Guava Raspberry Hors d’Oeuvres are, in a word, luscious.

These guava raspberry hors d’oeuvres make a fantastic two-bite item, suitable for a cocktail party or buffet. Although their red-and-white color makes them suitable for winter holidays, they’d be welcome any time of year.

The guava provides a depth of substance and flavor. The cream makes the hors d’oeuvre seem luxurious. The raspberry brightens it and makes it pop. The type of cookie or cracker you choose for the foundation makes a marked difference. I chose three contrasting types: a lemon cream cookie, a “cookie thin,” and a whole wheat biscuit. The lemon cookie’s assertive character blended nicely with the other flavors in the hors d’oeuvre. The “cookie thin” stayed out of the way, placing the focus more on the guava and raspberry. The Carr’s Whole Wheat Crackers … if you’ve ever had them, you know that they’re on the sweet side, and are more like English biscuits than what Americans think of as crackers. Still, they are far from being as sweet as cookies, so they moved the hors d’oeuvre into a neutral area between sweet and savory.

What you need to make 20 pieces:

7 oz. rollo de guayaba or guava paste
20 cookies or crackers
1½ oz. heavy cream
2½ tsp mascarpone
¾ tsp sugar
3½ oz. plain Greek yogurt
20 fresh raspberries
1 orange (for zesting)

Slice guava into rounds (or squares) perhaps 1/8″-thick, but no more than 1/4″-thick. Place each round on top of a cookie or cracker. Place cream, mascarpone, and sugar into a mixing bowl and whip it to stiff peaks. Fold in yogurt. Dollop each guava round with a heaping tsp of the whipped mixture. Top each hors d’oeuvre with a raspberry. Use a microplane grater to sprinkle zest over the hors d’oeuvres.

Guava raspberry hors d’oeuvres can be served fresh, or refrigerated and served several hours later. I prefer them fresh. Refrigerated, the whipped mixture will set up and seem heavier when you eat it. The hors d’oeuvres will still be fantastic, but I prefer the lighter texture. If you’re concerned about these hors d’oeuvres being a messy two-bite, refrigerate them and then allow them to come back to room temperature before serving. This will make the cookie/cracker somewhat less crunchy, more capable of producing a cleaner bite.

Notes:

1. I used rollo de guayaba for this recipe. It’s a type of Mexican candy that I would describe as a thick fruit leather, rolled into a log. You could just as easily use guava paste, so long as it were sliceable into squares whose height and width would be appropriate for the cookie/cracker size, with a thickness of no less than 1/8-inch and no more than 1/4-inch.
2. I used Dare Lemon Crème cookies, Archway Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookie Thins, and Carr’s Whole Wheat Crackers. I couldn’t twist the lemon cookies apart the way one might an Oreo. I had to use a sharp knife to carefully slice them apart.
3. I usually dread making hors d’oeuvres, because they’re frequently a lot of work. As far as that goes, these aren’t so bad. Making the whipped mixture is easy, and the assembly isn’t complicated.
4. Many people use “hors d’oeuvre” and “appetizer” interchangeably, but in fact, an hors d’oeuvre is something that can be eaten out of hand while standing around at a cocktail party. They generally are one- or two-bite items that don’t require utensils other than the occasional toothpick. Hors d’oeuvres are not considered to be part of a meal. Although they may be served as a prelude to a meal, they are served before the diners are seated at the dinner table. An appetizer is the first course of a meal that is served to seated diners. They often require plates and utensils.

Guava Raspberry Hors d’Oeuvres

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