Sweet Tamales With Yams And Pecans - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 large garnet yam, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/4 pound-or jewel yam)
1/4 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons softened butter, divided
1 1/2 - 2 cups masa harina flour (corn flour)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or 1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
15 -20 corn husks, soaked for 1 hour in warm water
Chipotle Cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon minced chipotle chile in adobo (canned)

Preparation

Place yam in a steamer basket and steam for 15 minutes or until very tender; mash with brown sugar and 2 tablespoons butter; set aside.
Place masa, remaining butter, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat in enough broth to make a soft dough. Lightly stir in yam mixture and pecans, leaving some small chunks of yam and taking care not to overmix.
Spoon about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mixture in the center of each corn husk, depending on how large you want them to be. Fold in sides, then tie the ends with small strips of corn husk. (Go ahead and make a square knot on each end--when they are cooked, the knotted strip slips right off the ends.).
Place in a steamer basket and cook, covered, for 1 hour. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes before serving with Chipotle Cream.
For Chipotle Cream: Stir together sour cream and minced canned chipotle pepper. Add more adobo sauce to taste.
Chef tip: For a great appetizer, make these in mini size. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of yam mixture into a smaller piece of corn husk; steam for only 30 minutes.