In the Key of K

Have you ever tried to make authentic tamales? It’s a ton of work and afterward you question if it’s worth it. You have corn husks you have to soak and then have your masa dough and your fillings and steaming them forever. Well, I decided to skip most of the laborious parts. They are still better in the corn husks but this method is still pretty f*cking good.

Tamale Cupcakes!
InTheKeyOfK

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Masa dough:
3 cups of masa flour
3 cups of vegetable broth
3-4 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Mix it all together. You don’t need any equipment, by hand is fine. It’s a good idea to let it rest for a few minutes to fully hydrate the masa.

Filling:
You can use any filling you want. What’s your favorite taco “meat”? Mine is tofu.

Filling idea 1 — one pound of tofu crumbled and browned in a skillet. Add a packet of taco seasoning and a little water. Stir. Cook the water out.

Filling idea 2 — shredded vegan cheeze

Filling idea 3 — jackfruit “pulled pork” — there are tons of recipes for this sort of thing all over the internet–find one you like! I used two cans of onions, jack fruit (use young jackfruit–some are for dessert and are sweet, don’t use those), roasted red peppers, chipotle chilis in sauce, and taco spices (chili pepper powder, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder). Cook your onions until they are soft with a bit water or a small splash of oil. I would use a jar of roasted red peppers–I didn’t have any so I charred some over the gas stove flames and then chopped them up–after the onions were soft, I added them and all the other ingredients to the onions. You’ll have to mash the jackfruit a little with a spoon or a potato masher so it isn’t in large clumps. There is no wrong way to do this. Just make it taste good.

Other Filling ideas not tested: use your imagination! Slice some jalapenos and add with vegan cheeze. Maybe some cumin spiced sweet potatoes? Maybe make pizza tamales? I might try that. 😏

ASSEMBLE:
After you have the dough and fillings prepared, it’s time to assemble! Check the picture below–use a large cake pan and fill about 1/3 to 1/2 of it with water. Place a 12 muffin silicone baking mold in the water. This will steam the masa.

Fill the muffin mold about 1/2 to 3/4 with masa dough and make a well in the middle for your fillings. Add the fillings and then top off each muffin to cover the filling. Tent some tin foil over the top–try to seal it as best as you can without letting the foil touch the tamales (they WILL stick to it). I folded two pieces together to make an extra large piece and tucked it all around the pan.

Bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Be very careful when handling the hot pan–that VERY HOT water can splash out easily. This recipe made around 14-16 muffins.

Top them with my guacamole!

You can also put some masa in a coffee cup, add some filling (vegan cheeze is the easiest), and then top it with some more masa. microwave for about 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Enjoy!

For really moist and delicious tamales, use the corn husks. The cupcakes aren’t quite as moist but are good enough for me because they are so much less work. The microwave recipe needs some tweaking–it tends to be a little dry (I might try adding an extra tablespoon or two of water to see if that helps).