Mazamorra Morada – Purple Corn and Pineapple Pudding

This one is a little tough to make in North America, what with our lack of purple Peruvian corn.

In Peru, however, it’s one almost every restaurant’s dessert menu. It’s a thick pudding made from boiled down corn and pineapple husks with tons of dried and fresh fruit, sugar, and a couple of warm spices. The real trick for me was translating a couple of Spanish recipes for the dish into English. They ranged from cooking for 30 minutes to cooking for a couple of hours. And I didn’t have any dried fruit…

…but it all worked out fine. It was sticky and ridiculously sweet, and I didn’t overcook the fresh pineapple and quince (can you overcook a quince?) or under-steep the pineapple “carcass.” You’re supposed to use a special smaller, less sweet, more colourful pineapple (brighter oranges and greens in the outer peel) for the dish, removing the flesh from the core and peel. But I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine either way. Use an organic pineapple if you can, though, as those things are sprayed with a couple of nasty things.

If you’ve got purple corn, make this. Actually, I’m going to try making it with sweet corn and regular large pineapple soon, and I have a feeling it’ll be just fine – just a lot less purple.

Mazamorra Morada
(adapted from some English recipes and Peruvian recipes)

• 1 small pineapple, peeled and chopped into 3/4″ cubes, peel and core reserved
• Juice of 1 large pineapple (plus enough water to make 9 cups), or 4 1/2 cups canned pineapple juice plus 4 1/2 cups water (or some combination of pineapple juice and water to equal 9 cups)
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup prunes, diced (optional, but important, like taking out the garbage)
• ½ cup dried apricots, diced (optional – a good way to dice dried fruit is with scissors, but knives work too)
• 1 kilo (2.2lb) ears of maíz morado (purple corn on the cob)
• 3 cloves
• 3 cinnamon sticks (or 4 if you really like cinnamon)
• 1 apple, peeled and cored
• 1 quince, peeled, quartered and cored
• ½ cup sweet potato starch (or potato starch, or tapioca starch or white rice flour, or in a pinch, corn starch)
• Juice of 3 limes
• Ground cinnamon, to garnish

1. First chop and peel the pineapple(s). If you’re juicing the second (you don’t need an actual juicier), don’t chop it into 3/4″ pieces. Just toss chunks of itin the blender. Blend and then sieve out the fibre and  any leftover eyes. Reserve juice for step 3 and core and peel for step 2. Reserve fibre for savoury pineapple bread or muffins or cake in place of a cup of flour. It serves a similar purpose as apple sauce).

2. Combine the sugar and 1 cup water in a medium pot. Bring it to a boil and add the carefully chopped 3/4″ pineapple pieces plus the dried fruit if you’re using it. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to coat the pineapple in syrup. Remove from heat.

3. Remove the corn kernels from the cob (set the cobs upright in a shallow bowl and slice vertically down the core. In a large pot add the kernels to the pineapple juice (or juice and water) and bring to a boil. Add the pineapple “carcass” (core and peel) of one or two of the pineapples along with the cloves, cinnamon sticks, quartered quince and apple. Return to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low for about an hour. If the pot starts getting dry add more water (at least 2 cups) and once the liquid boils again, lower the heat even more than before to reduce the liquid more slowly. Simmer for no more than another 10 minutes.

4. Strain the infused pineapple juice into a large pot or bowl. Discard the corn cobs and pineapple peels and all the strained fruit (or eat the dried fruit and cooked apple and quince if you like). Take a cup of this liquid and set aside to dissolve the potato starch. Pour the rest back into the pot and bring back to a boil. Combine the 1 cup reserved liquid with the potato starch and stir into the pot. When the pot comes to a boil reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the pudding thickens, about 5 minutes.

5. Stir in the pineapple cubes in syrup along with the juice of two limes (Peruvians like this balance leaning more toward the sweet side, but I prefer the sour). Taste and adjust the sweet/sour balance. Add more lime juice or sugar as needed. To serve, pour into parfait glasses or bowls and sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve with whipped (coconut) cream, if you wish. Or Italian meringue if you’ve gone all out on Peruvian desserts and made a Port-meringue with sospiro de Limena…