Pasteles de Puerto Rico

After going through a few days unable to really chew anything (Carnation Instant Breakfast, you are somehow tastier than I remember from my childhood), I took some time today to bake with a friend. I felt ready - or at least very willing - to try to eat more solid foods.

My friend, N, and I have this baking club. Whenever we meet to bake, we each bring a few ideas. Today I wanted to try two Puerto Rican pastries: quesitos and pastelillos.

Quesitos, inspired by this recipe, are like Puerto Rico's response to the cannoli. They are easy to make and are deliciously sweet and crunchy. Four step instructions, anyone?

Step 1: Unwrap and defrost a package of Goya discos (sin or con color, your choice)


Step 2: Fill with a mixture of 8 oz cream cheese, 3 tbsp sugar and 1 overflowing tbsp vanilla (yum)


Step 3: Roll into cigar-like/flauta shapes, brush edges with egg to "glue" sides together and brush top with egg


Step 4: Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown...


...like this!


This recipe suggested brushing the top with corn syrup after removing the quesitos from the oven. My friends and I found that, aesthetically, the syrup made the quesitos shiny and pretty, but the stickiness was kind of distracting.

The second pastry, the Pastelillo, reminds me a lot of my childhood. Every year my Titi Amelia would send my family a guava roll from Puerto Rico. The cake was heavy, filled with gooey guava paste and coated with a generous dusting of powdered sugar. I loved to cut a thick slice and eat it along with a cold glass of milk.

Unfortunately, my aunt passed away a few years ago, and the cake is now a memory, but when I saw this recipe for these guava pastelillos, I had to try it.

Step 1: Defrost Goya discos


Step 2: Fill with guava paste, cinnamon and nutmeg


Step 3: "Glue" inside edges with egg wash by folding into a crescent shape and pressing sides together; crimp edges with a fork


Step 4: Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and dust with powdered sugar. It should look like this!


The pastelillos were my favorite. I loved how the warm, buttery dough, the spice of the nutmeg and cinnamon and the delicate powdered sugar topping all complimented the not-too-sweet flavor of the guava. It wasn't the same as Titi Amelia's cake, but it was pretty damn good.