Title: Sweet Blackberry Blue Corn Tamale
Categories: Amerind Fruit Dessert Pastry
Yield: 1 Servings

		Tamale dough
3/4	c	Strained blackberry puree
1/4	c	Water
1/2	c	Sugar
1/2	tb	Maple syrup or molasses
1	c	Blue corn masa harina
2	tb	Softened butter
1	ts	Fresh lemon juice
8		Big dry husks, or 10"
		Aliminum foil squares
		Filling:
1/2	c	Finely chopped pecans or
		Black walnuts
2	tb	Maple candy rolled into
		Crumbs OR
2	tb	Almond paste
		Topping:
3/4	c	Sour cream, do not use
		Yoghurt
1/4	c	Whipping cream
1	ts	Vanilla
1	ts	Almond extract
2	c	Fresh blackberries
		"destemmed" and washed
2	tb	Sugar

Try to get blue corn masa harina for this; white or yellow will do, but blue looks prettier. Don't use ordinary corn meal; masa harina is treated with lime water and cooks differently. If you have dried corn husks, you can steam the tamales in them, otherwise use aluminum foil.

Bring puree, water, sugar and molasses to a boil. Whisk in masa harina and stir mixture over low heat at a slow-popping bubble for 10 minutes. Stir in butter and lemon juice off heat. Mixture should be a firm, dry dough. not sticky, not crumbly.

Roll and pat dough into 8 squares on the foil or husks, leaving 1-inch edge margin at the sides and slightly more at the ends (to tie up or twist-flod closed). Use about 4 TBS per tamale. The dough should be about 1/2 inch thick or less. Now lay out a row of filling along the long center of the tamale (parallel to long sides of husk if used). Fold up each edge around it to meet in the middle -- a fat rectangle, rather than a roll -- and press edges of tamale closed at ends and top. Fold up and tie husk ends (if using),or fold up and seal shut foil. Steam tamales for 10 minutes in a steamer or wok.

While steaming, whip cream, starting with whipping cream and adding sour cream, form soft peaks, add sugar and flavorings. Remove tamales, cool slightly, open them up and put on big serving plates. Pour a little juice from berries (if some has formed) over each tamale, top with some berries (1/4 cup each) and the cream, saving a few berries to garnish each dish.

If you can find blue corn masa harina, these tamales will be a very interesting purple color from the corn and berries. It's prettier if you use maple syrup, not molasses. Note that you can use several other kinds of fillings: blackberry jam mixed with nuts, just nuts with sugar (but it tends to fall apart), nuts with some sugar and egg to hold it together, etc. You can also use a different kind of jam or jelly (strawberry, raspberry) with the nuts for a red color when the tamale is broken open. In my opinion, using jam or jelly makes it too sweet and overpowers the corn/blackberry flavors. You can also use raspberries instead of blackberries, but they are more sour, so use jam or jelly with the nuts, and don't use blue corn masa, use white or yellow corn masa, so the tamale will be pink.

Paula Giese

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