Mazamorra Morada

Purple Corn Pudding with Pineapple

Take chicha morada (page 224), thicken it into a pudding and add dried fruit, and you have mazamorra morada. It’s a popular, homey stovetop pudding that cooks make during the winter, and vendors sell the dark purple corn-and-fruit pudding on the streets. This is the dessert to make if you’ve got a mixed crowd of kids and adults, dairy and gluten lovers and avoiders, and carnivores and vegans. If you don’t have anyone at the table with dietary issues, I love the warm pudding with a drizzle of heavy cream or vanilla ice cream. The chilled leftovers make a good breakfast.

Prunes and apricots are traditional and get nice and plump in the pudding, but you can use a mix of any dried fruit, including raisins, cherries, or even strawberries. Some dried fruits are very moist straight out of the bag, others need a good soaking. Use your own judgment.

Harina de camote, or sweet potato starch, doesn’t leave the off-taste that cornstarch can in large quantities, so it works really well as a thickener in desserts. It can be tricky to find sweet potato starch in the States, but you could substitute any potato starch. With this recipe, even cornstarch works, if that’s all you have.

• 1½ cups mixed dried apricots and pitted prunes, or a mix of your favorite dried fruits
• 6 cups Chicha Morada (page 224), made with the recommended ¾ cup each sugar and lime juice
• ⅓ cup harina de camote (sweet potato starch) or other potato starch, plus more as needed, or substitute cornstarch
• 1 medium Granny Smith or other tart apple, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 cup bite-size fresh pineapple chunks
• 1 lime, halved
• Ground cinnamon

1 Halve the apricots and prunes and place them in separate small bowls. Pour simmering water over the fruit to cover, and soak until very plump and soft, as few as 30 minutes for soft fruit or up to 2 hours for stiffer fruit (usually the apricots).

2 In a small bowl, whisk together about ½ cup of the chicha morada and the potato starch until no lumps remain. In a medium to large saucepan, bring the remaining chicha morada to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and whisk in the potato starch mixture. Bring the chicha morada back to a simmer, and cook for a minute or two, then stir in the dried fruits, apple, and pineapple. Cook until the pudding thickens somewhat (it will not be as thick as American-style puddings) and has a delicious fruity aroma, a solid 5 minutes.

3 Turn off the heat and squeeze in the juice of one half of the lime. Taste, and add the juice from the remaining half, if you’d like. Let the pudding cool for at least 15 minutes (it will thicken a little more as it cools) before spooning it into serving bowls and sprinkle each serving with cinnamon. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate the pudding for up to 5 days, and serve it chilled.