Tamales Dulce w/ Mango & Black Beans

We got hit up by an East Coast cohort of ours who was looking for a sweet and savory dessert recipe to make for one of his new female friends he was to be entertaining for the evening. 

With today being National Raisins & Spice Day, and figuring since the guy hardly eats meat and is trying to turn vegetarian at some point in his life, we would give his a great recipe for a sweet yet savory Tamale that would give his date the impression he could cook (and was intuitive enough to not order takeout.) 

Needless to say the date was a success, the Tamales came out perfect and we couldn’t be happier (well that is unless he paid us for this lesson,) but hey who are we to complain, we do this for the love of food and full stomachs.

Now back to the recipe, these Tamales go perfect with a bit of Black Beans & fresh Mango, so we decided why not give you all the steps to make yourself a delicious dessert (that doesn't cost that much.)

Enjoy this dish and make sure you let them know how many painstaking hours it took you in the kitchen to pull it off.  

(Click READ MORE to read the entire recipe)

Tamale Ingredients:

1 cup real maple syrup

4 star anise

3 whole cloves

½ orange, halved

1 cinnamon stick

4 ounces masa harina

¼ cup fresh whole corn kernels

1 TBS pine nuts, toasted

4 TBS sultana raisins, softened in hot water

6 TBS grated asadero cheese

2 peeled bananas, cut in ½ lengthwise and then cut in chunks

6 banana leaves, cut to 8 by 10-inches

Black Bean Ingredients:

1 can Black Beans (drained)

½ Small Brown Onion (Small Dice)

1 tsp Paprika

½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Sugar

1 TBS Olive Oil

Sour Creme or Creme Fresca (for garnish)

2 Ripe Medium Mangoes (sliced in half, deseeded and scored)

2-3 Limes (washed & quartered)

Directions

In a large saucepan, slowly boil the syrup, star anise, cloves, orange and cinnamon stick. 

Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes.

Strain the mixture into the masa harina, stir to incorporate and discard the strained spices and fruit.

Add the corn, pine nuts, Sultana raisins, Asadero cheese, and banana pieces to the masa mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Thaw a package of banana leaves by placing the still sealed leaves in a shallow pan of hot water, until thawed.

Open package and rinse leaves in cool water and then cut into 8-inch pieces.

Assemble the tamales by placing 4 ounces of the mixture in the center of each banana leaf, and fold in sides to create a package.

Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

For the Black Beans:

While the Tamales bake in the oven, heat a skillet over medium heat and add the 1 TBS of olive oil to the pan.

Place the onion in the pan and toss to coat with Olive Oil. 

Season the onions lightly with Kosher Salt and the Paprika.

Sautee the onions for 5-7 minutes then add the can of Black Beans, Cayenne, Garlic Powder, and Sugar. Stir to incorporate and allow them to simmer, slightly covered on low heat until the tamales are ready (if the beans cook before the tamales are finished don’t worry, just cover them tightly and turn the stove off.)

For the Mango:

Cut the Mango in half and remove the seed, score the inside of the mango (similar to what you see in the photo) and push the fruit out of the skin once scored. Keeping the skin on helps to score the fruit and prevents you from mashing and mangling it before it gets to the plate.

Drizzle the mango with a little bit of lime juice and dash of salt on the Mango.

Plating:

Remove the Tamales from the oven, and plate them next to the mango and black beans, dollop some sour cream ontop of the Beans, place a un-squeezed lime on the Mango and serve.