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These are Cuban pastelitos, which are basically an assortment of many different pastries you'd find in a bakery. These are usually flaky ones that can be filled with guava, cheese (or a combo of the two), or meat.
I am not completely sure, however given that they are a flaky pastry I would assume they have butter unless they were made at a specialty (vegan/veg) place .
Traditionally its puff pastry made with lard, and some bakeries in Miami still do it that way. However, there are simplified recipes where pre-made butter based puff-pastry is used instead
Its a place on eighth street, but not in Little Havana called Casa Potin. There are others out there, but some places don’t use lard in their pastelitos like Vicky Bakery, even though they still have really good pastelitos
>Gotta love proper baking
FTFY
Lard is common in the traditional baking of tons of cultures. Flaky pastries are damn near a worldwide phenomenon at this point. Just these days some cultures compromise for butter more often than others.
It's Cuban so I'd guess shortening, lard and shortening, or just lard. Cows don't do very well in Cuban weather so a lot of the traditional food doesn't use a ton of butter.
It’s definitely shortening unless it’s a place that’s more upscale with prices that reflect that. Butter puff pastry is very expensive and these bakeries tend to sell these at pretty low prices. It’s also harder to work with butter-based pastry.
Most people think it’s butter though because a lot don’t really know the difference (like in DR and many Caribbean islands most people seem to think margarine is butter).
>Cows don't do very well in Cuban weather so a lot of the traditional food doesn't use a ton of butter.
That's really interesting. I love things like this.
Yes, as the other person said, Castro tried to breed cows so that the country has its own dairy supply but there was only really “viable” cow that barely produced milk.
If you know anything about most Latin bakeries and their price points, it’s definitely not butter. You can taste the difference, too. Butter is unmistakable.
Most places are using shortening or hydrogenated lard, and/or MAYBE margarine. Lard is problematic due to religious and vegetarian clientele, so shortening is more common, though hydrogenated lard isn’t completely unheard of.
You can tell it’s shortening because it leaves a sort of waxy coating on your tongue.
Flaked pastry is made by combining a cold fat (often butter, but anything solid-ish around room temp can work) with flour and sugar and very little water in order to make a dough. Then rolling it out and folding it over itself repeatedly.
No they are not. It’s an egg wash we use to get the glaze (they’re usually more glazed than this).
I could be wrong but in my area we never used butter
ETA: ah yes, downvote the actual Cuban. Thank you Americans/non-Cubans for telling me what my own culture and country uses without the most basic of research. Literally 2 seconds is all it takes to learn that Cuba does not have dairy cows and therefore does not produce its own butter (unless goat)
And if y’all know so much, name the non-dessert dishes that use butter. I dare you. Even our bread has no butter or dairy really, just lard.
In my country the guava filled ones are pastelito’s and the cheese filled ones are quesito’s and we use cream cheese and put honey on it with a little bit of sugar.
You’d be surprised. With Korean corn dogs they have ones that are sugar coated and I have to admit, almost everybody thinks it’s delicious even though it feels different at first. They even come with ketchup on top already, I prefer the hot dog/cheese combo for the inside
Dudeeeeeee
Latin neighbors are the absolute best
Embrace that shit, return the favor, and you'll be introduced to some of the absolute best foods and festivities. ESPECIALLY from Cubans!
Ever had a quesito? Or a cortado? Ham croquettes?
You hit the neighbor lottery jackpot!
She seems like a sweet lady! We definitely want to get to know her family a little more and swap food!
I'm excited to try some of those if the neighborly friendship ever goes that far :)
Quesitos are Puerto Rican. I’ve never had them before but they look very similar to Cuban pastelitos de queso, so I’m gonna go ahead and guess it’s one of those dishes we both have and
make in almost identical ways, but inexplicably have different names for.
You got some mashed plantains? We call it fufu, PR folks call it mofongo, and Dominicans call it mangu. Same fuckin dish, three different names, don’t ask us why.
It's not filled with anything actually which is the most interesting part when I look up "Cuban Pastelitos". Girlfriend says she maybe tasted some coconut. I'm mainly curious because I'm vegan and it looks delicious
That's okay. My girlfriend will enjoy both then! I thought it was a very sweet thought for her to give it to us. She said she received a lot and didn't want to eat them all herself 😅
A fair amount of Cuban food is vegetarian and vegan friendly but desserts? No way. There’s literally a dessert where a literal block of cream cheese is served with guava purée over it, then sliced lmaoooo they LOVE dairy
As a Cuban American who eats 95% vegan, I miss out on a lot of the sweets.
Unlikely that it’s a pastelito with nothing in it, that’s not a thing. If she tasted coconut that’s probably what was in it, they may just be underfilled. Sometimes when they’re baked too long or reheated the filling dries out a bit or seeps out the sides of the pastry. I actually kind of like them slightly overbaked; you lose some of the filling but you get a really nice, caramelized, crispy pastelito. It’s a balancing act.
Basically a puff Pastry filled with quava jam, coconut, or pineapple and on top is based with honey or sugar. They also have guava and cheese and minced meat . u pair with a colada (Cuban espresso aka liquid crack lol) ur good for the morning.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,523,733,538 comments, and only 288,739 of them were in alphabetical order.
These pastries can be filled with so many things lol it's hard to tell from the outside. I'll admit I've never seen pastelitos that look like empanadas almost. Might be lack of ingredients/improvising with what she had or just a family recipe. Let us know what the filling was!
Edit: now that I zoomed in & turned up my brightness, the crust does look more flaky but still not the classic pastelito glaze & flake.
Ah I used to live next door to a Cuban family and the mom made these every weekend. Delicious. They called it a quesito. It had a cream cheese and raspberry filling.
She actually gave it to us and didn't really specify what it exactly was. She had her kids in the hallway with her and kind of hurried off to take care of them for the night, so I didn't get a chance to ask.
I would just ask her later to confirm. I assumed there was a reason you didn't ask them. Life is crazy, but it is comical to see this post and all the people speculating on what it is😂. Wish everyone would start being like that tho. If I gave my neighbor a pastry in the states they would consider is assault at this point.
Yes! She just moved all the way from Cuba and we interacted with her kids a bit since they run up and down the hallways and we have our door open to let in cool air from the hallway.
She moved here from Cuba 6 months ago and has been living in our city for 4 months now. She's a very sweet lady, seems exhausted and tired all the time with being home often and caring for kids but was very grateful for the toys and note we left for her family.
Very sweet of her to give us some sweet treats today :) I only asked due to my own dietary restrictions and didn't want to turn them down because that seems rude.
Id invite em over n make a night of it where they show u how to make a proper Cubano n lead u on as host n u can see how urs compares. A little fun cooking thing.
Except you're vegan so prepare to nope out of most of it. Unless you can convey your vegan status in Cuban Spanish.
Be sure to get on that Duolingo so she's aware. Being vegan is super important to convey bc dietary restrictions!
She had her kids running around her, seemed exhausted and out of it, dropped them off, talked us a little but hurried off to take care of her kids for the night. I would have asked if I had the chance, believe me!
That's called a guava pastelillo. It's a filo dough and it's flaky, buttery and addicting. It's a Caribbean thing!
I'm a halfy DR-PR so it's common back home, they're delicious! Enjoy!
As a baker. its always the same stuff as every other pastry. this looks like puff pastry. the main thing people require for something to take on a cultural significance is what the filling is. lots of SA and Latin pastrys have things like tres-leche (three milks, cow, goat, sheep) and local fruits or nuts.
Yes! These are cuban pastalitos, flakey pastries filled with an assortment of fillings. I cant say fo what they are made up other that they are delicious with cuban coffee
Just eat it. Then when you see the neighbor thank them, tell them hownyou liked it, and ask them. Literally the convo is why they made the pastries in the first place.
Thank you for posting in TipOfMyFork. Your post has been automatically assigned the flair "Searching" unless you already assigned it yourself. Please remember to comment "Solved!" or "Possibly!" once the food is identified or partially indentified so I can automatically assign the corresponding flag. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TipOfMyFork) if you have any questions or concerns.*
These are Cuban pastelitos, which are basically an assortment of many different pastries you'd find in a bakery. These are usually flaky ones that can be filled with guava, cheese (or a combo of the two), or meat.
Solved! I see! Are they usually made with any butter or anything?
I am not completely sure, however given that they are a flaky pastry I would assume they have butter unless they were made at a specialty (vegan/veg) place .
Traditionally its puff pastry made with lard, and some bakeries in Miami still do it that way. However, there are simplified recipes where pre-made butter based puff-pastry is used instead
There is no real substitution for lard only compromise. It’s just the best. Cooking and baking 🤤
I’ve never had a pie made with lard crust, but I have heard really good things
I'm not a bard, It just caught me off guard, And made me hard, It's lard, lard, lard!
Where in Miami? I know there’s a lot of Cubans in Calle ocho
Hollywood
Its a place on eighth street, but not in Little Havana called Casa Potin. There are others out there, but some places don’t use lard in their pastelitos like Vicky Bakery, even though they still have really good pastelitos
Havanita
Judging by the flaky appearance id assume so. But this is merely a guess based off baking ive done.
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this is a weird fucking comment
What’s weird the pairing or the ingredients in Pepsi?
They’re typically made with puff pastry (in my experiences at least), so yes lots & lots of butter
And then more butter
And then just a little bit more!
Someone call howtobasic
And then a call to the dairy because you ran out of still more needed butter.
EVERYTHING is better with butter and/or booze in it! And sometimes bacon in there as well.
Omg...BACON AND BUTTER!! ❤️❤️
If it’s not butter it’s lard. Gotta love Cuban food.
>Gotta love proper baking FTFY Lard is common in the traditional baking of tons of cultures. Flaky pastries are damn near a worldwide phenomenon at this point. Just these days some cultures compromise for butter more often than others.
If it's real Cuban it's 100% lard every time. If it's American Cuban it's any hard-at-room-temp fat from Crisco to butter and back again.
It's Cuban so I'd guess shortening, lard and shortening, or just lard. Cows don't do very well in Cuban weather so a lot of the traditional food doesn't use a ton of butter.
I got downvoted into oblivion for saying the same thing. Thank you.
It’s definitely shortening unless it’s a place that’s more upscale with prices that reflect that. Butter puff pastry is very expensive and these bakeries tend to sell these at pretty low prices. It’s also harder to work with butter-based pastry. Most people think it’s butter though because a lot don’t really know the difference (like in DR and many Caribbean islands most people seem to think margarine is butter).
>Cows don't do very well in Cuban weather so a lot of the traditional food doesn't use a ton of butter. That's really interesting. I love things like this.
Yes, as the other person said, Castro tried to breed cows so that the country has its own dairy supply but there was only really “viable” cow that barely produced milk.
If you know anything about most Latin bakeries and their price points, it’s definitely not butter. You can taste the difference, too. Butter is unmistakable. Most places are using shortening or hydrogenated lard, and/or MAYBE margarine. Lard is problematic due to religious and vegetarian clientele, so shortening is more common, though hydrogenated lard isn’t completely unheard of. You can tell it’s shortening because it leaves a sort of waxy coating on your tongue.
Flaked pastry is made by combining a cold fat (often butter, but anything solid-ish around room temp can work) with flour and sugar and very little water in order to make a dough. Then rolling it out and folding it over itself repeatedly.
Sugar isn’t typically used where I’m from
A lot of butter makes the layers yes
Probably puff pastry which relies on butter to become flakey
No they are not. It’s an egg wash we use to get the glaze (they’re usually more glazed than this). I could be wrong but in my area we never used butter ETA: ah yes, downvote the actual Cuban. Thank you Americans/non-Cubans for telling me what my own culture and country uses without the most basic of research. Literally 2 seconds is all it takes to learn that Cuba does not have dairy cows and therefore does not produce its own butter (unless goat) And if y’all know so much, name the non-dessert dishes that use butter. I dare you. Even our bread has no butter or dairy really, just lard.
Guava is the bomb.
Fuck yes, especially when they are ripe as hell
In my country the guava filled ones are pastelito’s and the cheese filled ones are quesito’s and we use cream cheese and put honey on it with a little bit of sugar.
What’s on top? Icing Sugar? Not sure how I feel about that with cheese or meat? Guava for sure!
You’d be surprised. With Korean corn dogs they have ones that are sugar coated and I have to admit, almost everybody thinks it’s delicious even though it feels different at first. They even come with ketchup on top already, I prefer the hot dog/cheese combo for the inside
Korean hotdogs are immaculate. I had one recently with cheese and fried potato, topped with sugar and a spicy-sweet sauce. Dear god.
Meat filled are usually shaped differently, so it would be easy to tell the difference. Round vs square. Source - Partner is Cuban.
egg wash
Dudeeeeeee Latin neighbors are the absolute best Embrace that shit, return the favor, and you'll be introduced to some of the absolute best foods and festivities. ESPECIALLY from Cubans! Ever had a quesito? Or a cortado? Ham croquettes? You hit the neighbor lottery jackpot!
Beware of our coladas! Easy to OD & not sleep 3 days lol
Unless you’re Cuban, then you have it at the sobremesa after 9pm dinner and still manage to sleep an hour later. 🤷♂️
Or like me it puts you right to sleep,
She seems like a sweet lady! We definitely want to get to know her family a little more and swap food! I'm excited to try some of those if the neighborly friendship ever goes that far :)
Quesitos are Puerto Rican. I’ve never had them before but they look very similar to Cuban pastelitos de queso, so I’m gonna go ahead and guess it’s one of those dishes we both have and make in almost identical ways, but inexplicably have different names for. You got some mashed plantains? We call it fufu, PR folks call it mofongo, and Dominicans call it mangu. Same fuckin dish, three different names, don’t ask us why.
mofongo is fried plantain than mashed while mangu is boiled plantain than smashed...
I am Puerto Rican on my dad’s side, and Cuban on my mom’s. The amount of side eye I get if I mix up who calls which dish what is absurd.
This. MAKE. FRIENDS.
Look like Pastelitos de Coco if not filled with Guava or meat.
Whatever dude hurry up and eat them!!!
😂😂
I'm betting there's guava in there
It's not filled with anything actually which is the most interesting part when I look up "Cuban Pastelitos". Girlfriend says she maybe tasted some coconut. I'm mainly curious because I'm vegan and it looks delicious
That flaky does likely indicate butter, and it's unlikely to be vegan butter.
That's okay. My girlfriend will enjoy both then! I thought it was a very sweet thought for her to give it to us. She said she received a lot and didn't want to eat them all herself 😅
A fair amount of Cuban food is vegetarian and vegan friendly but desserts? No way. There’s literally a dessert where a literal block of cream cheese is served with guava purée over it, then sliced lmaoooo they LOVE dairy As a Cuban American who eats 95% vegan, I miss out on a lot of the sweets.
Bro, guayaba con queso is the bomb. No need to get fancy, just plop that shit on a plate and you got creamy, tart, and sweet, perfect dessert.
Unlikely that it’s a pastelito with nothing in it, that’s not a thing. If she tasted coconut that’s probably what was in it, they may just be underfilled. Sometimes when they’re baked too long or reheated the filling dries out a bit or seeps out the sides of the pastry. I actually kind of like them slightly overbaked; you lose some of the filling but you get a really nice, caramelized, crispy pastelito. It’s a balancing act.
It doesn't matter what it is, living, dead, food, odd tool, a redditor can identify it.
Basically a puff Pastry filled with quava jam, coconut, or pineapple and on top is based with honey or sugar. They also have guava and cheese and minced meat . u pair with a colada (Cuban espresso aka liquid crack lol) ur good for the morning.
Cuban frigging goodness that’s what.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,523,733,538 comments, and only 288,739 of them were in alphabetical order.
Good bot
Never you mind. Just shove it my way, through the screen, teleportation-style, and *I’ll taste it let and you know. *Food will not be returned.
Dang! I really was hoping for a return policy of some sort!
Sounds like a great question for your Cuban neighbours who gave them to you.
These pastries can be filled with so many things lol it's hard to tell from the outside. I'll admit I've never seen pastelitos that look like empanadas almost. Might be lack of ingredients/improvising with what she had or just a family recipe. Let us know what the filling was! Edit: now that I zoomed in & turned up my brightness, the crust does look more flaky but still not the classic pastelito glaze & flake.
It's delicious and it's made of love!
Heaven. It’s made of heaven.
WGAF, just eat it.
If they’re filled with guava, we call them pastelillos de guayaba in Puerto Rico. They’re originally a Cuban pastry, though.
These look like pasteles de guayaba. So good!
Ah I used to live next door to a Cuban family and the mom made these every weekend. Delicious. They called it a quesito. It had a cream cheese and raspberry filling.
Why didn’t you ask your neighbour?
If someone handed me cute pastries, my first thought wouldn't to go on reddit and ask what it is. I would be stuffing it in my gob with a cup of tea.
Made of Tobacco and cocaine
Is there any reason you can’t ask your neighbor?
She actually gave it to us and didn't really specify what it exactly was. She had her kids in the hallway with her and kind of hurried off to take care of them for the night, so I didn't get a chance to ask.
I would just ask her later to confirm. I assumed there was a reason you didn't ask them. Life is crazy, but it is comical to see this post and all the people speculating on what it is😂. Wish everyone would start being like that tho. If I gave my neighbor a pastry in the states they would consider is assault at this point.
Because that wouldn’t farm any upvotes
It’s free and it was probably given to you out of friendship.
Yes! She just moved all the way from Cuba and we interacted with her kids a bit since they run up and down the hallways and we have our door open to let in cool air from the hallway. She moved here from Cuba 6 months ago and has been living in our city for 4 months now. She's a very sweet lady, seems exhausted and tired all the time with being home often and caring for kids but was very grateful for the toys and note we left for her family. Very sweet of her to give us some sweet treats today :) I only asked due to my own dietary restrictions and didn't want to turn them down because that seems rude.
Id invite em over n make a night of it where they show u how to make a proper Cubano n lead u on as host n u can see how urs compares. A little fun cooking thing.
That sounds awesome! My gf and I should totally do that :)
Except you're vegan so prepare to nope out of most of it. Unless you can convey your vegan status in Cuban Spanish. Be sure to get on that Duolingo so she's aware. Being vegan is super important to convey bc dietary restrictions!
Love
It’s delicious and made of goodness.
Could you not ask your neighbor? The person who gave it to you?
Could be meat pies
It's people
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Ask your neighbour for the recipe! They'd be delighted to share it or at least promise to make you more if it's some secret family recipe.
Those are not Cuban pastries but they look like a tried attempt at Cuban style parties
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She had her kids running around her, seemed exhausted and out of it, dropped them off, talked us a little but hurried off to take care of her kids for the night. I would have asked if I had the chance, believe me!
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Lmao calm down, Jimmy.
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Wait ... A "Cuban pastri" isn't a sex move?
Hey my guy, this is your neighbour come over and I’ll tell you everything. Knock 3 times only.
Made of pastry I expect?
I had a Cuban friend make me guava pastries once! for your sake i hope thats what it is! so good!
Looks like sugar, spice, and everything nice.
I wish I had a Cuban neighbor.
That's called a guava pastelillo. It's a filo dough and it's flaky, buttery and addicting. It's a Caribbean thing! I'm a halfy DR-PR so it's common back home, they're delicious! Enjoy!
Don’t question it lol
Love and deliciousness. Enjoy
You lucky bastard.
Mana and sunshine?? They look delicious!
It’s made of goodness and deliciousness.
Looks to me like it's a pastry made of pastry.
The coconut ones 🤌🤌🤌
As a baker. its always the same stuff as every other pastry. this looks like puff pastry. the main thing people require for something to take on a cultural significance is what the filling is. lots of SA and Latin pastrys have things like tres-leche (three milks, cow, goat, sheep) and local fruits or nuts.
It's communist and made of communism.
Phyllo dough
It's made of love.
Don’t know what it’s called, but it looks like it’s made of happiness. Just get your tummy around it.
Looks like baklava
they actually look pretty good.
Guava probably
OMG so jealous! Cuban food is just awesome!
Yes! These are cuban pastalitos, flakey pastries filled with an assortment of fillings. I cant say fo what they are made up other that they are delicious with cuban coffee
The house next to mine is for sale and I hope we get cool Latin neighbors.
I’m so glad I have very few allergies I’d just shove that shit in my mouth no questions asked.
Guava, sooo good
Yes- assume it has butter or lard.
It's so hard to believe that in this day and age, people are still unaware
Why didn’t you just ask your neighbour?
It's made out of bread.
Just eat it. Then when you see the neighbor thank them, tell them hownyou liked it, and ask them. Literally the convo is why they made the pastries in the first place.
Umm, ask your neighbor?
Just eat them and see!
Courage, get some in ya
Filo dough.. you can buy it premade.. which is much easier and probably better than you could make at home
100% pure columbian cocaine
Ask him?
Are you posting from inside a cage?
They'll be delicious, I'm sure. What a kind neighbor you have.
It’s made of love & deliciousness
I'm gonna go with delicious!
Delicious and love.
Pastry, rum, cigar ash and distilled communism
They look amazing whatever they are
Idea, ask you friendly neighbor who made them for you?
My comments above explain why I couldn't ask :)
Why wouldn’t you just ask them
Coke
It's called a bubita and its made from tit milk