To talk about this cake, we have to look back to Venezuela in the 18th century. Wheat didn’t grow in Caracas and imported flour was very expensive across the country, but the Bejarano sisters crafted a cake to sell that was based on ripe mashed plantains and corn-based breadcrumbs instead of flour. The sisters became an instant success. Today, the base of the batter is made from plantains, sugar cane, breadcrumbs or ground bread, butter, and egg to give it a dense, almost banana bread-like texture, flavored with a light touch of cloves, cinnamon, and allspice and showered with handfuls of sesame seeds. Its sweetness is mild enough to please those who like their desserts on the savory side. These skewers can be cooked using any number of grill setups; we opted for a traditional charcoal grill in this case, but our new-and-improved skewer-grilling setup works just as well. Just make sure to push the cheese further down on the skewer to expose the tip, allowing it to be suspended over the bricks.
