Pay De Queso (Mexican Cheese Pie) Recipe

Pay de queso, or cheese pie, is a {smooth}, creamy, and never overly candy cheese-based pie with a cookie crust. It’s just about the Mexican model of New York cheesecake. Nonetheless, not like cheesecake, which may usually be dense and heavy, pay de queso is delightfully gentle with a smoother consistency. Plus, the pie comes collectively simply, making it a fantastic dessert possibility for any event. 

The traditional crust for pay de queso is made with Maria cookies (or galletas Marias), the “graham cracker” of Latin America. Generally eaten as a snack alongside a steaming mug of espresso or scorching chocolate, these evenly sweetened, vanilla wafer-like cookies are a staple in Mexican households. Making the crust is an easy affair: grind the cookies in a meals processor, toss with melted butter and a pinch of salt, then scatter the moistened crumbs in a 9-inch pie plate. I like to make use of a ingesting glass, measuring cup, or the same instrument with a flat backside, to compress the crumbs into an excellent layer. Since there isn’t any baking occurring to bind the crumbs collectively, it is necessary to compress the crumbs rather well and to refrigerate the crust previous to filling to agency it up and keep away from a crumbly crust. 

The filling is usually made with cream cheese, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and eggs. For my model, I wished to include a savory cheese to stability the sweetness of the pie and add a salty be aware. I examined a number of Mexican cheeses: queso panela (a semi-soft Mexican cheese), queso fresco, and cojita (a agency, salty aged cheese). My private favourite was queso fresco, a preferred cheese constructed from cow’s milk that’s sometimes used as a topping on savory dishes. I discovered that its delicate taste balanced the sweetness from the condensed milk. As well as, the cheese’s gentle texture saved the pie’s texture true to the unique, yielding a light-weight and {smooth} filling. 

To make the filling, merely mix all of the substances till {smooth}, ensuring the queso fresco is totally damaged down and emulsified with the remainder of the substances. If insufficiently blended, the cheese will separate from the filling and rise to the highest because it bakes, inflicting the pie to brown excessively and the layer beneath to stay liquidy. It’s additionally necessary to keep away from incorporating an excessive amount of air throughout mixing, which makes the filling foamy, and can lead to a much less {smooth} consistency whereas additionally inflicting the pie to overflow when baked. 

Pay de queso is greatest when served chilled, so I like to recommend refrigerating the marginally cooled pie earlier than indulging. Although a slice is scrumptious all by itself, a dollop of strawberry jam or a drizzle of dulce de leche or cajeta on high are nice additions.