Guava and Cream Cheese Ice Cream (Cuban Pastelito inspired)

I used Goya brand guava paste but any brand should be fine.

Guava paste is very sweet. There should be enough added sugar in the paste that no additional sugar should be required.

Cut up guava paste. Pour 45 g/~3 TBP of boiling water a little at a time while mixing to dissolve the guava paste into a puree.

Add milk, heavy cream, corn syrup, salt, and cream cheese cut into small pieces into a pot and heat up the mixture over medium/medium low heat. Mix in the guava puree into the pot. Whisk well to incorporate all components. Continue heating until 80C/176F to allow for water evaporation and all components to fully dissolve.

Cool the mixture in an ice bath until the temperature reaches ~ 104F. Add guar gum while stick blending to fully incorporate. Optional to add food coloring to achieve a pink color.

Continue chilling the base in the ice bath and strain it into the final container to mature in the fridge 5-24 hours.

Stick blend or whisk the base before churning the ice cream.

Optional to save some guava paste when making the puree and reserve some to swirl into the ice cream.

Graham cracker crust topping/mix-in

100 g crushed graham crackers

60 g butter, melted

10 g sugar

Mix together, press into a flat shape on a sheet pan, bake 350F for 10 min. Allow to cool to room temp and covered/fridge to set. Chop up and mix into ice cream.