Mexican Tamale Recipes

Chocolate Tamale Recipe

12 cups prepared masa or masa harina masa without salt
1 cup sugar or to taste
2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
10 ounces milk, bittersweet or white chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/3 cup chopped maraschino cherries (optional)
30-40 dried corn husks, cleaned of debris and soaked in warm water until pliable (about 20 minutes)

Mix sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla into masa by hand. It's messy but efficient. Taste dough for sweetness. Add more sugar if necessary. The masa will lose some sweetness during the cooking process. Mix cherries into masa dough.

Scoop about 2 tablespoons masa and place in center on the smooth side of 1 corn husk. Press down center of masa with thumb to make a small well. Fill well with chocolate and cover with masa. Fold sides and bottom in. Tie with a strip of corn husk or string, if you like, or just leave folded. Repeat with remaining corn husks and filling.

Cook tamales in a tamale steamer or in a conventional steamer. Line tray or basket with corn husks; place tamales on top. The tamales should not come in contact with the water. To prevent steamer from drying out, put a coin in the bottom of the steamer. You will hear it clinking as long as there is boiling water in the steamer. Steam tamales about 1 hour. They are done when masa no longer sticks to the corn husks when tamales are unrolled.

Yield: 1-2 dozen tamales
Prep Time: 1-2 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Intermediate

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