Mazamorra, Peruvian Spiced Fruit Pudding
Mazamorra morada is the jellied purple pudding sold from Lima street carts and simmered in home kitchens for Peru's spring festivals, traditionally built on maiz morado, the dramatic dark purple corn of the Andes, stewed with dried fruit and thickened with sweet potato starch. Purple corn does not travel far outside the region, so this version borrows its idea rather than its ingredient: a pot of dark berries delivers the same color and a bright, fruity backbone, while prunes, apricots, and apple bring the chewy dried-fruit character the real thing is known for. Dates carry the sweetness that would otherwise come from a heavy pour of sugar, cornstarch gives the signature spoonable set, and a final squeeze of lime does what a squeeze of lime always does, which is make everything taste like more of itself.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Frozen mixed berries
- 1 Apple, peeled and diced small
- 4 Prunes, pitted and chopped
- 3 Dried apricots, chopped
- 4 Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 stick cassia cinnamon
- 3 wholes Cloves
- 3 tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tbsp Lime juice, fresh, to finish
Method
- Simmer the berries with 3 cups (720 ml) water, the cinnamon stick, and the cloves for 10 minutes, until the fruit collapses and the liquid turns deep purple. The dark berries stand in for the purple corn that colors the original, and the long spiced simmer is what gives the pudding its fragrance.
- Blend the pitted dates with 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the hot berry liquid until smooth, then stir the date syrup back into the pot. Dates do the work of the raw sugar a Lima cook would pour in, so blend them fully or the pudding turns grainy.
- Add the diced apple, chopped prunes, and apricots and simmer 8 more minutes, until the fruit is tender. Mazamorra is traditionally studded with dried fruit, and each kind softens into its own pocket of flavor.
- Slurry the cornstarch with 3 tbsp (45 ml) cold water, then stir it into the simmering pot. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until it turns glossy and thick enough to coat the spoon. Cornstarch must go in as a cold slurry or it seizes into lumps, and it only clears once it comes back to a simmer.
- Pull the pot off the heat, fish out the cinnamon and cloves, and stir in the lime juice. The finishing acid lifts the whole thing and keeps the sweetness from going flat. Pour into cups and chill at least 2 hours; it sets as it cools.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 170 calories, 2 g protein, 6 g fiber, 10 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
