Guava Jam Coffee Cake

Name: Guava Jam Coffee Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Ingredients: For the Streusel; 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour; ¾ cup packed light-brown sugar; 1 teaspoon coarse salt; 6 ounces 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter; For the Cake; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt; 4 ounces 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan (or margarine, if dairy-free); 1 cup granulated sugar; 3 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest (from 4 to 5 lemons (any fruit zest will work fine)); 2 large eggs; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1 cup buttermilk (for diary-free: I made it with almond milk mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar); 1 cup guava jam (or whichever jam you prefer)

April 5, 2022 by Savoring Italy

Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

Guava Jam Coffee Cake is just what you need to make when you’re craving something sweet. A fluffy and soft coffee cake with a surprise layer of exotic guava jam and topped with an irresistible brown sugar streusel topping! Perfect for an afternoon coffee break!

I really think you’ll love this recipe for guava cake! I’ll tell you how I came about it. It all started out with a recipe for guava jam…

The other day I came across some gorgeous and very ripe guavas. The other day was really more like a month ago. My daughter enjoys reminding me how I often refer to any thing that happened in the not so distant past as, “the other day”.

Originally published January 2012 and updated photos April 2022.

She then proceeds to remind me how it actually was “x” amount of days, or weeks, or even months ago. It diminishes the freshness of my story, and I feel silly for her outing me in front of my friends.

So bear with me here while I finish my story. It really wasn’t the other day but it sure seems like not too long ago at my favorite little Latino fruit market, there was a package of guavas for $1.

Yessireee…a whole dollar. I immediately knew I would make a little jam. I never made guava jam and let me tell you, it’s very sticky and CRAZY good.

Living with Cuban bakeries on every corner, I get to sometimes indulge in guava pastries. My mom kept telling me, “Make some guava pastries! That is the perfect idea for the jam.” But you see, there wasn’t that much in my little batch.

I stumbled on this Martha Stewart Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake and had been dreaming of it for days. An important step in the recipe requires boiling and draining the Meyer lemon slices. There’s also a step of lining them on parchment paper.

My baking a cake on the fly wasn’t going to work with this recipe. I also recently had come across Meagan from Scarletta Bakes fantastic Prickly Pear Coffee Cake (Scarletta has since stopped blogging and I can’t link to her cake),and I envisioned my homemade guava jam swirled in a coffee bake batter. I immediately got to baking and the result was pretty darn good.

It’s pretty easy to come across guava jams and pastes over here. I suggest subbing strawberry jam if getting guava jam isn’t an option for you. You could also use any jam that makes you happy.:)

And I guarantee this cake will make you happy. I tested a slice right before getting the kids from school. LOVED it. The kids had a slice as a snack when they got home.

Then the neighbors came by for a visit and my son cut and served a slice for them all by himself (sliced it with a butter knife and kept bringing out more as soon as they finished their slice).

They loved it and it looks like I’ll be searching for more guavas next week to make another one of these yummy cakes.

How do you make a guava jam coffee cake? (full recipe below)

The first step I did was make my own guava jam, but you could use store bought. IF you happen to have some patience, make your own jam (it’s delicious!).

Before you start the cake batter, make the quick streusel and set it aside.

Once the streusel is done, get the cake batter going.

Spoon the cake batter into the prepped cake pan (I prepped my pan with baking spray).

Spoon on some of the guava jam (try not to touch the edges of the pan, or it will stick while baking, and will be difficult to remove the cake).

Use a butter knife to gently swirl the batter to combine it a little with the jam (this is a my original 2012 photo and I had baked it in a square pan…I just wanted you to see how I swirled it).

Sprinkle on the streusel topping and bake!

How to make the guava jam swirl?

Most important is to not touch the edge of the cake batter. Try to leave a 1/2-inch space. I have even made the cake without swirling the jam, and it ends up creating it’s own design while baking. So swirl or not, it will be beautiful!

inspired by Scarletta Bakes and adapted from Martha Stewart

Some other cake recipes to enjoy:

Just a quick request: if you enjoyed the guava jam coffee cake as much as we did, would you kindly leave me a 5-star rating and a short (or long!)comment–the ratings are what helps get my recipes and hard work discovered, so I can keep leaving you more delish recipes!

Your comments mean the world to me….and I really SMILE when I read them. Thank you so much! XX

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe