Quesadilla

Makes One 9-inch cake

In El Salvador and much of Central America, quesadilla refers to a sweet cheese pan dulce, where the cheese is incorporated into the batter. Many folks use Parmesan cheese (for its funk) and pancake batter. I have also heard of Salvis in the southern United States using a cornbread adaptation of the recipe. I have made quesadillas countless times, and I have used only Salvadoran cheeses because they were the first items that revealed to me how obsessed Salvi folks are with food. Why? Well, my relatives always bring back pounds of cheese from El Salvador—queso duro blando, queso duro viejo, and queso morolique. These aged cheeses must be excellent if it’s worth leaving your belongings back in the homeland to make room for cheese in the suitcase. 

If you cannot source Salvadoran cheese, you may use Parmesan cheese; in place of crema Salvadoreña, crème fraîche. This pan dulce is usually served with hot coffee. My relatives who recently visited from El Salvador, where they can get all kinds of quesadilla at any hour of the day, loved this recipe so much that they requested it two days in a row.

The SalviSoul Cookbook Karla Tatiana Vasquez

INGREDIENTS

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted , plus more for greasing

• 3 eggs, separated, at room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup grated queso duro blando or Parmesan cheese

• ½ cup milk

• ½ cup crema Salvadoreña, or crème fraîche

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons raw white sesame seeds
  
  DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch cake pan or cast-iron skillet.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar and beat until thoroughly combined. Add the queso, milk, and crema and mix well. Gradually add the melted butter to the cheese mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the salt and mix well.

In another medium bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed (or a whisk), whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute. Set aside. Clean the mixer beaters.

Add one-third of the flour mixture to the cheese mixture. Using the electric mixer on low speed, mix just until combined. Repeat with half the remaining flour and then the remaining flour, scraping the bowl and beaters after each addition.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter until no streaks remain and they are combined thoroughly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top.

Bake the quesadilla until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. (If the toothpick comes out with any moisture on it, continue baking for 5 minutes more.) Let cool for 5 minutes.

Cut the quesadilla into squares or wedges to serve.

Reprinted from The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and The Women That Preserve Them by Karla Tatiana Vasquez © 2024.  Photographs copyright © 2024 by Ren Fuller. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

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