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Guava Cake is a tasty, traditional Hawaiian dessert. It’s a sweet, Hawaiian cake that’s perfect for any occasion, and it’s easy to make at home! You just can’t beat the flavors and textures of the spongy cake layered with creamy frosting and sweet guava glaze.
5-Star Reviews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“This is absolutely the best recipe for making guava cake. I work at the Cheesecake Factory Austin and the first time I made this cake everyone fell in love with it so now I’m asked to make it for our company celebration week.” – Cindylou
“Made this for my daughter’s birthday…I still can’t get over how good this recipe is. We moved back here last year after living gin Hawaii for two years and the food is what we miss the most…” – Moe
“I made this for my daughter’s office and a few people actually asked if I could bring in my business cards so they could hire me to bake professionally. Thank you so much for sharing your bakery level recipes with the world! So generous! and well written too!”
– Smarty Marmy
Table of Contents
What is Hawaiian Guava Cake?
Guava cake is a classic Hawaiian dessert that was originally created at the famous Dee Lite Bakery in Honolulu. Its popularity grew, and now there are many different versions of this guava cake recipe out there. But this one is by far my favorite! When I worked at the bakery in Hawaii, we would often make this for catered events and it was always a huge hit. Plus, this recipe is so easy to make, you can have a taste of the islands at home!
Key Ingredients
- Strawberry cake mix – Use a standard 15.25 oz box. Strawberry pairs perfectly with guava and gives the cake its signature pink color, but white or yellow cake mix can work in a pinch if strawberry isn’t available.
- Guava nectar or guava juice – For this recipe, either works well. Guava nectar is thicker and more flavorful than juice and is traditional for Hawaiian guava cake. If all you can find is a guava nectar blend (passion-guava, guava strawberry, etc.) that is totally okay, too. If using guava juice, look for 100% juice for the best flavor.
- Eggs – Use large eggs at room temperature for the best texture and even mixing.
- Coconut oil (room temperature/liquid) – Make sure the coconut oil is fully melted but not hot. I like the faint hint of coconut that the coconut oil gives to the overall flavor of the cake. You can also swap out the coconut oil for canola or vegetable oil if you prefer.
- Cream Cheese Layer: Cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, Cool Whip (thawed).
- Guava Gel Topping: Guava nectar or juice, sugar, cornstarch, water.
Step by Step Instructions
- Prep the Cake
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, guava juice, eggs, and coconut oil. Mix until smooth and well blended.
- Bake & Cool
Pour the batter into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish and spread evenly. Bake according to the cake mix package directions. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely.
- Make the Cream Cheese Layer
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until combined. Gently fold in the Cool Whip until fully incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Prepare the Guava Gel Topping
In a medium saucepan, bring the guava juice and sugar to a boil. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water to form a slurry. Remove the guava mixture from heat and stir in the slurry. Return to heat and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until thickened. Chill until cooled.
- Add the Cream Cheese Layer
Once the cake is completely cool, spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top.
- Finish with Guava Gel & Chill
Gently spread the cooled guava gel over the cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until set and ready to serve.
Tips for Success
- Balance Sweetness: Guavas can vary in sweetness, so taste your guava puree or juice and adjust the sugar accordingly in your cake and frosting. You want the cake to be sweet but not overly so.
- Check for Doneness: Test the cakes for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. It should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs when the cakes are done.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: For the cream cheese frosting layer, be sure to use room temp ingredients to make the frosting nice and smooth.
- Cool Before Frosting: Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting. If you frost while warm, the frosting layers may melt and not set right.
- Garnish Creatively: Consider decorating your guava cake with additional tropical elements like fresh guava slices, shredded coconut, or even a drizzle of passion fruit sauce.
How to Store Guava Cake
In my opinion, this cake tastes especially delicious after it has been refrigerated overnight, I suggest chilling the whole thing overnight in the baking pan before serving. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
First of all, make sure the glaze gets that extra minute or two of heat after adding the first slurry. If it still isn’t setting up, prepare an additional cornstarch slurry with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Stir together in a bowl until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. After adding the slurry, give it another minute or two of heat stirring continuously.
If you plan to freeze, prepare the cake without the toppings and freeze just the cake. When you are ready to serve, thaw the cake and prepare the cream cheese layer and the guava gel topping.
Any mild oil, like vegetable oil, canola oil, or even melted butter will work in thi
Looking for More Tasty Hawaiian Cakes?
Love this Hawaiian guava cake? Try some of these other cakes inspired by the tropical flavors of the islands!
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 1 strawberry cake mix
- 1 1/3 cups guava nectar, or guava juice
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, room temp (liquid)
For the Cream Cheese Layer:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 8 ounces Cool Whip, thawed
For the Guava Gel Topping:
- 2 cups guava nectar, or guava juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, mix together cake mix, guava juice, eggs, and coconut oil until well combined. Bake in a 9×13 glass baking dish according to cake mix package directions.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and mix well. Slowly fold in the Cool Whip and refrigerate until ready to use.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the 2 cups guava juice and sugar to a boil. Make a slurry out of the cornstarch and a small amount of water. Remove guava juice from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring back to a boil and boil for one minute. Cool in refrigerator.
- When cake has cooled, spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cake.
- Glaze the top of the cake with guava gel. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this cake for a big dessert table we did for a 150-person event. HUGE SUCCESS. Tons of people asked for the recipe and no one could believe it was cake mix and Cool Whip. It’s a simple recipe for each step and each step doesn’t take very long but it is somewhat time consuming because of rest between each step- make a step… rest. Do another step… rest. Do the final step… rest. Used a metal 9×13″ pan and lined it in foil that I greased since I knew I would need to cut the cake into much smaller pieces (I got 40 pieces from it). When cake was completely finished, I was able to remove entire cake from the pan, peel off the foil and cut up the cake. Done this way, I was able to have smaller individual slices and used cupcake liners as individual cake holders. People were able to use their fingers to take a slice for themselves without touching the actual food. Easier than trying to use tongs (boy, that was a mess with tongs).
Suggestions:
– Don’t use a hand mixer to mix the strawberry cake mix and DON’T follow the instructions on the cake mix box to beat for an additional 2 minutes- it makes the cake tough. Do what the video shows- use a hand whisk, mix well and then pour in the pan. DO use the Duncan Hines Supreme Strawberry Cake Mix as suggested. Better quality.
– If you don’t have coconut oil, use a different liquid vegetable oil like Canola. It made absolutely NO difference in flavor or texture. Now I have a giant jar of Coconut oil that I’m going to have to figure out how to get rid of. People who complain it doesn’t take or smell much like coconut are correct. It’s not going to.
– A glass pan isn’t necessary. You can use a metal pan BUT it might bake in a slightly shorter time than suggested.
– Guava “juice” is not Guava nectar but these terms appear to mean the same thing in this recipe. True guava juice is a completely different item. It is straight juice from a guava and has nothing added… and is almost impossible to find in Oregon. Guava nectar is more like a Guava punch- it has a ton of sugar added to it (which is why it is so addictively yummy). I chose to use Guava Nectar (from Kerns, it’s pink) because it was readily available. It’s sweet but It’s what made that pink spread on top so delicious.
– Don’t make either topping (the cream cheese mix or the guava topping) until the cake has cooled. Or at least an hour after you’ve pulled the cake from the oven. If you make either topping too long, they will harden quite a bit in the fridge and neither will be easy to spread smoothly. I chose to wait until the cake was completely cool before starting the cream cheese mix. Then, I immediately spread it on top of the cake. Then I stuck the cream cheese covered cake back in the fridge so that it was all cold before spreading the guava topping. When I put the cake in the fridge, I started the guava topping. By the time it was room temperature, the cake with cream cheese with cold and I was able to smoothly spread the guave topping.
– “Gel” is a bit of a misnomer. When I hear gel, I think of a mirror glaze or something more like jello for texture, neither of which would be good with this delicious cake. The guava sauce on top is firmer than a nice, high-quality jam but softer than jello. It is still easy to slice through.
– When making the slurry (for the guave “gel” on top), use more guava nectar instead of water- why dilute the wonderful flavor. Also, a few commenters mentioned that the “gel” didn’t set and that it was drippy. Instead, boil the guave nectar with the slurry for 2 MINUTES, not 1. It set up really well this way without being jello.
– STRONGLY recommend that you give this cake at least 12 hours to chill completely if you want your slices to look like the pictures. I made the mistake of starting to slice the finished cake about 6 hours after spreading the guava gel on top. It was quite messy so I put it back in the fridge. That extra 6 hours really set the guava on top without it turning into jello.
I am adding this cake to my rotation of party desserts- Great Color. Unusual but Delicious Flavor. Easy to Make!
Wow thank you so much for this thorough comment! I am so glad that the guava cake worked out so well of ryou and that it could be scaled to feed so many!
This is my son’s favorite cake! He requests it every year for his birthday 💕
So easy to make and so delicious!
Oh! I’m so happy your son likes this cake so much that it’s a birthday request. What a compliment! Thank you!
What if I don’t have cornstarch but I do have strawberry jello and guava juice is there a way I can make the guava gel still ?
I haven’t tried it that way before to make the gel but it’s a possible solution! If you try it please let me know how it turns out!
My glaze is not setting up well. A little runny. Anything I can do?
You can add more cornstarch. Prepare an additional slurry by adding cornstarch to water and stirring well, then add it to the glaze. You can reheat the glaze and stir in the slurry. I hope this helps!
Can I freeze the finished cake? Will the glaze still be good?
If possible, I would freeze it without the frosting, then add the frosting after thawing.
I made this recipe several times for the az fruit club meeting. It’s a people pleaser. If I don’t have guava juice then I substitute it with passion fruit juice. I think any fruit juice are good to add in. Instead of 3 eggs I add in 4 eggs. It’s more affordable to make it then buying at the restaurant. Duncan hine is a better strawberry flavor cake mix. Differently go for the higher price mix for better quality.
Great ideas, thanks!
Does this recipe have to be baked in a glass dish or could I use a disposable tin? I want to make it to take to a potluck and need something I can leave behind.
You could do the disposable tin, it may be a little less pretty. Just make sure that your disposable pan is 9×13 inches.
Great for a reference recipe. Is this not the same as Guava Chiffon Cake?
This recipe would be considered a Guava Cake, not a Guava Chiffon Cake. Traditional chiffon cakes are made by whipping egg whites separately and folding them into the batter for a light, airy texture, while this version starts with a strawberry cake mix enhanced with guava juice and coconut oil, then topped with a cream cheese–Cool Whip layer and guava gel. It can easily be modified to be a chiffon cake though if that is what you are looking for!
We are going to a Tiki theme cookout this weekend and my husband found this cake recipe he wants to make. He found guava paste on Amazon. Do you know if that will work for this recipe? Thank you.
I haven’t used guava paste in this recipe so I can’t say for sure. I definitely think it would add a bolder flavor to the batter if he wanted to use it in addition to the guava juice. Hope this helps!
Hello,
I would like to make this cake for our Polynesian Gourmet Dinner but my friend is allergic to coconut. Can I substitute for another type of oil?
thank you,
Maria
Absolutely! Any kind of mild oil like vegetable, canola, even melted butter would work great. Hope this helps!
This cake turned out extremely delicious! I used guava nectar but the picture on the can displayed a yellowish guavas, so I added red food coloring to make it ‘pink.’ Turned out to be the right thing to do! Thank you!
You’re welcome! And good thinking!
This is absolutely the best recipe for making guava cake. I work at the Cheesecake Factory Austin and the first time I made this cake everyone fell in love with it so now I’m asked to make it for our company celebration week..
Wow! That is awesome! Thank you for letting us know you like the recipe – and good luck with the company celebration week. Would you mind giving the recipe a star rating so more people can find it when searching on Google? We would really appreciate it!
If you use Guava Nectar as called for, the top layer of frosting will be brown, NOT pretty pink as pictured. I made the cake for an open house at a nail salon where the owner decorates with shades of pink and am so disappointed with the unappetizing color. Have not tasted it yet, so I’ll give it 4 stars anyway.
Hi Carrie – I am so sorry this turned out a weird color for you. I am guessing it was the brand of guava nectar. We actually used guava nectar at the bakery I worked for and it was perfectly pink. I have used both nectar and juice since and haven’t had any issues like that. Hoping it still tasted great though!
The guava nectar I used turned out pink, as in your pictures above. I think the brand you used created the brown color.
Thank you, Shad. Do you remember the brand of the guava nectar you used?
I made these into cupcakes- totally delicious 🤤
This is a great idea! I have never made them into cupcakes before, I’m so glad to hear they turned out well! Now I will have to make them!
it is okay