Authentic Capirotada: Traditional Mexican Recipes for Lent

Mexico is a very catholic country and we take it very seriously Lent season. So seriously we have a great variety of Mexican cuisine recipes that are only made during this time of year! a very popular is capirotada which is a traditional Mexican bread pudding. Capirotada recipe is a traditional Mexican dessert that brings families together on Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, and pretty much every time that there is an excuse to get together as a family.

The Mexican capirotada recipe can change from one region of Mexico to another, pretty much each family has their family own version of capirotada but the most popular recipes for capirotada are, Capirotada de agua and Capirotada de leche. My personal preference is capirotada de leche as is the one my Abuelita Conchis used to make for us. The best part of Capirotada when you are a child is the colorful sprinkles on top! Here is my grandma’s recipe 

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Ingredients to make Mexican bread pudding recipe:

• 8 pieces of bolillo bread (substitutes later on this post)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, preferably with a mild aroma
• 4 tortillas
• 1 banana (can be substituted with 2 egg yolks)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 star anise
• 1 tbsp of orange peel
• 150 grams of piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar cones) if you can’t find piloncillo substitute one cup of milk for one can of condensed milk.
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of water
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 2 cups of cow’s milk
• 1/4 cup of walnuts or pecans
• 1/4 cup of sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 1/4 cup of peanuts
• 1/2 cup of Chihuahua cheese or any mild cheddar cheese (you can also use queso fresco or cotija)
• Optional: colored sprinkles

Instructions:

1. Cut the bread into slices approximately 2 fingers wide or  ½-inch thick the day before.
2. Leave the sliced bread out the day before to allow it to become hard.
3. Next day spread oil on the bread slices and place on a baking sheet,  bake in the oven at 360°F (180°C) for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
4. In a saucepan, dissolve the piloncillo in 1 cup of water. Once dissolved, add the anise, orange peel, cloves, and cinnamon stick. If you don’t have piloncillo you can add 1 cup of brown sugar or 1 can of condensed milk to te blender mix.
5. Meanwhile, blend the milk with the banana and vanilla extract, then add it to the piloncillo mixture.
6. Brush the tortillas with oil and brown them in a skillet.
7. Place a layer of tortillas at the bottom of your baking dish (tortillas help keep the moisture)  add layers of bread and add raisins, walnuts, and peanuts on top, rinse with milk mixture over them, and continue layering until the dish is filled.
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 360°F (180°C).
9. Once done, sprinkle with crumbled cheese, peanuts, raisins, and colored sprinkles on top (optional). If desired, return to the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

What is Capirotada?

Capirotada is a typical Mexican dessert, especially popular in the northern states of the country such as Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Nuevo León. It consists of slices of bread that are mixed with fruits and peanuts and then bathed in piloncillo syrup.

What is piloncillo and where can I find it?

Piloncillo is a kind of dark brown sugar that comes in a cone shape and is very popular to sweeten cafe de olla or other Mexican desserts such as capirotada. You can find piloncillo in the US in most Mexican supermarkets, especially during the Lenten season. Here in Chicago, you can find it at Tony’s, El Guero, Carnicerias Jimenez, Cermark Supermarket and sometimes even Food4Less and Walmart located in Hispanic neighborhoods have it.

How can I substitute piloncillo?

For this traditional recipe, you can substitute the piloncillo and one cup of milk for one can of condensed milk. That will have enough sugar to sweeten this recipe and will still turn out delicious. The other option is to add one cup of brown sugar or cane sugar to the water when adding the orange and other ingredients to make a syrup and mix later with the milk.

Bread substitutes for traditional capirotada

• Pan bolillo
• Pan Frances, French Bread
• Italian Bread

What kind of cheese can I use?

I am from Chihuahua Mexico so you can guess I always use Chihuahua cheese, but in other regions of Mexico they use queso Oaxaca cheese, cotija, or you could use Monterey jack cheese, pretty much any cheese that can melt. The saltiness of the cheese on top of the sweetened milk mixture is truly a delight.

You could pretty much use any kind of white bread, I would avoid using any crusty bread as it will be harder for it to absorb the syrup. If you visit a Mexican supermarket during the Lent period you might even find toasted french bread ready for capirotada.

Looking for more Mexican authentic recipes? please check out these other options

Carlota de Limon a fave Mexican dessert