Ingredients
The corn
- 500 gmasa harina
- or fresh corn masa
- or 800 g fresh sweetcorn kernels
- blended
The dairy
- 250 gnatilla
- or soured cream
- 200 ggrated hard cheese
- queso Turrialba or similar
- 150 gbutter, melted
- 300 mlmilk
- or more, to loosen
The rest
- 200 gsugar
- or to taste
- 3eggs
- 2 teaspoonsbaking powder
- 1 teaspoonvanilla
- half a teaspoon salt
To serve
- cut into squares
- at room temperature
- with coffee
- at Christmas
Directions
- Check the packet for cross-contamination warnings. Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Hot butter cooks the eggs when they are added. Let it cool to warm rather than hot. A few minutes off the heat is enough. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together.
- Beat them until they are pale and combined. The sugar should be well dissolved into them. Beat in the natilla and the milk. Add them gradually while beating. The mixture should be smooth and pourable. Stir the masa harina into the wet mixture. Add it gradually rather than all at once. Whisk it in to avoid any lumps. Masa harina lumps badly if tipped in.
- Keep whisking until it is entirely smooth. Blend the sweetcorn kernels to a rough purée. Add a little of the milk to help it blend. Leave some texture rather than making it smooth. Then stir it into the wet mixture.
- Add more milk if it is too thick. It should fall slowly from a ladle. Stir the grated cheese into the batter. Grate it coarsely rather than finely. Stir it through the batter evenly. Keep a little back to scatter on top. Stir in the baking powder and the salt. Add them last rather than early. Baking powder starts working once wet.
- Salt balances the sugar and the cheese. Grease a large baking tin thoroughly. Use a wide shallow tin rather than a deep one. The cake should be about four centimetres deep. Grease it well and line the base with paper. Pour the batter in and bake it until set. About one hundred and eighty degrees works well.
- Scatter the reserved cheese over near the end. Add it about ten minutes before the end. Let the cake cool completely in the tin. Cutting it warm gives a collapsing mess. Cut the cooled cake into squares.
- Use a sharp knife and cut cleanly downward. Squares of about six centimetres are usual. Lift them out with a palette knife. Serve the squares at room temperature. It is not usually served warm at all.
Technique
- Let it cool completely in the tin, at least two hours: the corn starch continues setting as it cools and it goes from soft to genuinely sliceable. Cutting it warm gives a collapsing mess.
- Masa harina lumps badly if tipped in — add it gradually and whisk it in until entirely smooth. Let the melted butter cool to warm before it meets the eggs, since hot butter cooks them into lumps.
- This contains cream, cheese, butter and milk throughout and is not suitable for dairy-free diets. Masa harina is naturally gluten free, but check the packet for cross-contamination warnings.
Substitutions
- Fresh or frozen sweetcorn kernels blended to a rough purée replace the masa harina, giving a lighter moister cake; both are genuinely made in Costa Rica, masa giving the denser more traditional result. Ordinary cornmeal is not the same as masa and will not work.
- Soured cream replaces natilla, the Costa Rican soured cream, which is thinner and tangier. Mozzarella or a young gouda replace queso Turrialba, a mild semi-hard cheese with a protected designation — neither is quite the same, and the atlas records that honestly.
Variations
- This is baked in a tray and cut into squares rather than wrapped and steamed, sharing only the corn base with a leaf-wrapped tamal — asado means baked, and that is genuinely the whole distinction. The atlas records them as unrelated.
- It is sweet but contains cheese and salt, which surprises people at first and is entirely characteristic: the cheese balances the sugar considerably. Grate it coarsely so it stays visible, and keep some back to scatter on top for the last ten minutes, since added at the start it simply burns.
- This is a dense moist cake that does not rise much and should stay moist inside — aim for a skewer with a few moist crumbs rather than a completely dry one, which means it has overbaked. Use a wide shallow tin so the cake is about four centimetres deep.
History
A Christmas and fiesta bake of the Central Valley, unrelated to the leaf-wrapped tamal despite the name.
Frequently asked questions
What is Tamal asado?
Tamal asado is a dessert from Costa Rica: baked sweet corn cake with cheese and cream, cut in squares. A Christmas and fiesta bake of the Central Valley, unrelated to the leaf-wrapped tamal despite the name.
How long does Tamal asado take to make?
Tamal asado takes 25 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 12. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Tamal asado?
Yes, within limits. Fresh or frozen sweetcorn kernels blended to a rough purée replace the masa harina, giving a lighter moister cake; both are genuinely made in Costa Rica, masa giving the denser more traditional result. Ordinary cornmeal is not the same as masa and will not work. Soured cream replaces natilla, the Costa Rican soured cream, which is thinner and tangier. Mozzarella or a young gouda replace queso Turrialba, a mild semi-hard cheese with a protected designation — neither is quite the same, and the atlas records that honestly.
What is the most important thing to get right in Tamal asado?
Check the packet for cross-contamination warnings. Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Hot butter cooks the eggs when they are added. Let it cool to warm rather than hot. A few minutes off the heat is enough. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together.
