Guava tart (Koejaweltert)

When you sandwich tangy, tropical guava custard between a slice of Swiss roll and a layer of unbaked cheesecake, you get a guava tart. We guarantee it will make your toes curl.

We enjoy guava tart as small, individual desserts, but you can turn it into a more traditional, single tart by doubling the recipe.

Makes 4 individual desserts. Double the recipe for a large tart.

Ingredients

  • 4 slices of Swiss roll
  • 1 tin (410 gram) guava halves in syrup
  • 1½ to 2 tablespoons (25 ml to 30 ml) custard powder
  • 1½ to 2 tablespoons (25 ml to 30 ml) water
  • ½ of a 200-gram tin of condensed milk
  • 125 gram smooth cottage cheese or cream cheese (Philadelphia cheese works very well if you can get it)
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice

Method

  1. Cook the guava and syrup for 3 minutes on the stove top. Mash with a potato masher or a fork to a puree.
  2. Mix the custard powder with the water and add to mashed guavas. Cook for at least another minute so that it can thicken.
    (If you do not like having guava pips in your custard, you can liquidise the tinned guava and syrup together with the custard powder and water, before cooking it for 2 or 3 minutes.)
  3. Let the custard cool down.
  4. Arrange the slices of Swiss roll on your dessert plates – or the bottom of a rectangular pie dish, if you're making a large guava tart.
  5. Pour the guava custard over the Swiss roll slices
  6. Whisk the condensed milk, cottage cheese and lemon juice together. It must have a soft, creamy consistency.
    (If you used a food processor to puree the fruit it, just process the cream cheese, condensed milk and lemon juice in the same processor.)
  7. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the guava custard.
  8. Cool down in the refrigerator

Notes

If you feel fancy, you can use 8-cm biscuit food rings or cutters. Line these with baking paper and slip one over each Swiss roll slice. Now you can pour your guava custard into the rings, followed by the cheesecake mixture. Pop these into the fridge, and slip off the rings. Voilà.

If you find the cheesecake topping to be too sweet, you can use less condensed milk and more cream cheese. Experiment and make the recipe your own.