Mincemeat Tamales with Pumpkin Masa
These festive homemade pumpkin tamales have pumpkin puree in the buttery masa, and a sweetly spiced mincemeat fruit filling. They're perfect for Christmas parties and other holiday celebrations, but I also like to make these anytime in the fall or winter season. You can make a big batch and freeze these tamales de calabaza ahead of time!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Masa Dough
dry ingredients:
- 2½ cups masa flour preferably coarse ground
- 2 tsp baking powder, sifted
- 2 tsp salt
- 1½ tsp Mexican cinnamon substitute regular cinnamon if you can't get canela
liquid ingredients:
- 2 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or hot water
- ¼ cup grated piloncillo or packed brown sugar (use more or less to taste for sweeter or savory pumpkin masa, from 1-3 oz)
cream until light and fluffy:
- ½ lb butter, lard or shortening, or a blend of the two
add, alternating with the masa & broth mixture:
- 15 oz pumpkin puree scant 2 cups
Mincemeat Filling
- 2 pints mincemeat pie filling
Instructions
prep the corn husks
- Rinse the corn husks, removing any stray corn silk or debris, then put them in a large pot or heat resistant bowl.
- Cover them with boiling or very hot water, and weigh them down with a plate.
make masa dough
- cream fat: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl, beat and cream the softened butter or lard until it is smooth, fluffy, and has lightened in color.
- heat broth: If your broth isn’t already warm, bring it up to a simmer or heat it in the microwave. Add the piloncillo or brown sugar, and stir to dissolve. Let this mixture cool slightly while you mix the dry ingredients.
- mix dry ingredients: In a medium-large mixing bowl, combine the masa flour, baking powder, and salt. If your baking powder has any lumps, sift it into the bowl to make sure those are broken up. Mix with a whisk or wooden spoon until well combined.
- mix broth & masa: Carefully pour the hot broth into the dry ingredients, and stir or mix well with a sturdy spoon or spatula. The mixture will seem thin, but will thicken up as the masa flour absorbs the liquid.
- Add half of the pumpkin puree to the whipped butter or lard. Add the masa and stock mixture by spoonfuls, alternating with the rest of the pumpkin puree. If you have a stand mixer, add the dough balls while the mixer is running on medium low speed. If you are mixing by hand or with a hand mixer, alternate adding and mixing the masa dough. Keep adding both until you have incorporated all of the masa and pumpkin into the tamale dough.
assemble the tamales
- To fill and roll your tamales, take a large corn husk from the soaking pot and shake the excess water off. There are two sides, a rough side and a smooth one. The rough side is the outside, and the smooth side faces the filling.
- Using a wide wooden spoon or spatula, spread about a half inch layer down the center of the shiny side of the corn husk. See the photos below.
- Spread a tablespoon or two of mincemeat pie filling down the middle of the masa.
- Fold each end over to enclose the filling in corn masa. Smooth it with a wet fingertip if needed.
- Fold the sides of the wrapper over the center, like folding a letter in thirds. Then fold the pointed end upwards.
steam the tamales
- Line the perforated steamer pot liner or metal colander with any extra or irregular corn husk wrappers and make a cap of them to cover the top and protect them from pooling water while letting in the steam. These extra husks add more flavor to the steam.
- Stack the tamales in the lined steamer basket, with the open ends of the tamales facing up to contain the filling.
- Place the steamer basket in a large pot with several inches of boiling water in the bottom. Cover the pot with a lid and set a timer for 45-55 minutes.
- Check the pot periodically and top up the water as needed. Don’t let the pot boil dry as it will scorch and give your tamales a burnt flavor (and make cleanup a nightmare).
- Check a tamale when the timer is up. The tamales will be very soft coming out of the steamer, but will firm up as they cool. They’re done when the dough doesn’t stick to the wrapper.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
