Sweet Tamales

Tamales de Dulce con Piña y Pasas

• Makes about 24 tamales

Ingredients

For the Filling:

1 ripe medium pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into rough cubes
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup raisins
Kosher Salt

For the Batter:

10oz (1 1/4 cup) rich-tasting pork lard, slightly softened – not runny
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2lb (4 cups) fresh coarse-ground corn masa for tamales
Corn husks for wrapping - soaked in water overnight

Prepare the Corn Husks

Cover the husks with very hot water, weight with a plate to keep them submerged and let stand for a couple of hours, until they are pliable. For forming the tamales, separate 24 of the largest and most pliable husks - ones at least 6 inches across on the wider end and 6-7 inches long. If you can’t find good ones, overlap some of the larger ones to give a wide, sturdy surface to spread batter on. Pat chosen husks with dry towel.

Prepare the Batter

With an food processor or blender, coarsely puree the pineapple. Measure out 2 cups puree (reserving the rest for later). With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat lard with sugar, baking powder and 1 tsp salt until light in texture (about 3 minutes). Continue beating as you add the masa in three additions. Reduce speed to medium-low then add 2 cup of pineapple puree. Continue beatingfor another minute until a half-teaspoon dollop of batter floats in a cold cup of water. Beat in enough additional water to give mixture consistency of soft (not runny) cake batter; it should hold its shape in a spoon. For lightest texture, refrigerate for ~1 hour, then rebeat, adding enough water to bring it back to its consistency.

Setting up Steamer

Steaming tamales can be done in batches, but if stacked more than two high, they will steam unevenly. Pour an inch of water into bottom of a steamer and boil. It’s best to line the upper part of the steamer with leftover scraps of husks to protect from direct steam and add flavor. Make sure to leave tiny space between husks to allow for condensation runoff. It’s also best to line the top of the steamer with husks to protect from direct contact with steam and add flavor.

Forming the Tamales

Cut (24) 8-10 inch pieces of string. Lay out corn husk with tapering edge toward you. Spread about 1.4 cup of the batter into a 4 inch square, leaving space on all sides with masa. Sprinkle a few raisins down the center of the batter. Pick up the two long sides of the corn husk and bring them together (causing the batter to surround the filling). Secure by loosely tying string around the top. As they’re made, stand tamales on their folded bottoms in prepared steamer. Don’t tie too tightly, or pack them too closely — they will expand when steaming.

Steaming and Serving

When all tamales are in the steamer, cover with leftover corn husks; fill remaining open space with loosely wadded aluminum foil to keep tamales from falling over if needed. Set lid in-place and steam for 1 1/4 hours over constant heat. Watch carefully to assure water doesn’t boil away and keep steam steady. If necessary, add boiling water if more is required. Tamales are done when husks peel away from masa easily. Let tamales stand for a few minutes to firm-up. For best results, allow tamales to cool and then steam for 15 minutes to serve.

Working ahead

Both filling and batter can be made several days ahead, as can the finished tamales; refrigerate, well-covered.

Adapted from Rick Bayless – Mexico one plate at at a time cookbook