Sweet Pineapple Tamales

These delightful sweet tamales are adapted from a recipe by Olivia Lopez, chef and co-owner of Molino Olōyō in Dallas, and resident Mexican cooking expert at Cooks Without Borders. In Mexico, says Olivia, sweet tamales are eaten any time savory ones are — or as a dessert, or around 5 or 6 p.m., as a merienda — afternoon snack.

Gently sweet, with a fabulous light texture, these are made from heirloom corn masa flavored with pineapple, lightened with almond milk and enriched with coconut oil. They’re filled (and topped with) a fabulous pineapple conserva scented with lime zest and cinnamon. Dabs of Mexican crema, crème fraîche or sour cream on top make a lovely finish, but that’s optional.

This recipe calls for soaking more corn husks than you might need because some of them may split and be unusable; you can use those to cut into long strips to tie the tamales with. We also like to use extras to line the bottom of the steamer to prevent sticking. You can use a tamale steamer, Chinese bamboo steamers stacked on top of each other, or any other type of steamer you can make.

Olotillo blanco masa harina may be purchased online from Masienda.  

You can make the tamales several hours or even a day in advance and leave them wrapped. (If serving the next day, store them in a sealed zipper bag, and store the pineapple conserva in a closed jar or sealed container. Let the conserva come to room temperature to serve, and re-steam the tamales until warm.

Makes 12 tamales.

Ingredients

20 corn husks (allowing for some that may split)

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons Pineapple Paste (see recipe below)

2 tablespoons diced pineapple from the conserva (see recipe below)

1 tablespoon syrup from the conserva (see recipe below)

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons virgin (unrefined) coconut oil

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 cup otillo blanco masa harina

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

12 tablespoons Pineapple Conserva, plus more for serving (recipe follows)

Crema, crème fraîche or sour cream for garnish (optional)

Mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the corn husks in a shallow bowl or pan, cover with room temperature water and let soak for 15 minutes or so. Drain.

2. Place the almond milk, butter, pineapple paste, diced pineapple from the conserva, syrup from the conserva, vanilla, coconut oil and brown sugar in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Place over low heat and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are all melted together, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the masa harina, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a rubber spatula to fold the almond milk-pineapple mixture into the dry ingredients. The dough should be wet but not runny, and not crumbly. You should be able to roll it into small balls without it sticking to your hands. If it’s too sticky, add more masa harina (up to ⅓ cup or more), and massage it in with your hands. If it’s crumbly, add a tablespoon of water and massage it into the dough with your hands. Add water as needed until it is not crumbly.

4. To assemble the tamales, place a corn husk on your work surface and spread about 50 g (a ball a little smaller than a lime) on to the husk in a layer about ¼ inch thick. Place about 1 tablespoon of conserva in the center of the masa and fold the tamale to enclose the filling, pinching the edges so the filling is surrounded by masa. Fold the husk around the filling and tie with kitchen string or a strip cut from a corn husk. Repeat for the rest of tamales, until you have used all the filling.

5. Line the bottom of a steamer basket (or baskets, if you’re using the stacking kind) with corn husks and arrange the tamales on the steamer. Boil the water in the steam over high heat, place the steamer baskets in the steamer, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 1 hour.

6. To serve the tamales, unwrap two tamales, set them on a plate, spoon a couple of tablespoons of conserva over them, and garnish with dabs of crema, crème fraîche or sour cream if desired. Repeat for the rest of the plates.

Pineapple Conserva and Pineapple Paste

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds ripe pineapple flesh, cut into dice about 1 cm (just under 1/2 inch)

3/4 cups water

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1 2-inch cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon lime zest

Instructions

1. Place the diced pineapple, water, brown sugar and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan, stir to combine, and heat to a simmer over medium heat. Once the pineapple starts breaking down, about 10 minutes, reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture is thick and viscous, about 30 more minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool to room temperature, and stir in the lime zest.

2. To make the Pineapple Paste, measure 1/2 cup of the conserva and place it in the bowl of a food processor or jar of a blender, and pulse it a few times until it is a loose paste. Do not overprocess; you don’t want it completely smooth.