On an Unexpected Cake

Life handed him a lemon,
As Life sometimes will do.
His friends looked on in pity,
Assuming he was through.
They came upon him later,
Reclining in the shade
In calm contentment, drinking
A glass of lemonade.
1940 The Rotarian

In my case, it was not a lemon but a can of guava nectar.  My daughter likes peach juice. When I was in the supermarket I grabbed a few cans but as it turns out one was guava nectar which no one wanted to try.  The can was hanging around for a while and so I finally  decided to do something with it.  

Now there were lots of yummy looking recipes on Pinterest for cocktails using guava nectar but I decided to steer  away from those.  I did find a lot of recipes for guava cake which apparently is traditional in Hawaii but they all looked very complicated and most required more guava nectar than my one little can.  I did learn that guava nectar pairs well with strawberries so I figured I would go from there.  This is what I came up with.

So here is how I made it:

For the cake:

• Box of white cake mix - your favorite or if you are like me what's on sale
• 3/4 cup of guava nectar - I used a  9.6 oz can of Goya Nectar so what was left over was used for the sauce 
• box of strawberry Jello
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil - I used canola oil
• 4 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
2. Grease or use cooking spray on a 9 x 13 cake pan.
3. Combine all ingredients and mix until well blended. I use a hand mixer which works fine.  Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake 29 - 35 minutes.  Check the times listed on the cake mix box. Cake is done when tooth pick comes out clean. 

For the topping:

• 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
• 8 oz container of Cool Whip defrosted
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy,
2. Add  sugar and vanilla and beat again.
3. Mix in Cool Whip.
4. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

For the sauce:

• Guava nectar leftover from cake
• Strawberries, sliced - about a cup (I didn't measure but a cup seems right) 
• About a 1/4 cup granular sugar - again I didn't measure.

Directions:

1. Put sliced strawberries, guava nectar and sugar in a small sauce pan.
2. Cook until strawberries are very soft.
3. I used an immersion blender to puree the sauce. You could use a regular blender or leave it chunky.
4. Allow to cool before serving.

To serve the cake cut a slice and put a generous helping of the topping on.  Then pour some sauce over and enjoy.

Have a fun day!
​Cynthia

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