Capirotada (Lenten Bread Pudding)
Serves 8
1 8-ounce loaf French bread, sliced into 1-inch-thick slices (day-old bread
is the best)
1 quart water
½ teaspoon anise seed
4 pieces star anise
½ teaspoon whole black pepper
2 whole cinnamon sticks
2 piloncillos, or ¾ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup raisins
½ cup pitted prunes, snipped in half
1 stick butter
2 green onions, whole
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ cup pecans, roughly chopped
8 ounces cheese, thinly sliced (preferably Colby-Jack)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
To prepare bread: On an ungreased cookie sheet, toast bread under oven
broiler until golden on each side. Set aside.
To prepare tea and fruit: Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Place anise
seed and whole peppercorns in a metal tea ball, and add to water. Add
remaining spices, piloncillos, and sugar. Boil for 10 minutes.
Add prunes to boiling tea, and boil for 5 more minutes. Add raisins for
another 5 minutes. Remove tea from heat, and separate fruit from liquid.
In a 6-quart casserole, melt stick of butter. Add onions and 1 teaspoon
cinnamon. Add bread slices and toss them in the sauce to cover evenly on
both sides. When all the bread has been coated, remove onions from the
baking dish and discard them.
In the baking dish, place ingredients in layers, starting with a single
layer of bread. Cut smaller pieces of bread to fill large gaps. Pour a good
amount of the tea syrup over it, soaking the bread well.
Place a few cooked prunes and fruit over the bread. Add a layer of pecans,
then cheese. Keep in mind that you will need even amounts of fruit and tea
for each layer of bread. Continue layering your capirotada with bread, tea,
fruit, pecans and cheese, until the ingredients are finished, topping the
bread pudding with a layer of cheese. Pour over any remaining tea. Cover the baking dish with lid or
aluminum foil.
Bake the bread pudding for 1 hour. To test for doneness, tilt the baking
dish to see if any liquid becomes visible. If so, continue baking the
capirotada until all the liquid is absorbed by the bread.
Tip: Mrs. Vela and I like to use our traditional caso for making this dish.
Caso simply means "big pot"; ours have lids and holds about 12 quarts. They
are big and fragile, and hard to find outside Mexico or its border regions
(see "Asado de Puerco") You can substitute a large ceramic casserole, Dutch
oven, or even a stockpot with an oven-proof lid. If you do have a large
caso, you can easily double, even quadruple the recipe (I do!). Also, Mrs.
Vela and I are especially fond of using orange-scented prunes for this
recipe. Coconut, peanuts, Mexican pine nuts (piñon) and even apples and
peaches are some of the imaginative, personal touches cooks add to this
traditional dish.
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