Guava Curd
guava curd hamantaschen I made in March 2025
Guava is one of my favorite tropical fruits; it’s so sweet, floral, and fragrant. In Costa Rica, where my mom is from, guava is abundant on trees, in the mercados, in lots of desserts, and best of all in juice. Native to Costa Rica, is cas, a more sour relative of guava. My grandparents’ home in Costa Rica has a cas tree (and a mango tree), and when in season, we make fresh cas juice - it’s truly wonderful.
While guava fruit is available here in New York, it never quite ripens the same way as when it’s picked and ripened by the sun. So here in wintertime New York, I love opting for guava preserves instead, which I recently learned Bonne Maman makes. Guava paste is also wonderful in other applications, like rugelach and guava and cheese empanadas, but I find it too thick and concentrated for curd. Every time I visit family in Costa Rica, I usually bring home a few jars of guava jam.
Use the curd to swirl into plain Greek yogurt or to fill cookies like Hamantaschen or Linzer cookies.
This is not the traditional method for curd, it’s more of a hack that works well when using jam instead of fresh fruit. This curd is best when it’s set overnight in the fridge.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup guava preserves
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 egg
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
- pinch of kosher salt
- juice from half a lemon
How To:
1. Off heat, add the guava preserves to a heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot. Meanwhile, make the cornstarch slurry by mixing together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Mix until smooth. Then add the egg to the cornstarch slurry.
2. Place the saucepan on low heat and heat the jam for 1-2 minutes until it’s a liquid consistency. Add in the cornstarch mixture, and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, just until the mixture begins to thicken. If the mixture feels too thin, add up to another tablespoon of cornstarch and mix to remove the lumps. Once thickened, take the pan off the heat and add in the butter one cube at a time, whisking constantly until each cube melts into the curd. This process should take about 5 minutes. Slowly add in a pinch of salt and lemon juice and whisk again. The curd will be smooth.
3. Transfer curd to a glass jar or shallow glass pan and cover with plastic wrap until set in the refrigerator, about 3 hours or overnight.
