turn to it when I want to taste my grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s cooking with half of the effort. One of my go-tos is Ortiz’s guava barbecue sauce. It’s a wildly simple (four-ingredient) recipe with a single sentence procedure: ‘Thoroughly combine all the ingredients.’ It takes about five seconds to make but instantly conjures memories of childhood trips to the island, stopping at a kiosko for a pincho de pollo (chicken skewer) and licking the sticky sweet sauce from off my little fingers. My version is nothing like Ortiz’s, but it brings me back just the same. I’ve slathered this sauce on ribs and whole fish and used it as a glaze for pork belly, but I will always like it best with chicken. This is just to say, you might want to double it.”

The tropical flavors of passion fruit and guava are layered in this pretty ice pops recipe.

This refreshing nonalcoholic drink recipe is flexible and easy to make. Adjust the sweetness levels to your taste and swap in whatever ripe fruit you have on hand.

Translated into English as "the Goat Sucker," El Chupacabra is a mythical creature known for its nocturnal prowling and as the culprit in weird livestock deaths. There are various descriptions of the creature, which is believed to be heavy, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines stretching from head to tail. Maybe you've heard the silly stories. My fascination with this mythical creature inspired me to invent a drink as its namesake. This martini is infused with fiery red blood orange juice and the explosive Brazilian aphrodisiac açaí, making this an exotic bright red cocktail full of drama and flavor. Açaí juice is actually very healthy and has 33 times the antioxidant content of red wine grapes. Hints of guava and pineapple nectar in this drink are fruits from Puerto Rico (where Chupacabra sightings were first reported). The understated tones of coconut rum make this drink equally dangerous, so sip with caution.

Not only is this giant layer cake a stunner, it is absolutely delicious with its creamy guava filling and fluffy buttercream frosting. We had a guava tree in my mom’s garden, and when the fruit was in season, we ate our share of guava cakes, guava tarts, guava water, and pretty much guava anything. This is my homage to my mom’s guava tree.

When I moved to NYC to attend cooking school, I dove right in. I got several part-time jobs in a variety of locales. Basically, I worked for anyone who would hire me. Early morning. Late night. Magnolia Bakery didn’t bite, but there was a bakery (now closed) in the West Village off Jane Street, run by a fiery Cuban woman who agreed to put me on the schedule. After a late night of work as a hostess, I would drag myself in early the next morning to this strange bakery, almost the only motivation being a pastelito, a Cuban puff pastry topped with cane sugar and filled with guava paste and cream cheese. It was the most delicious and different pastry I had ever tasted, and I knew I’d want to use the flavor combo one day. One time, when we were changing the menu at Ko and I was on a breakfast-inspired kick (guava and cream cheese is a classic breakfast pairing in many Spanish-speaking cultures), an idea took hold. I knew guava would bring the perfect acidity to a pre-dessert, and combining it with liquid cheesecake, which always makes me happy, was a no-brainer.

This riff on a jalousie, a type of sweet whose top pastry lets you peek at the sweet filling within, features golden puff pastry filled with stripes of sweetened cream cheese and lush guava paste. Test kitchen director Ruth Cousineau conceived of this pastry as a dessert, but it would also make a decadent breakfast treat.

One of the best-known and most popular tropical drinks, the mai tai translates perfectly into an irresistible sorbet. For a whimsical presentation, garnish with colorful paper umbrellas and bright orchid flowers or bougainvillea blossoms.

Start preparing this two days before you plan to serve it. Toast the coconut in a 350°F oven until light golden in spots, stirring frequently, about ten minutes.