Guava Cake Recipe: My Friend Stacey’s Sinfully West Indian Dessert Treat

Let’s say you want to bake some sinfully sweet something for your sweetie. It has to be decadent and devilishly delicious, of course. Most importantly, though, it has to be decidedly West Indian. You know, because all the best baked things are, right? The solution: my friend Stacey’s incredible guava cake recipe!

Pinkalicious to the Max

Just look at it! I mean, it’s puffy and impossibly pink. The visual embodiment of sweet.

Pairing it with this most pretty of girly Jamaican sodas would certainly yield a Pinkalicious catastrophe beyond anything Victoria Kann has dreamed up thus far.

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup guava juice
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp spices
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup chopped guava shells
.5oz Simple Syrup
1/2 pack Cherry Kool-Aid

A good part of what gives the cake its rosy hue is the guava, of course. Also adding to the color explosion and super sweetness I enjoyed in this particular cake: Cherry Kool-Aid!

There’s even some rum in the topping! Truly, there can’t be a more uncommon and uniquely West Indian guava cake recipe anywhere!

The cake is a speciality of our friend and favorite West Indian caterer here in South Florida, Stacey Bruno.

South Florida’s #1 Crucian Food Caterer

Stacey (from St. Croix) and her husband Evans (Dominica) are the dynamic duo behind Virgin Islands Delite. If you’re in South Florida, you can also taste Stacey’s delicious Crucian food at Joan’s Kitchen De VI Spot in Lauderhill.

Every time we host a festive gathering of Caribbean friends, we always turn to the Bruno’s to fill in the gaps on our menu. Saltfish, Johnny Cakes, Stew Chicken, Peas and Rice, Oxtail Stew, Souse – these guys do it all.

On one such Bennett party occasion, Stacy surprised us with this marvelous cake. To be sure, it’s one of the sweetest gifts I’ve ever received! Just seeing the photo above rekindles the flavor of its sugary goodness. I can almost still taste it on the tip of my tongue all now!

Indeed, Stacey’s guava cake is that rich, that special, and obviously loaded with baked-in love. Here’s how to make it…

Filling Ingredients:

2/3 cup guava pulp (unsweetened)
1/2 guava jelly
1/4 tsp spices

Stacey’s Guava Cake Recipe – Baking The Cake

Preheat your oven to 350-degrees and generously grease and line three round cake pans. Next, start creaming your butter and sugar, adding your eggs one at a time and beating well. While creaming the butter and sugar mixture, sift your dry ingredients (including the Kool-Aid) together. Once sifted, start adding your dry mix to your cream, alternating between the milk and juice as you go along. Now it’s time to add the vanilla and guava pieces before spreading your batter into your three pans. Bake at 350-degrees for 25-30 minutes. Make sure cake is done by inserting a toothpick in the center. Once it comes out clean, you’re done. Cool cake in pan for 30 minutes.

Topping Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
5-1/2 tsp rum or water
1/4 tsp almond extract

How to Make The Topping

Grab your electric mixer and whip the cream cheese until it’s nice and fluffy. Next, add your powdered sugar, rum (or water), and extract. Keep mixing until your topping is all combined, light, and fluffy.

How to Make Your Guava Cake Filling

Mix your guava pulp, guava jelly, and spices together in a sauce pan and mix well over low heat. You’ll know that you’re done once it’s all melted and thickened lightly. Set aside a 1/4-cup to use as drizzle atop your fluffy cream topping.

Clearly, there’s a lot to love about Stacey’s guava cake. For anyone who makes this guava cake recipe for a special someone, though, there’s also a lot of love to be gained.

Thanks to Stacy and Evans for sharing their special recipe. If you’re in South Florida and in need of some good, home-cooked island food, call Stacey at Tel: 954-601-7653.

Last updated by Steve Bennett on 11/23/2021.