Guava Chiffon Cake - the hardest, most delicious dessert I've made

If you've ever had DeeLite Bakery's Guava Chiffon Cake (only found in Hawaii) - this is a very close second. It takes a very long time, but for me it was worth it.

Guava Chiffon Cake by Chef Don Sprinkle
Yield: 2 – 9” rounds (Variations- any concentrate can be used instead of Guava).

Cake Ingredients:
2 c sugar, 3 c cake flour, 1 tsp salt, ¾ tsp baking powder.
1 c. vegetable oil, 5 large whole eggs, ½ c. guava juice concentrate,
1 tsp vanilla, ½ tsp red food coloring.
16 large egg whites, 1 ¼ c. sugar, pinch of cream of tartar.

Icing Ingredients: 1 qt whipping cream,
1c guava concentrate

Guava Glaze Ingredients: 1 c guava concentrate, 1 T cornstarch, 2 T water

*1* Separate the 16 eggs placing the egg whites in a very large mixing bowl you can whip them in later (My Kitchen Aid 5 Qt was barely big enough).

*2* Make the guava glaze (see directions below) and place it in the fridge for later.
Guava Glaze – Mix cornstarch with water until dissolved. Bring guava juice to a quick boil and add cornstarch mixture. Stir. Simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and chill well before using.

*3* Make the cake (see below).
Cake - Mix the first four (dry) ingredients for the cake. Set aside. Blend oil, 5 eggs, guava juice concentrate, vanilla and food coloring in a large bowl. Add 1st mix of dry ingredients and blend well 5 min. on med. speed). Take your very large mixing bowl with the egg whites and whip until triple in volume. Slowly add 1 ¼ c. sugar and cream of tartar. Whip until soft peaks form. Fold first mixture into egg white mixture and mix until smooth. Pour batter into two 9” round cake pans (filled to top) and bake at 350 F 18-20 min or until done.
[Note: this is very deceiving – I checked the cake at 20 min and it was not done. I looked at some notes at the end of the recipe and found this: “Oven temperature is critical, one effort with this recipe had the oven 50* hotter than the dial indicates and the insides were raw after an extended cooking time. The best test was with a 300* (dial set at 350) oven and the cake cooked for 33 min.”
My experience was this – cook for 20 min at 350 and then turn the oven down to 300. Check after 7 min, then another 5 min. Using a wooden skewer was the best way to check for doneness].

Remove from oven and immediately turn over pans onto cooling racks. Cool with pan in place.

*4* Cool the cake down (best overnight in fridge, but can be done in the freezer until firm).

*5* Make the icing (see below).

Icing – Whip cream at high speed until soft peaks form. Fold in guava juice concentrate and blend well. Use to fill and ice cake.

*6* Put it all together- placing the guava glaze in the center like a little pond.

(found on-line in 2001 by me on a page that I can no longer find - Maui Community College’s Food Service Program’s recipes).