Easy Guava Purée
It’s guava season. Here in South Florida, the oppressive summer sun and suffocating humidity of August has one shimmering bright spot. A bounty of pimpled green orbs with a distinctive aroma and musky sweet taste. The question is — what to do with them? Easy Guava Purée.
I have to admit, this is new for me. We’ve never had a guava tree before and you really don’t see guava fruit in the big grocery stores very often, because once they’re ripe, they’re ripe — and that’s bad for shipping and storing. But a few years back there was a sale of tropical fruit plants at Costco of all places.
My Mom and Dad had just retired to the Florida Keys and since my Mom loves guava, I picked up a little 3-foot tree and bought it for her. Dad planted it and that tree has grown into a 15-foot behemoth that spits out fruit faster than Donald Trump tweets. That’s a lot, folks!
The harvest comes in waves and Mom has to monitor her tree daily, plucking the best ones before they fall to the ground or are attacked by iguanas and other hungry foragers.
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Even if some are scavenged, it really doesn’t put a dent in the yield. Last year, we made some really excellent fresh guava jam and a subsequent guava grilled cheese but today, I’m making an easy guava purée.
It’s so simple, I can hardly call it a recipe. Just simmer fresh guava with honey and water until it’s syrupy and purée it in a blender.
Strain the guava through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Don’t skip this step. Those seeds are harder than passing a bill through Congress and unless you enjoy pricey dental work, avoid the seeds.
You may have to work the purée with the back of a spoon, but after a few minutes, you’ll have de-seeded the whole batch.
Discard the seeds and any excess pulp.
I like to add a squeeze of lime juice at the end for a little tang… Behold– silky smooth and super easy guava purée. Now that it’s ready, what will you do with it? Well, just this past week, this purée has made it into several tropical smoothies with apple-bananas from my neighbor’s tree. It’s also been swirled into morning yogurt — and my Mom and Dad have been making daily cocktails with it. They’re retired, you know…
I’ve got another special treat that I’ll be sharing with you very soon, but it’s a recipe unto itself – so it’ll have to wait for another post!
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Easy Guava Puree
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups guava pulp scooped from skin
- ¾ cup honey
- 1 cup water
- squeeze lime juice
DIRECTIONS:
- Add guava, honey and water to a large saucepan and heat over medium high heat to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook guava for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and skimming the surface with a spoon to remove any scum.
- Transfer the guava mixture to a blender and pulse on a low speed until pureed — but the seeds are still whole (that’s why you need the low speed – you don’t want to puree the hard seeds)
- Pour the guava puree into a mesh sieve set over a bowl or large measuring cup and stir with a wooden spoon so that the liquid passes through the strainer into the bowl and any pulp and seeds remain in the sieve. Discard the seeds and pulp. Stir in the lime juice.
- Use the puree in smoothies, cocktails, as a mix in to yogurt, spread on toast, etc. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator 3-4 days.
NOTES:
NUTRITION:
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Love this! We have a pineapple guava and yes, the window to harvest and play with them in recipes is tight! One thing I noticed while boiling, the clumps of seeds that were left in the pot just kind of floated away from the pulp. Like the fruit said, “thanks, you can go now”! I scooped them out from the pot and had few left to sift thru. This is a wonderful recipe for our early September smoothie and jam.
Hi Jen! So glad you like the puree. Guava is a real treat and I love to extend the use of fruit in this fashion!
Thank you for the recipe. It came out perfect. I’m making a second batch & freezing it
May I ask you what type of container you’re using to freeze it? I can’t find freezer bags in Mexico & canning jars are way way to expensive for us. Thank you. I’m freezing mine in a sour cream container. Hope it works ok.
You can freeze them in sour cream containers or even in ice cube trays. When the puree is frozen, just transfer to a zip top plastic or silicone bag for longer term storage in the freezer.
Love your sense of humor, and my daughter loves guava. As we live on the east coast of Canada, it’s a rare treat for us. We have vacationed in Florida quite a bit before this “pandemic” ( and hopefully will again soon ). I am very jealous of your parents, LOL
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for the recipe. Do you know if the puree freeze well? If so, for how long? Thanks
You should be able to freeze the purée for 2-3 months if it’s in a freezer bag or bagged and well wrapped in freezer paper.
My local grocer has guavas on sale and wanted to know about how many guava’s does it take to make 12 servings. Also do you know if the guava puree freezes well?
It really depends on the size of the fruit, I’ve had guavas that measure 3″ in diameter and others that measure 8″ so I can’t say how many fruit you’ll actually need — but you can weigh them — about 3 pounds is enough for this recipe.
This easy guava puree,is an awesome idea,thanks
That was a pretty funny read Lisa, especially the quips about the tweets and Congress!!! I love guava, and while ours gets attacked by squirrels, yours seems to be taken down by Iguanas! Only in Florida, they say… only in Florida!
Glad you liked it, Tina! There are so many things that happen ONLY IN FLORIDA…
Wow! I didn’t know iguanas ran wild in Florida or that you could grow a guava tree. How long did it take to mature and spit out all that fruit? So now I know the secret to a happy retirement is guava cocktails:) Thanks for sharing this story and recipe.
Ok, so iguanas have proliferated in Florida because reptile owners decided they couldn’t take care of them anymore and let them loose. They are everywhere. The tree only took a year to start producing, and it was mega big and loaded with fruit in 5 years. And yes, guava cocktails are pretty much a sure fire way to happy retirement!
This is amazing stuff…I’ve made guava sorbet with the canned juice, but this would make it so much better!
I just talked to my Mom and she’s bringing up 9 more guavas for me! Sorbet is a must!
ohhhh, now I am missing guava hardcore. I haven’t seen it in TN. But we used to make this little guava cheese tarts that this puree would be perfect for. I now have all of the cravings for it!
Also – delightful post, lol. Faster than Trump tweets! ha! 😉
I’m glad you get my humor, Jeni! I’m sorry you can’t find guava in TN. I’ve had those guava tarts — and they are beyond delicious!