I needed to make dinner one evening and had a plethora of ingredients in the refrigerator that I wanted to use up! This is a great way to become inspired to experiment, and it’s how I came to make this absolutely yummy and delectable Quesadilla Cake!

Let’s make cashew crème!

First, I started with the filling.  I had some cashews soaking, so I made a very thick cashew crème using vegan chicken broth to impart some additional flavor.

I had a block of extra firm organic tofu marinating in my tofu press.  The marinade was a mixture of cilantro, lime juice, water, garam masala, cumin, coriander, garlic, lemongrass, and ginger.  With the press, I drained the tofu, cut it into the smaller-than-bite-sized cubes, and put them on a cookie sheet that I had preheated while the oven was doing the same at 365°F.

By preheating the cookie sheet before placing the food to be baked/roasted on it, the food will immediately sear and not stick when it hits the hot pan.  I baked the tofu bites for 12-13 minutes, just until they started to brown on the edges but did not dry out, and kept the oven on so it would be ready to go when I finished assembling the entrée.

For the filling…

I defrosted a 16-ounce bag of frozen chopped spinach and squeezed it in a clean dish towel to remove all the liquid.  If you want to be clever, you can squeeze the spinach water into a cup, then freeze it for when you are going to make a broth.  Excellent way to add flavor and nutrition while not wasting a thing!

There were some getting-a-little-too-hard sun-dried tomatoes, that still smelled oh-so-flavorful, yet needed some moisture to refresh them.  I chopped them and mixed them into the spinach, which still had a slight bit of moisture, which the tomatoes quickly absorbed.  Score!!… as it helped to ensure that the spinach didn’t impart extra moisture into the filling once everything was combined.

Then I mixed all the mise-en-place together, then seasoned with fresh ground sea salt and black pepper.  As a binder, I finished the filling with a touch of Just Egg. I used just enough to help bind everything together but not let the filling become a quiche.

Build the cake!

The package of quesadillas that I had were 12-inch in diameter, so I took out my 12-inch springform pan and started making layers. I continued that process until I had used up all eight quesadillas and ended with the balance of the filling on top.

Popped into the oven, I let it bake for 45 minutes, with the first 30 minutes having a sheet of aluminum foil over the top. Removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking helped brown the topping just a smidge.

When it was done baking, I removed the springform side and was able to successfully remove the bottom of the springform pan by gently sliding a large metal spatula under the bottom of the quesadilla crepe cake.  Carefully, I placed the cake onto a heat-resistant cake pan, sliced it into wedges, and served in alongside a lovely fresh summer salad with a glass of wine.

It was absolutely glorious!  Definitely a recipe that will be used again and again.  You can easily vary the ingredients to create a variety of taste sensations.

Enjoy!