Sweet Tamales

"I've made and eaten my fair share of tamales and these are the best sweet tamales I have ever eaten! This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe and has become a new family tradition. My DBF suggested that next year we only make these and skip the pork tamales! I didn't use the banana leaves but instead soaked about 40 corn husks in warm water for 1/2 an hour and used those."
 
Download
photo by Stephanie Y. photo by Stephanie Y.
photo by Stephanie Y.
photo by Stephanie Y. photo by Stephanie Y.
photo by Stephanie Y. photo by Stephanie Y.
photo by Stephanie Y. photo by Stephanie Y.
photo by Stephanie Y. photo by Stephanie Y.
Ready In:
2hrs 30mins
Ingredients:
13
Yields:
18 tamales
Serves:
6-8
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • If using corn husks, soak in warm water for a 1/2 hour until pliable and then drain. If using banana leaves, Defrost the banana leaves overnight in the refrigerator if frozen, and cut off any hard sections or sections with holes. Cut the leaves into unbroken 12 inch pieces. If the leaves are pliable, proceed with the recipe. If not steam the banana leaves in the top of a double boiler until soft and pliable, 20 to 30 minutes. Set aside until ready to assemble the tamales.
  • In a small saucepan gently heat the rum. Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover with the warm rum. Let the raisins soak and absorb the rum while you prepare the masa.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the vegetable shortening until very light, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and half of the masa and beat until combined. Mix the milk and coconut milk and add alternately with the remaining masa in several batches to the mixture until the mixture is the consistency of medium-thick cake batter. Add baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, and beat for 30 more seconds. Add the melted butter and beat to incorporate, being careful not to overmix.
  • Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the masa batter into the center of a banana leaf. Place about 2 teaspoons of the plumped raisins in the center. Fold 1 side over the batter and then the other to enclose the filling. Bring the bottom and the top over the filling to create a package. Tie the tamale with a piece of string, and repeat with the remaining masa batter and filling.
  • If using corn husks spoon about 2 tablespoons masa down the center of the husk and then about a tsp of raisins. Fold both sides over the masa and then fold up the bottom. (Please refer to the photos for guidance).
  • Line an insert steamer with a layer of unused banana leaves. Lay the tamales in the lined steamer, and steam over simmering water until the tamales are cooked through and release easily from the banana leaf wrappers about 1 1/2 hours.

Questions & Replies

  1. What if I use already mixed masa?
     
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. Amazing recipe! This is the first tamale dulce I've ever liked. We made a few changes: reduced butter to 1/2 C, used half and half instead of regular milk, and added 1/2 C additional masa. We used half lard and half Crisco. We increased the amount of cinnamon, and finally, we made most of them with banana leaves. They were DIVINE!!!!
     
  2. awesome, tastes just like my grandpa's from when I was a kid. I am now 67. My grandpa would be happy to know that I am passing this on to my kids, grandkids, and other immediate family members
     
  3. This was my first attempt to make any type of tamale before and it was a success. I love these sweet tamales they are perfect for breakfast or even a nighttime snack. I used corn husks, and I ran out of Rum so I used Whiskey to soak the raisins in. I also like the previous user increased the Cinnamon as I didn't feel it was enough. ENJOY!
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. added 1/4 c more sugar to massa. soaked some broken cinnamon sticks and added with the raisins...yumm
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p><br /><br /><a title=Click here to make your own Live MySpace Tracker href=http://www.modmyprofile.com/><img src=http://www.modmyprofile.com/liveview/counter/427105.bmp border=0 alt= /></a> <br /><br /> <object width=480 height=360 data=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/51988f97.pbw type=application/x-shockwave-flash> <param name=data value=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/51988f97.pbw /> <param name=src value=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/51988f97.pbw /> <param name=wmode value=transparent /> </object> <a href=http://i113.photobucket.com/redirect/album?action=slideshow&amp;landing=/slideshows&amp;type=8 target=_blank><br />China 3/08 <br /><br /><br /> <object width=400 height=120 data=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/54ce08bb.pbw type=application/x-shockwave-flash> <param name=data value=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/54ce08bb.pbw /> <param name=src value=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/54ce08bb.pbw /> <param name=wmode value=transparent /> </object> </a><a href=http://photobucket.com target=_blank><img src=http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_logo.gif alt= /></a><a href=http://s113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/?action=view?t=54ce08bb.pbw target=_blank><img src=http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_viewshow.gif alt= /></a><a href=http://photobucket.com/slideshow?action=landing target=_blank><img src=http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_getyourown.gif alt= /></a> <br /><br />Photos above are of Nico and Bella when they were puppies. We were only going to get one but couldn't resist thier cute little faces. <br /><br /><br />In the photos below they are playing fetch with my DBF. They also enjoy stealing cubes of butter off the counter and chasing cats. Nico &amp; Bella that is ;). <br /><br /> <object width=480 height=360 data=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/pinecrest/57e74c7c.pbw type=application/x-shockwave-flash> <param name=data value=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/pinecrest/57e74c7c.pbw /> <param name=src value=http://w113.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/pinecrest/57e74c7c.pbw /> <param name=wmode value=transparent /> </object> <a href=http://photobucket.com target=_blank><img src=http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_logo.gif alt= /></a><a href=http://s113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/silversagefish/pinecrest/?action=view?t=57e74c7c.pbw target=_blank><img src=http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_viewshow.gif alt= /></a><a href=http://photobucket.com/slideshow?action=landing target=_blank><img src=http://pic.photobucket.com/album/slideshow/wrapper_getyourown.gif alt= /></a> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/untitled.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/200_artistrichardneuman-art-prints_.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/200_PACpic.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/pacbanner.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/smPACp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><br /><br />My first time taking the World Tour and we had a blast... and I still can't believe we came in first thanks to our fearless leader Charmie. <br /><br /><img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97/rjtofanelli/banners/zaarmamas.jpg alt= /> <br /><img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%203/ZWT3-Participation.gif alt= /> <br /><br /><br />A place I always enjoy playing.... come on down to the beverage forum and join us. Make sure to tell them cookiedog sent ya'! <br /><img src=http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/vseward/Bevy/officialmemberofthebevtaggame.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e347/Saturn6666/KiwiDutch/3chefstag1.jpg alt= /> <img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/CV.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/greeneggs.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/calendar%20clips/Copyofsoybean.jpg border=0 alt=tag /> <br /><br /><br /><img src=http://www.satsleuth.com/cooking/RecipeSwap2.JPG alt= width=50% /><img title=Photo and Video Sharing src=http://www.pickle.com/plink/ph/795B07337A4704307B51032E7D5F0A3578501C512307476E143E5A652E076C38735E0A377E5C0B31140741682C4659712C.jpg border=0 alt=RSC-HiddenGem-part /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Ingredients/Other/photo-swap-7sticky.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y120/peacefulnightdove/stpatchallenge.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/derf16/food%20photography%20series/MuffinLovesticker.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Ingredients/PastastickerJPEG.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/derf16/food%20photography%20series/Comfortstickercopysmall.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/1956/SoupsandsaladSTICKER.jpg alt= /> <br /><br /><br />This is one of my favorite music videos that always makes me smile. Blind Melon-No Rain. <br /> <object width=400 height=300 data=http://www.esnips.com//3rd/flvplayer/esnips_flvplayer12.swf type=application/x-shockwave-flash> <param name=data value=http://www.esnips.com//3rd/flvplayer/esnips_flvplayer12.swf /> <param name=name value=FLVPlayer /> <param name=flashvars value=linkfromdisplay=true&amp;height=300&amp;width=400&amp;xmlURL=http://www.esnips.com//flashxml/1/b1999b20-2041-4041-9527-5b51fb9f3d33&amp;autostart=false&amp;image=http://www.esnips.com/http://docthumb0.esnips.com/imageable/medium/b1999b20-2041-4041-9527-5b51fb9f3d33/?du=927a75bf-e022-428f-84b4-7bffd70666f6&amp;uu=55ab2a78-86f0-4edd-aa7b-85de00937341&amp;dt=1192453564000&amp;fu=3d7ff2b4-40fb-4993-99c2-061ea7c5f0e9 /> <param name=src value=http://www.esnips.com//3rd/flvplayer/esnips_flvplayer12.swf /> <param name=quality value=high /> </object> <br /><br /><br /><br /></p> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td> <object width=330 height=230 data=http://res0.esnips.com/escentral/images/widgets/flash/esnipsPL.swf type=application/x-shockwave-flash> <param name=data value=http://res0.esnips.com/escentral/images/widgets/flash/esnipsPL.swf /> <param name=flashvars value=autoPlay=no&amp;thePlayerURL=http://res0.esnips.com/escentral/images/widgets/flash/mp3WidgetPlayer.swf&amp;fileIds=095842dc-cfb7-454d-9641-344d59bdef58;e90a76b6-66d5-43c3-b24b-a7ca27b6141e;da394ede-a440-44f8-9c3b-e4e74cb19629;33126676-a020-4e34-9418-d2d1749fd64a;1d316cb1-f240-4533-848a-cede89ae069f;&amp;plURL=http://www.esnips.com//plxml/528e6581-44db-4f96-ad60-c8915650301c/?cachePL=true /> <param name=src value=http://res0.esnips.com/escentral/images/widgets/flash/esnipsPL.swf /> <param name=quality value=high /> </object> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Powered by <a href=http://www.esnips.com//adserver/?action=visit&amp;cid=playlist_external target=_blank>eSnips.com </a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes