Capirotada (Mexican Bread Pudding)
For as much as we loved (and we mean, really loved) the bourbon bread pudding that we made a couple of weeks ago, we thought that we might never make another bread pudding recipe again. That we may have reached the pinnacle of all that is bread pudding. Sort of the epiphany we had with our all-time favorite chocolate chip cookies. While classic chocolate chip cookies are pretty basic in their makeup, the amount of creativity and variations that you can spin on bread pudding is seemingly endless. Which is why when our Chief Culinary Consultant was doing some searching for Lenten recipes and found this one, it took us approximately 10 seconds to decide we needed to make it. This was unlike any bread pudding that we had ever come across. As we've come to find out, different can definitely be good. And in this case, it was very good!
Now we said that it took us about 10 seconds to decide that we needed to make this recipe; for us, that’s actually rather long. Usually recipes jump out at us and we can make a split-second decision. So what held us up here? This recipe is all-sweet except for one ingredient: cheese. It caught us off guard. We thought twice about it, but figured there had to be a good reason to include it and plus, now we were even more curious about the recipe, so we forged ahead. As almost always, we're so glad that we did.
This bread pudding is certainly unique, and more rich than we could have predicted. Instead of a custard to soak and bind the bread together, this bread pudding relies on a brown sugar syrup that has been steeped with cinnamon and cloves. The layers of bread are separated by layers of Monterey Jack cheese, raisins, dried apricots, and chopped pecans. If we hadn’t been the one to make this dish, we would have never known cheese was even in it. It’s so mild, you can’t taste it, but it provides a hint of saltiness that balances out the sweet factor of the dish.
This is a traditional Mexican dessert that is eaten primarily during Lent. The actual ingredients in the dish all have a symbolism connected to Lent and Easter, which you can read about here. It’s a lot of fun to experiment with dishes and cuisines that have been relatively unknown to us, especially when we find ones as rich as this bread pudding!
One year ago: Fig, Date, and Almond Granola Bars
Two years ago: Rich Coffeecake with Sweet Cheese Filling
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings
- Prep: 20 minutes
- Cook: 35 minutes
- Total: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 1 24-inch loaf French bread, cubed and toasted
- 2 cups ( 440 g ) light brown sugar
- 2 cups ( 500 ml ) water
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ( 0.25 teaspoon ) ground cloves
- 1 cup ( 113 g ) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 cup ( 99 g ) pecans, toasted and chopped
- ½ cup ( 72.5 g ) raisins
- ½ cup ( 65 g ) dried apricots, chopped
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet or an 8-inch square baking pan; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan combine the brow sugar, water, cinnamon, and cloves and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, or until it's slightly thickened and reduced.
- In a large bowl, place half of the bread and drizzle with half of the melted butter; toss to coat. Drizzle about ¼ cup of the syrup over the bread and again toss to coat. Transfer the bread mixture to the skillet or pan and arrange in a single layer. On top of the bread sprinkle the cheese, then the pecans, raisins and dried apricots.
- Place the remaining bread in the large bowl and drizzle with the remaining melted butter, tossing to coat. Pour the rest of the syrup over the bread and again toss to coat, ensuring that each piece of bread is properly coated in syrup. Pour this mixture on top of the cheese/nut/raisin/apricot layer in the baking skillet or dish. Arrange the bread so that it is in one layer and pour any excess syrup in the bowl over the bread.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
