Black Bean Deli ★ 4.6
Black Bean Deli on East Colonial Drive in Mills 50 has run since 2001, with pressed Cuban sandwiches, cafecito and pastelitos from a family counter.
Try: Cuban sandwiches, pressed cubano, cafecito
History
Pastelitos came north from Havana through Tampa's Ybor City Cuban bakeries in the early 1900s, where the Spanish puff-pastry empanada tradition was reimagined with tropical guava paste and sweet picadillo. The form spread to Miami after the 1959 Cuban Revolution and entered Central Florida through the 1980s Cuban-Puerto Rican migration waves. Black Bean Deli's counter on East Colonial Drive is Orlando's flagship pastelito source, with guava-and-cheese the canonical order; sweet picadillo and coconut variations follow.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry, thawed
- 200g guava paste (pasta de guayaba), cut into 16 small rectangles
- 200g cream cheese, cut into 16 small rectangles
- 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water (egg wash)
- 30g granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water (for the glaze)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200C / 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Roll each puff pastry sheet lightly on a floured surface to even out. Cut each sheet into 8 squares (16 total, 8 will be bottoms and 8 tops).
- Lay 8 squares on the parchment. Center 2 rectangles guava paste and 2 rectangles cream cheese on each.
- Brush the pastry edges with egg wash. Top with the remaining 8 squares. Press the edges firmly with a fork to seal.
- Cut 2 small steam slits in each top. Brush the tops with egg wash.
- Bake 18 to 22 minutes until deeply golden and puffed.
- While baking, dissolve sugar in 1 tablespoon water over low heat for a glaze.
- Brush the warm pastelitos with sugar glaze and let cool slightly before serving.
Tip from the editors. Guava paste in a tin or block (pasta de guayaba) is at any Latin grocery. Frozen all-butter puff pastry beats supermarket margarine puff for texture and flavor.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat cuban pastelitos
Cuban pastelitos in Orlando
Pio Pio Restaurant ★ 4.4
Pio Pio Restaurant on East Washington Street near Lake Eola is the Peruvian rotisserie chicken spot with pollo a la brasa, lomo saltado and tres leches cake.
Signature: Pollo a la brasa, Lomo saltado
More cities are in research. Want cuban pastelitos covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.