Tamales have always been such a staple in our annual meals. We especially enjoy them around the holidays for Christmas Eve. For some reason though, I never thought of trying to learn how to make them myself.
My mom and I had a tradition for years that we’d go to the local quilt show downtown and have lunch at an amazing local Mexican restaurant. As with many amazing places, they closed during the covid pandemic and decided to retire and not re-open afterwards. It was such a bummer!
There was a particular dish they called Pastel de Elote. It consisted of a delicious corn tamale with an amazing sauce over it. Whether it was a pineapple sauce, a bean sauce, or a cheese sauce, it was always a perfect part of a meal.
I needed to figure out how to re-create it. I began experimenting with tamale pie and sweet tamalitos but none of them were quite there. Meanwhile I started practicing making my own tamales, and I figured it was worth trying a sweet corn filling. Oh man!! That hit the mark! I had finally found it! It was just a matter of practicing and perfecting my technique.
One of the nice things about this recipe is that you can use canned corn, frozen corn thawed, or fresh corn. It all works, and it all tastes good! It will come down to personal preferences and what you can available to you at the time.
I don’t fill mine. I like to cover them in sauce instead. You could add a filling though (think sautéed veggie mix, mmm…), and then use a sauce you’d like to use to finish it. It’s totally up to you. It shouldn’t impact your cook time.
Sweet Corn Tamales
24 corn husks, soaked and patted dry
5 (15 oz) can sweet kernel corn, drained and rinsed (about 6 1/3 cups)
2 c masa harina (I use Maseca and Maseca Tamal)
¾ c plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2/3 c canola oil
Make sure to soak your corn husks beforehand. Place them in a large bowl and cover them completely with boiling water. Let them soak for about an hour. Right before you’re ready to use them, pull them out and pat them dry with towels.
In a blender, add the corn and blend until it’s a medium to finely ground. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth, but there shouldn’t be any whole kernels visible. Meanwhile, in a mixer bowl combine the masa harina, sugar, baking powder, and salt and blend together. Add the oil and mix together. The dough should feel a bit crumbly, almost like wet sand. If you press it into a ball, it should hold its shape. Finally. Add the corn from the blender and mix just until incorporated.
Grab a corn husk and identify which is the smooth side and which is the rough side. Place the smooth side up and add about ¼ - ½ cup of filling to the husk so that it’s smoothed out from about half way up the husk.
Fold the husk in on the sides, and then fold the top down to create a pocket. Place in a bowl with the open edge facing up and continue with the rest of the husks in the same manner.
Once all the tamales are ready, heat a steaming pot and line the bottom with corn husks. Place the tamales into the steamer. Make sure the open ends are all facing up when arranging them and cover them with more corn husks. Place the lid snuggly on top and allow them to steam for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.
Once they’re soft and baked through, place them on a platter to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve with your fave sauce. I love covering these in my black bean puree or my baja sauce. AMAZING!
*You can freeze these. I like to make packs of 6-8 for future meals. I’ll freeze them and then when we’re ready to have them, I thaw them for a couple hours and then steam to warm them the same way they’re cooked initially, except a much shorter time. Maybe only 15 minutes or so, just until they’re warmed through.
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