"Dominican Arepa Dulce de Maiz is a sweet cornmeal cake made with fine cornmeal, three kinds of milk (coconut milk, evaporated milk & whole milk), brown butter, raisins, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice."
Cornmeal Coconut Cake with Pumpkin (Arepa Dulce De Maiz)
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Prep time 7mins
Cook time 55mins
Serves or Makes: 8
Recipe Card
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon for buttering baking pan or pot brown butter
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
- 2 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons brown butter
- 2 cups fine cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups brown butter
- 1 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 4 sticks cinnamon
- 1/2 cup raisins
Method
Step 1
Heat oven to 350ºF. Butter an enameled cast iron casserole or baking dish
Step 2
In a large pot, add the whole milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, pumpkin puree, brown butter, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. After everything is combined, add the cinnamon sticks.
Step 3
Put the pot with the mixture on the stove over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid sticking – about 5-7 minutes. The mixture will cook quickly, so don’t take your eyes off the pot.
Step 4
When the mixture starts to boil, lower the heat and continue stirring until you reach a consistency like grits. Remove from the heat, and remove the cinnamon sticks.
Step 5
Mix raisins with a TableSpoon of flour and shake off the excess. This will prevent raisins from sticking to each other and sinking to the bottom of the cake. Add to the mixture and combine.
Step 6
Pour mixture on previously buttered enameled cast iron casserole or baking dish and bake uncovered for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. It should be golden brown on top.
Step 7
Let it cool down to room temperature completely before removing from the pan. See notes
Step 8
Serve with hot chocolate or coffee.
Step 9
NOTES: Bake in an enameled cast iron casserole, in a baking dish, or in a cake mold or spring mold. I highly recommend waiting several hours before unmolding the arepa. When it’s cold it is easy to get out in one piece. If you are impatient like me, expect not to have one nice round cake. If you want a vegan option: use nut or soymilk instead of the whole milk and instead of butter uses a nut butter.