My Mom’s Quesadilla Cake Recipe

When my dad ran the Japanese restaurant years ago, my mom would bake this cake every week, cutting them into square portions and wrap them up in plastic wrap to be sold at the counter for something like 50 cents. This quesadilla isn’t the cheese-filled tortilla that you’re accustomed to; instead it’s an El Salvadorian sweet and slightly savory cake moistened with sour cream and flavored with parmesan cheese. Kind of a strange combination of ingredients at first read but after you taste it you’ll realize that it works deliciously. This cake isn’t going to win any beauty pageants but it will win your adoration. It’s a breeze to make and you’ll be rewarded with tasty sweets to nibble on all week long.

Here’s the recipe direct from mom —

I baked it for about 35 minutes but gauge on checking it anywhere from 25-35 minutes, depending on the strength of your oven. Mine kind of sucks. When it’s set in the middle and the top is golden brown it’s done. Oh, and my mom doesn’t add sesame seeds on top like I did but after doing some research on authentic quesadilla cakes and noticing that most of them included it, I did too. I think it looks pretty.

Me and my mom when we lived at the ranch, circa 1988