Capirotada is a traditional Mexican dish, similar to a bread pudding. It is most popular during Lent, where you can find it on every table around Mexico. Capirotada is very sweet, with warm tones from the piloncillo, cinnamon, cloves and star anise. The same spices you can find in café de olla and calabaza en Tacha. Capirotada is also rich in textures, soft bread, crunchy peanuts, and plump raisins to mention some.
Fun story: When I was a kid and we were ready to leave the house, I would come out of my room with the silliest outfits! My mom used to say, “Pareces capirotada” It was a way of saying that my clothes didn’t make sense or didn’t match. Now, I think she just didn’t know how to compliment my creativity.
What you need to make Capirotada
Bolillo bread. French bread or baguette would also work for this recipe.
Piloncillo cone. Piloncillo cone is unprocessed raw cane sugar. You cand find it in most grocery stores.
Aromathics: Cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole cloves.
Raisins
Shredded coconut
Roasted peauts
Nonpareils. Optional, but so pretty.
Helpful tips
This is a make ahead dish. It takes some time and love, but it is 100% worth it.
The most important thing is to let the ingredients cool before you assemble the capirotada. If the syrup is too hot the bread is going to fall apart and lose its shape in the oven. Some people like to toast all the bread at once in the oven, but I prefer doing it on a hot griddle working in batches. Those slightly charred edges make all the difference. So much flavor!
There are hundreds of different recipes for Capirotada, different ingredients, and different method. The secret is to find the combination of ingredients YOU like in your capirotada. I like a sweeter one, so I only use sweet ingredients, except for the cheese, but that is non-negotiable. Other popular ingredients are bananas, condensed milk, peppers, onions, pecans, cranberries and so on. The possibilities are endless.
Ingredients
- For the syrup
- 1 12 oz piloncillo cone
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 star anise
- 3 whole cloves
- For the Capirotada
- 1 stick of butter, room temperature
- 3-4 bolillos, sliced into ½” rounds
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup roasted peanuts
- 6 oz panela cheese, diced
- Rainbow sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add the piloncillo, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves and four cups of water. Turn the heat to medium and simmer until the piloncillo has dissolved completely and the syrup has slightly reduced. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
- Spread some butter on both sides of each slice of bread and toast on a hot skillet or griddle. Let the bread cool before assembly.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Butter an 8×8 baking dish (a deeper dish is better for this recipe) Arrange a single layer of bread on the bottom of the dish and sprinkle over some of the raisins, shredded coconut, peanuts, and panela cheese. Pour over some of the piloncillo syrup making sure the bread is soaked. Keep making layers with the rest of the ingredients.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes.
- Add the sprinkles before serving. Enjoy warm!
