Arepa de Maiz Dulce: Trying my hand at Dominican cooking

That's "Sweet corn cake" to you. And its a beauty. I first tried this little gem in the mountain town of Constanza where a local colmado was selling it for breakfast. It was so scrumptioius that I went back after lunch to see if I could get another piece, but alas! It was gone. 
And so I've had a serious craving for it ever since. 
Problem is, I haven't been able to find it! Upon furthering questioning, I discovered that this tasty treat seems to be a regional thing, more popular in the mountain towns of Jarabacoa and Constanza than in my home-sweet-Santiago. So with a serious craving and no arepas to be found, what was a girl to do? Tie on the apron strings and make it myself, of course. 
I found the original recpipe at El Fogoncito, but changed it around a little to suit my needs. 
So first let's start with the ingredients:

• 1 pound of corn meal. (1 libra de harina de maíz)
• 1 standard-size can of evaporated milk (1 lata de leche evaporada)
• 1/2- 1 cup raisins (1/2- 1 taza pasas) to your liking. These can be omitted if you hate raisins, but I would a bit more sugar in that case. Also, the traditional recipe is made with regular raisins, but I sprung for the fancy golden ones)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (1 cucharadita de vainilla)
• 1 tablespoon butter (1 cucharada de mantequilla)
• 1 standard-size can of coconut milk (1 lata de leche de coco)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (3/4 taza de azúcar moreno)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (1 cucharadita de canela)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (1/2 cucharadita de sal)

1. First things first, you will need to preheat your oven. No, I cannot tell you what temperature to set it to. With my "Dominican" oven, I just turn on the gas to about the middle setting and throw in a match. The oven gets nice and toasty in no time, but I have NO IDEA what temperature I'm cooking at.  For you trying this at home, I'd say shoot for around 350 F. 
2. Next, In a large bowl, stir together the corn meal, evaporated milk, vanilla, raisins, and cinnamon and let sit. 
(another important note is that this recipe is super forgiving. I don't have a measuring cup or real teaspoons or tablespoons, so all measurements were approximate. It still turned out great!!)

2. Now take out a large pot and pour in your coconut milk, sugar, butter, and salt, and bring it just to the point before boiling. 

3. Once little bubble start to form, toss in your corn meal mixture and stir vigorously (over low heat) for about 5 minutes.  It's time for your arm workout of the day!

The mixture will start of being somewhat soupy, but will soon thicken up. Continue stirring until it comes to a pudding like consistency. 

4. Now, grab the prettiest mold you can find (or in my case that beat-up old tin thing you see pictured below), grease it up and pour in your now gloopy concoction. 

5. Now feel free to lick the spatula! 

6. Throw the whole thing in the oven and wait for it to get nice and crusty golden brown. If you are using a Dominican oven, just keep your eye on it and make sure it doesn't seem jiggly or soft in the middle anymore.  If you are using a real oven, I'd say this will take probably about a half hour. 

7. Pull it out and...the hardest part....let it cool. 

8. Ooooh and Awwww as you flip your beautiful dessert onto a plate to cut and serve. 

8. Enjoy the dense, slightly sweetened, crusty on the outside, warm on the inside, golden morsel of sunshine that you have just created. Perfect with a steamy cup of coffee or washed down with an ice-cold glug of creamy milk. 

9. Smile. All is well in the world. :D