Travelling Kitchen: Quesada Pasiega - a traditional dessert from Cantabria Spain

Today I show you the traditional recipe of 'quesada pasiega'. Being from Cantabria, I’ve tried every brand of quesada and also the traditional homemade ones made by a friend of my mother, who prepared them exquisitely. That’s why my standards for quesada are very high, and taking advantage of the blog, I wanted to try making one myself to see if I could achieve that delicious traditional flavor. And I did it!

Rest assured that if you follow the steps in my recipe, you’ll get all the traditional flavor of Cantabria.

The origin of quesada pasiega dates back to the 14th century, and its recipe has been passed down from parents to children until today. It was born in the area of Selaya, Vega del Pas, and Villacarriedo, created by shepherds who had leftover curdled milk and eggs and came up with this delightful dessert that soon became a hallmark of the entire province.

Quesada Pasiega - a traditional dessert from Cantabria Spain

Ingredients:

- 3 liters of fresh whole milk (to obtain 500 g of curdled milk or cheese).
- 200 g of sugar.
-100 g of butter.
-4 large eggs.
-A pinch of salt.
-100 g of regular flour or cake flour.
-3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
-Lemon zest.

-Rennet (the amount indicated by the manufacturer))

Preparation:

1- First, we prepare the curdled milk or queso pasiego. You need fresh milk; this recipe cannot be made with long-life milk from cartons—you must use the refrigerated milk sold in supermarket. The cheese obtained usually weighs about 1/4 of the amount of milk used. Pour all the milk into a pot and heat it to 34°C. I measured the temperature with a meat thermometer.

2- At this temperature, I added the drops of rennet indicated by the brand I bought. You can purchase rennet at pharmacies; I recommend buying the smallest amount possible because you won’t need much and it spoils quickly. For 3 liters of milk, I needed 60 drops. Stir well so the rennet spreads evenly throughout the milk.

3- I waited quite a while and nothing happened, so I gradually increased the temperature of the milk until, at 75°C, I saw it begun to curdle slightly. I continued raising it slowly up to 90°C, and at that point, it was clear that the milk had separated from the whey.

4- I turned off the heat, let the milk rest covered for two hours, then placed a strainer over a bowl with a cheesecloth on top and poured all the curdled milk onto it.

5- Lift the cloth and press the cheese slightly to release a bit more whey.

6- In a bowl, mix the butter with the sugar until you get a smooth paste.

7- Add the eggs, at room temperature, along with a pinch of salt, the cinnamon, and the lemon zest. Mix everything well.

8- Add the sifted flour using a strainer and mix thoroughly.

9- Incorporate the cheese and mix well. Some people blend it completely, but traditionally, small lumps of cheese are left. I kept a few lumps.

10- Grease a baking mold with butter and pour in the mixture. The baking mold has a diameter of 12 centimeters.

11- Preheat the oven to 200°C.

12- Place the quesada in the middle of the oven with heat above and below at 200°C for 8 minutes.
Then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 35 minutes. After that, switch to heat above at the same temperature and bake for 10 more minutes—this helps the top brown nicely.
You can enjoy it warm or cold, whichever you prefer. It keeps well in the fridge, and the next day it tastes even better.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel: