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Sweet Tamale Cakes with Salsa Verde & Pico

tamales cakes

”Tamale cakes are the perfect food. They are savory and sweet. They can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack,” says Michelle Ezratty Murphy, one of our favorite homecooks and the 2021 Familia Kitchen Grand Prize Recipe Contest winner. Married to a Puerto Rican, Michelle has made it her business to master his family dishes and learn to make his favorite Boricua (including her life-changing prize-winning arroz con pollo) and other Latino dishes.

Tamale cakes are ”great as a side dish or as the whole meal,” Michelle adds. ”And they’re an amazing and fun dish for the vegetarians in your life. Though, trust me, everyone will love them, including your meat-loving friends.”

Watch Michelle make her sweet tamale cakes and top them with salsa verde and pico de gallo in this delicioso (great for vegetarians!) recipe.

”I was inspired to make tamale cakes when some of my cooking-class students asked to learn how to make them,” Michelle says. (Were they thinking of the legendary sweet corn cakes made famous by The Cheesecake Factory, we wonder?) In any case, Michelle went into her Phoenix area kitchen to experiment and came out with this winning recipe that her class of cooking students gobbled up.

[Quick note here from the grammarian at Familia Kitchen. This Tex-Mex dish should be called either tamales or tamal cakes, since tamale is not a word. But tamale cakes is what everyone calls this dish, so we shall — grudgingly — leave it as is.]

”Unlike the traditional tamal, which is made with pork, beef or chicken,” says Michelle, ”the main ingredient in tamale cakes is corn, whole and pureed, which is then mixed with masa harina and flour. It’s important to use sweet corn and make sure that it’s frozen when you cook with it. This gives the cakes a thick texture, somewhat like tamales masa. When topped with pico de gallo and salsa verde, these tamale cakes offer the perfect balance between sweet and savory.”

To take them to the next level of delicioso, she adds, ”Serve tamale cakes with my Southwestern creamy sauce, which I make with Mexican crema or sour cream,” says Michelle. ”I also top them with pico de gallo and green salsa, which is a must.” Michelle swears by the salsa recipe of Familia Kitchen homecook Anjie Villalobos. ”She makes two kinds of salsa verdes — one is the traditional green salsa and the other adds avocado — and I love both,” says Michelle. “For these tamale cakes, you can use either.”

One last reason why this dish is perfección? “Tamale cakes can be eaten any time of the year, but my favorite time to make them is winter because they remind me of comfort food,” Michelle says. “When served with pico de gallo, they feel more summery because of the bright flavors of the lime and cilantro.”

Ready to Try Michelle’s Sweet Tamale Cakes?

Sweet Tamale Cakes with Salsa Verde & Pico de Gallo

Recipe by Michelle Ezratty Murphy
5.0 from 1 vote
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups frozen sweet corn, divided

  • 1/2 cup cup butter, softened

  • 3 Tbsp sugar

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1/2 cup masa harina

  • 2 Tbsp flour, all purpose

  • 1 tsp avocado oil (for each pan fry)

  • 2 scallions, sliced (for garnish)

  • 1 avocado, cubed (for garnish)

Directions

  • Prepare the salsa verde, pico de gallo and Michelle’s Southwestern dressing ahead of time. Refrigerate for 1 hour to chill before serving the tamale cakes.
  • In a food processor, coarsely puree 1 cup of frozen corn. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Into the bowl with the corn, add the softened butter, sugar and salt. Stir well until all combined
  • Add the masa harina and flour. Stir well until blended.
  • Add the remaining ½ cup of whole frozen corn. Mix well by hand until the masa forms into a sticky ball.
  • Measure ½ cup portions of the corn masa mixture and form into a ½-inch thick pattie. The less you handle the cakes the better, says Michelle. ”You want them to be cold and firm when going into the pan so that they don’t fall apart. If you have time, form the patties and freeze them for 30 minutes before frying them in the pan, especially if they seem to be falling apart when forming.”
  • In a preheated skillet on medium heat, add 1 tsp avocado oil and coat the bottom of the pan with a paper towel.
  • Place the cold patties into the hot skillet, taking care not to crowd them.
  • Let them brown for 5 to 8 minutes on medium heat, without moving them.
  • Carefully flip over each patty with a large spatula. Brown the second side for another 5 to 8 minutes, lowering the heat if they seem to be getting charred.
  • When ready to serve, pour about ¼ cup green salsa on each serving plate. Place 1 or 2 tamale cakes on top of the salsa. Add 1 to 2 Tbsp pico de gallo. Top with 1 Tbsp Southwestern sauce. Garnish with sliced scallions and cubed avocado.

Notes

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