four layer guava cheesecake

hi!!!

i’m finally 29! it’s the last year in my twenties and it’s mind boggling to think about how fast time passes by. although i’m practically thirty, i feel like it was just yesterday when my sister and i were both in our young teen years waiting to pick my brothers up from elementary school, and we told ourselves that when we were old enough to drive, we’d be picking them up in a red convertible. that never actually happened, we ended up driving around in my mom’s station wagon looking van - but i can’t knock us for having high hopes for the future.

in the twists and turns that the future years of life sent me into, from navigating the throughs of university and careers, heartbreak and loss, it’s hard for me to believe that i’m here on this planet, doing better than okay, healthy, and cared for by all of the people that i deeply love. i don’t know about you, but i always had so much anxiety about just surviving, and i still sort of do. one year ago, i was finishing up my stint in paris, saying my goodbyes to my favorite outdoor markets and restaurants, and felt an uneasiness about the uncertainty of what would come next for me.

when i moved back to new york, i had a crazy bout of an existential crisis and poured myself into work and this blog. somewhere along the way, my friend encouraged me to try therapy and so i decided to try it out. in the hours spent sitting on my therapist’s couch, i was able to unravel the weight that i didn’t even realize i was carrying. the crazy high expectations that i set for myself, the unhealthy anxiety that runs through my veins, the love that i was holding onto that wasn’t bearing any fruit, the inability to manage and process unkind events and people in this world. omg looking back, adulthood was way too much last year.

fortunately, i slowly dug myself out by spending a lot of time alone thinking and learning how to be nicer to myself. spending time with my close friends and merman also felt like additional rounds of deep therapy. last night, i looked around at the fancy pants restaurant that merman treated me to and felt v emotional. there’s a word in korean “감동” {gamdong} that means deeply touched and moved in your heart, and i felt that emotion in its purest form in that moment. i thought about those time in college when i had $20 in my bank account (he could relate too) and the other times where it sometimes felt like there was nothing going for me in life. and here i was, doing better than okay. wayyy better than okay.

going back to that red convertible. when i was younger, i used to dream these crazy wild dreams. for example, aside from the red convertible, i also was dead serious about going to the moon and becoming the world’s first rockstar astronaut. and beyonce’s best friend.

in my twenties (pretty late, i know), i learned that you actually have to work HARD for the life you really want. and also to pat yourself on the back and acknowledge when you make your dreams happen. i’m now in the process of learning how to continue dreaming big, and also testing those dreams to ensure that they are meaningful and purposeful enough for me to chase after. so yeah, no more red convertible for me.

these are the freaking best years of my life and i’m so grateful to be able to share these years and this hobby that i deeply love with you. thank you for spending time reading through my long long emotional reflection, and also being out there in the world supporting me in this way.

i know that i barely talked about the cheesecake, and i’m sorry if you had to go through all of that to learn about the guava cheesecake. it’s a divine piece of work from freedman’s out in silverlake, ca. i also learned through the interwebs that cubans also make a similar guava cheesecake, and although i don’t know the history of where this genius originated, i’d love to be enlightened!

it’s tart, creamy, fruity, rich, fluffy, smooth, crumbly perfection in each bite. whenever i’m out in LA, oly and megan are truly my pals for life because they suggest a bottle (or remember that time we shared a magnum and a bottle between the three of us?!) of natural wine with a few slices of pure guava bliss.

i’m so happy with the way that this recipe turned out so if you’re ever stuck indoors for seven hours, make this!!! and enjoying with a with a bottle of pet nat or champagne to celebrate is a must!

xo, christine

four layer guava cheesecake

yields one 9-inch cheesecake

time: 1 hour of prep time, ~7 hours of baking/chilling time

ingredients

graham cracker crust

2 1/4 cups crushed graham crackers (~30 crackers)

2 tbsp cane sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cups melted unsalted butter

cheesecake filling

1 cup sour cream

3 8oz. blocks of softened cream cheese

3/4 cups cane sugar

3 room temp eggs + 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tsp lemon

pulp of 1 vanilla pod or 1.5 tsp vanilla extract

whipped cream topping

1 cup + 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

zest of 1/2 lemon

1 gelatin sheet

guava topping

11 oz. diced guava paste

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp heavy cream

1 gelatin sheet

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special equipment

9 inch springform pan, electric mixer, parchment paper, aluminum foil, acetate strip, baking tray

grocery store list

dairy: unsalted butter, 16oz sour cream, 1 pint heavy whipping cream, 3 8oz blocks cream cheese, 4 eggs

baking: cane sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla pod or extract, gelatin sheets, kosher salt

other: 1 lemon, 11 oz guava paste

notes

prep: remove eggs and cream cheese from fridge and bring down to room temperature.

preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

graham cracker crust

1. crush graham crackers down leaving a few pea sized chunks. toss into a large mixing bowl with 2 tbsp of sugar. pour in melted butter and incorporate until graham crackers are evenly coated.

2. transfer mixture onto springform pan and carefully pack down into one even layer using a cup or weight.

3. bake in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes, remove and allow it to cool down; the crust should have a toasted golden color!

cheesecake filling

1. bring the temperature of the oven down to 275 degrees fahrenheit. line the interior walls of the spring form pan with a strip of parchment paper. the height of the parchment paper should be no higher than 1 inch above the height of the pan. line the exterior walls of the pan with aluminum foil.

2. in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, loosen up the sour cream and allow it to spread around the bottom of the bowl. then, toss in one room temperature block of softened cream cheese. incorporate into sour cream and do the same for each block of cream cheese (one at a time). once all of your cream cheese has been incorporated into the sour cream, pour in cane sugar and vanilla pulp/extract and beat together for about 30 seconds.

3. wet mixture: in a separate bowl, whisk together 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk, 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 2 tsp lemon juice just until the eggs have loosened up.

4. slowly stream in wet mixture into the cream cheese mixture and beat together until evenly incorporated. try not to over mix here as you’ll beat air into the mixture that will yield a bubbly cheesecake (sounds fun, but in actuality, it’s no bueno).

5. tap your mixing bowl down on the counter about 10-15 times to release air bubbles. you should see pockets of air bubbles burst at the surface. pour the cream cheese filling into the spring form pan above the graham cracker crust. using a spatula or scraper, smooth and level out the surface of the cheesecake filling.

6. boil water and pour into an oven safe pan and place on rack below the middle rack in oven. carefully place cheesecake on the middle rack in oven and bake for 1.5 hours.

7. after 1.5 hours, turn oven off, open the door of the oven to release some hot air (10 seconds), close the door, and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 hour for the cheesecake to set.

8. transfer the cheesecake into the fridge and allow it to chill for at least 1 hour.

whipped cream

1. remove cheesecake from fridge, carefully remove spring form pan ring and peel off the parchment paper. Replace the parchment paper with an acetate strip and tape the end of the strip to secure the placement. carefully place spring form pan ring back around the cheesecake.

2. In a chilled bowl, pour in 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and whip for 2-3 minutes or until medium peaks form. gently toss in powdered sugar as lemon zest and whip together for another 15 seconds. scoop in one tbsp of sour cream and until all of the sour cream has been incorporated. careful not to over-whip or add the sour cream all at once, you may lose the airiness on your whipped cream!

3. place gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water for one minute until it softens. remove excess water and dissolve in 2 tbsp of warm (heated on low on the stove or microwaved for 30 seconds) heavy whipping cream. Dissolve gelatin sheet in cream. with the whisk set to low, slowly stream in gelatin-cream mixture and whisk together for 15 seconds.

4. Pour the whipped cream on the surface of the cheesecake. using a spatula or pastry scraper, level and smooth out the surface of the whipped cream.

5. Place the cheesecake back in the fridge for at least half an hour allowing the whipped topping to chill.

guava topping

1. cut guava paste into smaller cubes or chunks. in a small pot, heat water and lemon juice on low heat. toss in guava paste and whisk until all bits are melted down. remove pot from heat.

2. in a small bowl with cold water, submerge second gelatin sheet until softened, wipe off excess water. whisk in heavy cream, then the gelatin sheet, and whisk until evenly incorporated.

3. continuously slowly to release steam. when the mixture is cool enough to touch with your hands, pour over the top of the whipped topping. if the guava topping has thickened, drop in 1 tsp of lemon juice at a time to loosen it up. you want to make sure that the mixture is just loose enough to pour over the whipped cream without making a dent in the surface when smoothing out with a scraper or spatula.

4. set cheesecake back in fridge for all the layers to set for at least 4 hours.

serving

1. removing the cheesecake from the pan: make sure you have your final serving platter or stand close by! unbuckle the spring form pan rim and remove from the pan. take a butterknife under the bottom edge of the pan and carefully lift to release the crust from the tin. using a flat spatula or whatever flat tool you have with a handle, slide under the cheesecake, carefully lift, and transfer to serving plate or stand. then, gently peel off acetate strip.

2. cutting the cheesecake: THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT otherwise you won’t be able to see the layers cleanly. score the surface with the line that you’re going to cut. run your knife under warm water and wipe off water. cut down into the cheesecake until you hit the crust and carefully saw the crust out until knife releases. wipe your knife and run through the same process for the other side.

3. pat yourself on the back, high-five strangers, tell your manager you’ve reached a new life milestone. congrats, you made freedman’s guava cheesecake!! (and obviously, enjoy with a bottle of natural wine or champagne)