Salvadoran Breakfast Cake (a.k.a. Quesadillas)
Breakfast is served!
What you'll need: butter (lots of it), rice flour, baking powder, Parmesan, egg, sour cream, sugar and sesame seeds.
These light, airy cakes get their lift from good old-fashioned baking powder.
Rice flour, baking powder and salt get whisked together.
Merrill borrowed one of her mother's favorite tricks for buttering the muffin tins: she used the wrappers from the two sticks of butter that go into the recipe.
The batter starts off as a cloud of butter, sugar and egg.
Make sure to keep scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go!
Another egg...
Then, a full cup of sour cream goes in.
The "wow" ingredient here is the the cheese (we used Parmesan) -- it really lifts the cakes to a whole other level.
The dry ingredients go in last.
Do you see the texture of this batter? Gorgeous.
The cakes are topped with a sprinkle of sesame seeds -- a nice, subtle touch.
We loved the way the edges browned, while the centers stayed snowy.
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Author Notes: Think cheesy poundcake. Think party food. Think happy mornings, popping a few too many quesadillas in your mouth. In El Salvador they eat rich, buttery quesadillas in the morning with a big cup of coffee and I suggest you do the same. You’ll love the slight crunch of the sesame seeds in combination with the sweet/salty cake.
Note: An asterix indicates ingredients that can sometimes include gluten. Generally, gluten free versions can be purchased at health food stores. Be sure to read all labels carefully. - Sasha@GlobalTableAdventure - Sasha (Global Table Adventure)
Food52 Review: We were instantly won over by these mysterious, ethereal breakfast cakes. Even the uncooked batter, a cloud of sugar, butter, sour cream and rice flour lightened with egg and perfumed with parmesan, inspired rhapsodic musings. Sasha's Salvadoran "quesadillas" are a unique blend of sweet, savory and tangy, with the texture of a fine, delicate corn muffin. The edges of the little cakes crisp and brown beautifully, while the centers remain snow white and tender. We recommend letting them cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the pan -- we found they slipped out easily this way. - A&M - A&M
Makes 18
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream*
- 1/2 cup grated hard cheese, such as cojita or parmesan*
- sesame seeds, to taste
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Then, in the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter with sugar. Drop in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Next beat in the sour cream, cheese, and rice flour mixture until a smooth batter forms.
- Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling each one 4/5th of the way up (this batter does not rise much). Sprinkle on the sesame seeds, to taste.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature - it'll taste like a cheesy pound cake. Amazing with a cuppa coffee in the morning.
- Your Best Gluten-Free Baked Good Contest Winner!
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16 days ago Tk3
I read all of the reviews and decided to use a 1/2 cup of butter instead-just to see. They still turned out great! They were super rich and delicious!
3 months ago dollarstodonuts
These quesadillas are wonderful!! I'm a baker at a restaurant and I've made these several times for our Sunday brunch gluten free pastry but everyone loves them, not just our gluten free patrons. I have to make a triple batch so there will be plenty for our staff as well. Usually I use cotija and sour cream. However, today I made them with crema salvadoreña and cotija and they are way more fabulous! I highly recommend using these two ingredients over sour cream and parmesan. I also made them into mini muffins and they turned out great. Always a big hit! Thank you.
4 months ago Mlouise
For a day or two, mine were fine on the counter in a cool kitchen. I actually froze half so I would stop eating them and they were good.
4 months ago lindarhima
i just tried them with regular flour. very good although this is my first time having them so i have nothing to compare them to... How should these be stored? refrigerator or cupboard?
5 months ago Mlouise
My husband loves these...has anyone tried them with regular flour with the idea that they might be a little less fragile?
5 months ago Mlouise
Forgot to add that I used a European style sour cream which is much tighter and heavier than the usual.
5 months ago Mlouise
Rich but rather wonderful and satisfying. Probably not as bad for me as some of my morning favorites. Could the difference in results be from the cheese used. I threw in some Parmesan that had been grated and sitting in the frig for a few days so it may have been a little drier.
6 months ago Daisy M Flores
I always wanted to learn to do the Salvadoran quesadillas. .. Thank You! :)
9 months ago Sasha (Global Table Adventure)
I think it really depends what temperature you eat it at. If you eat it warm out of the oven it will be really greasy. It is definitely very rich.
It's important to note that other cultures enjoy different ratios of fat in their food. I'm constantly amazed by how much red palm oil goes into West African food, for example. Personally, I love learning these things. It's so fun to taste and see where we're similar and where we're different.
9 months ago jodyrah
. 1c butter, sour cream, cheese...the fat ratio is too high. In addion, very little flavoring. Basically sugar and fat.
9 months ago AEC
Here's the strange thing. I made these 3 times. As you can tell from my earlier post, they were delicious and a huge hit with all who tried them... the first two times, that is. When I made them the third time I ran into the issue mentioned below with excess butter to the point where the cakes were inedible. Couldn't figure out what had happened.
9 months ago jodyrah
My baking podwer is not out of date. In any event, it has nothing to do with a fundamentally flawed recipe ( ingredient proportions ). The amount of butter left my fingers looking like they were dipped in butter. The flavor was bla. FWIW, I have advanced cooking and baking skills. I made these against my better judgement due to the reviews.
9 months ago jodyrah
So, it looks as if I am the only one that didn't like these. I dislike making negative posts, but perhaps this will give someone else pause. They were extemely greasy and not
particularly flavorful.
9 months ago gluttonforlife
I love a dissenting voice; FINALLY this makes me want to try these for myself!
9 months ago SKK
This is surprising. I have had very good luck with these each time I make them. Is it possible you made a mistake in the recipe, or perhaps your baking powder was old?
9 months ago zoemetrouk
I am not sure what happened to your cakes but we love these. They are the perfect little bites with a turbo-charged morning coffee. Also a great idea for kids before the school run--tastes great with any kind of berries.
9 months ago zoemetrouk
I am not sure what happened to your cakes but we love these. They are the perfect little bites with a turbo-charged morning coffee. Also a great idea for kids before the school run--tastes great with any kind of berries.
9 months ago zoemetrouk
I am not sure what happened to your cakes but we love these. They are the perfect little bites with a turbo-charged morning coffee. Also a great idea for kids before the school run--tastes great with any kind of berries.
9 months ago jodyrah
So, it looks as if I am the only one that didn't like these. I dislike making negative posts, but perhaps this will give someone else pause. They were extemely greasy and not
particularly flavorful.
10 months ago Vic Lagina
Just made this for our pre-hurricane party breakfast. They are absolutely fabulous. I sprinkled them with black sesame seeds rather than white. Same taste but a little more of a dramatic look.
about 1 year ago Tish S.
Just found Food 52 today and made these tonight for a breakfast group tomorrow. Try these! They were so easy and absolutely delicious! We did not wait the recommended 10 minutes to cool off and they were still fantastic. Couldn't find cojita so substituted fontina cheese.
about 1 year ago Radster
These are dead easy and delicious. I subbed in 2/3 C cane sugar instead of the white and used brown rice flour and they turned out perfect. Tangy and buttery awesomeness.
6 months ago cherylynne1
I wondered if brown rice flour would work as well.
over 1 year ago Kitchen Butterfly
I made this for friends who weren't keen on the (parmesan) cheese, so I substituted freshly ground almonds and they still came out wonderful. I love the sweet-salty thing but these worked out perfectly too! Just to share.
over 1 year ago Crispini
Oooooh, sumptuous little pillows of deliciousness. I made half in the regular size muffin cups and half in mini size. The small size is probably best because they're so rich. But then, of course it's tempting to have two instead of just one. Hmmmmmm. And I love the crisp little rim where they brown just a bit. Thanks for posting this!
over 1 year ago Crispini
Whoops! Clicked the button too many times. Sorry about that!
over 1 year ago Crispini
Oooooh, sumptuous little pillows of deliciousness. I made half in the regular size muffin cups and half in mini size. The small size is probably best because they're so rich. But then, of course it's tempting to have two instead of just one. Hmmmmmm. And I love the crisp little rim where they brown just a bit. Thanks for posting this!