Sweet Potato Tamales. Is that weird? Well, maybe it is a little. However, they were really good, especially with a drizzle of honey over them. This month’s Improv Challenge ingredients were Sweet Potatoes and Honey. I usually eat my sweet potatoes roasted, but that seemed too boring. I thought about making some cake or cookies or muffins or even biscuits, but in the end, my imagination was affected by my menu. While I started putting a Mexican dinner together, I suddenly had to have tamales.
The fact that I did not have any corn husks and that two local grocery stores also didn’t have any corn husks (grrrr) did not sway me. I did a quick Internet search and discovered that I could use foil or parchment paper as a substitute. I was concerned that the steam wouldn’t get through foil like it would corn husks, so I chose to go with the paper. Although it was quite soggy by the time the cooking was over, it worked like a charm. (And it also made a funky “flower” garnish on the plate next to the tamale)
1. Info for Sweet Potato Dessert Tamales
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
- Servings: 3
- Calories: 181kcal
2. Ingredients for Sweet Potato Dessert Tamales
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup butter
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1½ cups mas harina
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cooked and pureed
- 2 Tbsp honey (+ more to drizzle over cooked tamales)
- 1 Tbsp candied ginger, chopped
- parchment paper
3. Directions:
- With a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese.
- Add baking powder, ground ginger, cayene, masa harina and salt, mixing well.
- Add sweet potato puree, honey and candied ginger.
- Cut parchment into 8 inch squares.
- Place ¼ cup of sweet potato mixture in the center of each square.
- Fold two opposite sides over the mixture.
- Fold the other two sides up to form a rectangle.
- Heat 2 inches of water in a steamer to a boil.
- Set the tamale packets in the steamer, cover and steam over as low a heat as will still keep the water boiling.
- Steam for 1 hour.
- Watch the water level to make sure the pan does not boil dry.
- Unwrap and serve with a dusting of cinnamon or ginger and drizzle with honey.