Cocoa Tamal

Sesame-Peanut Butter, Concord Grape Sorbet, Toasted Peanuts, and Maldon Salt

Pastry Chef Isabel Coss of Cosme | New York

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Adapted by StarChefs | october 2019

INGREDIENTS:

Cocoa Tamal
(Yield: Twenty 50-gram tamales)
120 grams brown butter, melted
80 grams Valrhona cocoa powder
4 grams baking powder
4 grams baking soda
4 grams salt
60 grams raw sugar
250 grams masa
50 banana leaves, cut to appropriate size

Sesame-Peanut Butter:
(Yield: 1 cup)
15 grams honey
170 grams toasted peanuts
40 grams toasted sesame seeds
4 grams sea salt

Concord Grape Sorbet:
(Yield: 1 quart)
500 grams concord grapes
300 grams agave syrup, plus additional as needed
1 gram citric acid
1 gram salt
0.7 gram xanthan gum

To Assemble and Serve:
Toasted peanuts
Maldon salt

METHOD:

For the Cocoa Tamal:
On steam, heat combination oven to 275ºF. To a Vitamix blender, add butter, cocoa, baking powder and soda, salt, and sugar; pulse until just combined. Add masa and purée. Transfer to a pastry bag with a plain tip. Pipe 50-grams masa mixture onto each banana leaves. Fold leaves to create a tight parcel. Place tamales in a perforated hotel pan and steam 45 minutes. Keep warm. 

For the Sesame Peanut Butter:
To a food processor, add all ingredients and process until smooth.

For the Concord Grape Sorbet:
Prepare and heat a double boiler. In a heatproof, nonreactive bowl, place grapes and cover with plastic. Place bowl over double boiler and cook until juice starts releasing and color turns darker. Strain through a chinois into a Vitamix blender with remaining ingredients; purée. Strain into a nonreactive container. Add more agave syrup until mixture registers 24°Bx on a refractometer. Process sorbet in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Cover and freeze.

To Assemble and Serve:
On a serving plate, place Cocoa Tamal. Finish with Sesame-Peanut Butter and Concord Grape Sorbet. 

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