A story from my mom:
Mom, can you see this? I remember everything. Every year during Lent, my mom would make certain foods that she only made this time of year. One of these special foods was capriotada, a Mexican bread pudding made with toasted bread, a syrup made of piloncillo, cinnamon, whole cloves, raisins, peanuts and cheese. Well mom, it will never be as good as yours but I’m so grateful you left us these little treasures.
So, what is Capirotada?
The bread represents The body of Christ, our bread of life.
The two cinnamon sticks represents the cross on which our Savior died.
The cloves are the nails that pierced the body of our Lord.
The syrup represents the blood our Lord shed to save us from our sins.
The peanuts represent the stone that covered the tomb where Jesus was buried.
The yellow cheese represents the dawn of the third day. He is risen. Praise God.
Ingredients
- Two loaves French bread
- 2 sticks softened butter
- 2 cones piloncio or 2 cups dark brown sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2-3 cups raisins
- 2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts
- 5-6 whole cloves
- Thinly sliced or grated cheddar cheese
- Candy sprinkles if desired
Instructions
- Slice, butter and lightly toast bread
- While bread is toasting
- Boil 3 cups if water.
- When boiling, lower to a simmer and add piloncio/ brow sugars, cinnamon sticks, cloves. Simmer until sugar is dissolved and begins to slightly thicken.
- Add raisins and peanuts. Takes approximately 45 minutes.
- Place a single layer of toasted bread in a deep casserole dish. Spoon syrup with raisins and nuts over toast. Continue layers until bread is used and throughly soaked with the syrup. Careful to remove the cloves. Top with a few slices of cheddar cheese or sprinkle lightly with grated cheese. Bake in oven at 350 until warm throughout and cheese is slightly melted. Approximately 30-35 minutes. You may choose to sprinkle with colored candy sprinkles to decorate.
