For my birthday my mom took me to the Cheesecake Factory. It was the first time I had ever eaten there. Wowza! Now I understand why it’s so popular!

We started out with these Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes for an appetizer. They were SOOOO good! There were four of us and we devoured these in just minutes!

While we were eating these Corn Tamale Cakes, it reminded me of my mom’s corn casserole recipe. So about a week later I attempted to make a copycat version in my own kitchen. In the words of my husband, I NAILED IT!! This tasted EXACTLY like the Cheesecake Factory’s! Once again we found ourselves scarfing these down like there was no tomorrow!

So the Corn Cake part is really easy! It’s basically corn casserole but instead of baking it in a casserole dish in the oven, you fry the batter in a skillet just like you would pancakes!

• 2 Cans cream style corn
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 small package Jiffy Corn mix *
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk
•  2 eggs
• Coconut oil for frying

*Since my home is gluten free I used a gluten free cornbread mix from Aldi. I omitted the sugar but followed the rest of the recipe. If you use a different cornbread mix you may have to adjust the recipe accordingly.

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Pour 1/3 cup batter into the skillet and cook for approximately 2 minutes per side, or until the cake begins to turn brown and cooked throughout.
4. Continue until all the batter has been cooked.

Now for the yummy part! The toppings!

• Tomatoes
• Cilantro
• Red onions
• Guacamole and/or diced avocado
• Sour Cream
• Spices: Cumin and chili powder
• Cheddar Cheese (This wasn’t originally apart of the recipe, but my husband liked it!)

The best topping for your corn cakes is pico de gallo!

1. Combine 3 tomatoes (diced), a handful of chopped cilantro, and 3/4 of a red onion (diced).
2. Refrigerate overnight.

Pico de gallo is much, much, much better if it sits, refrigerated, overnight. While we definitely eat it when it’s fresh (because I never plan ahead), it’s always better to make it the day before if you can remember and plan ahead that far!

Now the Cheesecake Factory version had sour cream and another type of sauce. I couldn’t figure out what the second one was but it tasted like cumin and chili powder. So I just stirred those spices into my sour cream before I drizzled it on top of my corn cakes. I didn’t measure it out, I just kept adding, stirring, and tasting until I liked it. So add those spices to taste!

You might be wondering why I just don’t go back and order some more, instead of going to all the trouble to recreate this at home. Well, the closest Cheesecake Factory to me is over 2 hours away. So if you are like me and don’t live close to a Cheesecake Factory, you can make your very own copycat recipe!

Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes (Copycat Cheesecake Factory)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

These delicious tamale cakes can serve as an appetizer, side dish, or even main meal.

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Ingredients

• 2 cans cream style corn
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 small package Jiffy Corn mix *
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• Coconut oil for frying
• TOPPINGS:
• Tomatoes
• Cilantro
• Red onions
• Guacamole and/or diced avocado
• Sour Cream
• Spices: Cumin and chili powder
• Cheddar Cheese (This wasn’t originally apart of the recipe, but my husband liked it!)

Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Pour 1/3 cup batter into the skillet and cook for approximately 2 minutes per side, or until cake begins to turn brown and cooked throughout.
4. Continue until all the batter has been cooked.

Notes

*Since my home is gluten-free I used a gluten-free cornbread mix from Aldi. I omitted the sugar but followed the rest of the recipe. If you use a different cornbread mix you may have to adjust the recipe accordingly.

Now if only I could figure out how to copy the cheesecake recipes!!

Enjoy!

Anna

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