Don’t judge me, but I love me some Cheesecake Factory. Maybe it is that Arkansas lacks one, or maybe it is because I have had many dishes there and they are all pretty ligit!
Of all the dishes I have tried there, my ultimate favorite (one of my favorite dishes I have ever had, anywhere) is their Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes appetizer…which is stupidly huge. I could not live months or years without having this dish again, so I started the experimenting. I think I’ve gotten a really close version of their tamale cakes here…at least I think it is really delicious!
Below is the recipe video as well as the written recipe, if you’d like to give it a whirl:
Tamale Cake
Ingredients:
-1.5 cups (12 ounces) sweet, frozen whole-kernel corn
-1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
-3 tablespoons sugar
-pinch of salt
-1/2 cup masa
-2 -3 tablespoons all -purpose flour
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. In a food processor, add only 1 cup of the sweet corn and puree for about 3 seconds, or until it has a coarse-textured puree. Add to a mixing bowl.
3. Add melted butter, sugar, masa, 2 tablespoon flour, and salt. Stir together until well-incorporated. Add another tablespoon of flour (possibly 2 more) until the texture is thick enough that you can make patties.
4. Add the last 1/2 cup of corn and stir in.
5. Form into patties about the size of a hamburger. There will 5. Place them on a sprayed baking sheet. (If you want to make smaller or bigger, you certainly can, but your oven time will differ).
6. Put in over for 40-minutes total, flipping them over half-way through. Once they are golden brown, they are finished.
Tomatillo Cilantro Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
-3 large tomatillos, chopped roughly
-1/2 cup mild green chiles (I use canned, but fresh would be best)
-1/2 small yellow onion, chopped roughly
-handful fresh cilantro (more or none, depending on your relationship with the herb)
-1 teaspoon minced garlic
-pinch of salt and ground black pepper
-1.5 teaspoon ground cumin
– 1.2 cup heavy whipping cream
Directions:
1. Place all ingredients into food processor and pulse until you have
a well-combined sauce.
2. Heat in a sauce pan on medium heat until it starts to bubble. Turn
heat off and add heavy cream. Stir together. Tah-dah!
Spicy Remoulade Sauce (You may use any spicy remoulade, or spicy aoili you prefer. This one is just my favorite)
Ingredients:
-1 cup mayo
-1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
-2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
-1 teaspoon horseradish sauce
-1 tablespoon Sriracha
-1 teaspoon yellow mustard
-2 teaspoons worcestershire
-1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
-1 teaspoon sugar
Directions:
1. Simply mix until a smooth sauce has formed. Sometimes, I add a little cold water to thin it out so it is easier for drizzling.
Black Bean Corn Salsa
Ingredients:
-1 can (15 ounces) whole kernel corn, rinsed.
-1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed.
-1/2 purple onion, finely chopped.
-3 medium tomatoes, de-seeded and finely chopped.
-1 avacado, chopped.
-1 tablespoon minced garlic
-1 bunch of cilantro, chopped.
-1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Stir all ingredients together. That’s it!
Assembly:
1. Place the tomatillo cilantro cream sauce on the plate first, it is our base.
2. Add a tamale cake.
3. Top with black bean corn salsa.
4. Drizzle spicy remoulade over everything.
Optional steps: Add a dollop of sour cream on each tamale cake.
Top with extra cilantro.
Here is my version with just one tamale cake instead of three, because three of these babies is a lot!
If anyone tries this recipe, let me know what you think in the comments.