Quesadilla Salvadoreña
El Salvador's sweet-and-salty cheese cake: a moist rice-flour crumb packed with hard cheese and crema, topped with sesame – made for coffee.
Method
Preheat the oven to 175 °C. Line a 15×10 cm baking tin with baking paper; cut it a little larger than the tin and let it hang over two sides so you can lift the cake out later.
ovenMelt the butter in the microwave (20-second bursts) or a small pan and let it cool slightly. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs for , until paler and slightly thick. Add the crema, milk, grated cheese and melted butter and mix well.
Add in this stepUnsalted butter 45 gCaster sugar 65 gEggs 1Salvadoran crema or sour cream 100 gMilk 30 mlQueso duro blando, grated (or half parmesan, half feta) 50 g
In another bowl, combine the rice flour, baking powder and salt, add to the wet mixture and stir with a spatula until no dry flour is visible. Rice flour has no gluten, so you can't overmix it. Leave the batter for ; the rice flour absorbs liquid and the crumb turns out softer.
Add in this stepRice flour (regular, not glutinous) 80 gBaking powder 1 tspSalt 1 pinch
Pour the batter into the tin, level the top and scatter the sesame seeds evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for , until the top is deep golden, the centre springs back when pressed lightly and a skewer comes out clean.
Add in this stepSesame seeds 1 tsp
ovenCool in the tin for , then lift out by the paper. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature with coffee. A slight dip in the middle as it cools is normal.
Cook's tip
If you can't find queso duro, half parmesan and half feta gives a very similar salty tang. Glutinous (sticky) rice flour makes it gummy like mochi, so use regular rice flour. It keeps 2 days airtight at room temperature or 4 days in the fridge; 10 seconds in the microwave brings it back to just-baked.
Cooking it at camp
At camp, use a lidded cast-iron Dutch oven instead of an oven: put a small trivet inside, set the lined tin on it and arrange the coals one-third underneath and two-thirds on the lid to reach about 175 °C. It takes about the same time or a little longer, so test with a skewer. Baked at home, it also travels well for a day or two.