Capirotada

Today is Easter and I confess I'm late in posting this Capirotada recipe because today is the day for all other types of Easter meals commemorating the resurrection of Christ. In countries where Christianity is practiced, it is the culmination of the Passion of Christ preceded by Lent or 'Cuaresma' as it's called in Spanish, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

During Lent, in Mexico, all sorts of foods are traditionally eaten; one of them is Capirotada. It is a bread pudding so delicious one wonders how it counts as a 'Lenten' penance dish.

Last year I posted an adaptation to Capirotada that I felt was more in keeping with my family's tastes and that our son would have liked. Here, however, I am posting a traditional recipe for it, since I am now living in San Miguel de Allende, after all, and I was given this Capirotada by my kind neighbors, who were making it on Palm Sunday, (Domingo de Palmas).

Capirotada

Recipe Type: Dessert

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• oil for frying
• 8½ cups water
• 6 large French rolls or one large French baguette, sliced
• 1 lb piloncillo or dark cane sugar
• 1 cup regular sugar
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup walnuts
• ½ cup dried prunes
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1 plantain, sliced
• ½ cup cheddar cheese cut into small cubes.

Instructions:

1. Dry the slices in the sun and then fry them in hot oil.


2. Boil the water together with the piloncillo, sugar, cloves, and cinnamon sticks until you get a light syrup and strain it.


3. Arrange a layer of the slices of the fried bread on the bottom of a clay casserole (or any other if you don’t have a clay one) and cover with part of the nuts, raisins, and cubes of the cheese.


4. Pour the syrup over this and repeat until you have finished the ingredients.


5. Cook either in the oven or on the stove top.


6. If you cook it on the stove top, you’ll need a low flame and you’ll need to stir often.

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