Sweet Tamales – Tamales de Dulce

As I have mentioned, there is an endless variety of tamales in Mexico; in my previous post, I shared my recipe for savoury tamales wrapped in corn husk, with an assortment of fillings. For this post, I have prepared a batch of sweet tamales.

Sweet tamales are not as well known outside of Mexico as their savoury counterparts, but they are equally tasty, and easier to assemble, because the flavourings are usually mixed in with the corn paste. The classic flavour is cinnamon & raisin, often coloured pink; another popular flavour is pineapple, and some others include chocolate, peaches in syrup, mango, strawberry, etc. Old recipes call for lard as the fat of choice, while more contemporary ones use vegetable shortening or butter. For savoury tamale paste, the addition of hot broth is recommended, but for the sweet version, hot water or a cinnamon infusion are preferred. Finally, a…