Guava Baked Beans

📝 Notes: Also known as: Old Florida Baked Beans · Miz Kathi's Guava Beans The concept: Classic: Southern baked beans. Vector: Substitution (guava paste replaces a portion of the brown sugar in the glaze). Florida's Cuban-Southern crossover at Ybor City is genuine regional history, not invented fusion — this reads as Old Florida, not a mashup. Hero ingredient: Guava paste, melted directly into the glaze so it disappears into the sauce rather than sitting as visible chunks. Plating: Serve in a small crock or ramekin, glaze glossy on top. Pro upgrade: char the onion and pepper on the flattop before adding to the pot for a smokier base note. Prep efficiency: batch-cooks and reheats cleanly; make a day ahead, the guava flavor deepens overnight. Cross-utilization: guava paste, once stocked, also works as a quick glaze base for ham or a Sweetery pastry filling — flag to the bakery team. Failure modes: guava paste scorches if added directly to a dry hot pan — always melt it into fat or liquid, never dry-heat it first. Scaling: At 4x: glaze reduction time roughly doubles, not quadruples — watch consistency, not the clock. At 10x: cook in two pots; a single batch this size takes too long to reduce evenly and beans on the bottom break down to mush before the top glaze sets.