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Capirotada with Mango and Plantains
This recipe is usually made during Ash Wednesday or Easter. This amazing egg free, milk free bread pudding is sweet and amazingly uplifting even during a time of darkness and death. This recipe is a religious experience, meaning: the bread represents the body of Christ, the cinnamon sticks represents the cross, the cloves represent the nails, the sugar syrup represents the blood of Christ, and finally the powder sugar is the shroud of Christ.

 

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

• 5 to 6 bolillos, teleras or Portuguese buns,
  or 1 large baguette cut into 1-inch slices

• 1 pound piloncillo, grated, or substitute
  for 2 cups packed dark brown sugar

• 1 stick canela, ceylon or true cinnamon

• 1 whole star anise

• 3 whole cloves

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 8 cups water

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 3 ripe plantains, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch diagonal slices (about 3 cups)

• 1 to 2 large ripe mangoes, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)

• 1 cup finely crumbled or grated queso Cotija (optional)

• 2/3 cups roasted peanuts (optional)

• Confectioners’ sugar, for serving

 

Directions

1. Place racks on upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

2. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a small pan. Brush the surface of two large baking sheets with some of the melted butter and place the bread slices onto the buttered baking sheets in a single layer. Use the remaining butter to brush on top of the bread slices. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown on the bottom and remove from the oven.

3. In a medium saucepan, place the piloncillo, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and raisins, cover with the 8 cups of water, and set over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a simmer, stir occasionally, and let simmer for 30 minutes or until reduced by half. Turn off the heat. With a slotted spoon, remove the cinnamon stick, star anise, and, cloves and discard. Set the piloncillo syrup aside.

4. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil to a large saute pan set over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, cook the plantain slices in a couple batches for about a minute per side, or until golden brown on both sides. Place the browned plantains on a paper towel covered plate and set aside.

5. Use the remaining tablespoon of butter to grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Add a third of the bread to make the first layer covering the bottom of the baking dish. Distribute all around half of the plantains, half of the mango, half of the Cotija, and half of the peanuts. Pour on about a third of the piloncillo syrup. Start another layer, adding a third of the bread and the remaining half of the plantains, mango, Cotija, and peanuts. Pour another third of the syrup, trying to get all of the raisins in. Finally, cover with the remaining third of the bread and pour the rest of the syrup on top. Cover with aluminum foil.

6. Set oven rack in the middle of the oven. Bake the capirotada for 25 minutes, then remove it from the oven, carefully uncover, and press down with a spatula so it all bakes in the syrup. Cover again with aluminum foil and return to the oven. After another 25 minutes, carefully remove the foil, and bake for about 10 minutes more so the top browns. Cool slightly before serving and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.
   *Note: Don’t over soak the bread if you are using a soft porous bread. This recipe is very sweet, so it would not be good to have a soggy sweet mess. I have cubed my toasted buttered bread to fit into a heart shape spring-form pan. If using a spring-form pan cover the outside bottom of the pan with foil to help the syrup not to leak out. Bake on a sheet pan. Remember, make this recipe work for you, have fun and enjoy! If you feel that the traditional way to make this recipe is too sweet add milk and eggs to this recipe like a traditional American bread pudding and omit the syrup, that will cut the sweetness a lot. 4 beaten eggs, 2 cups milk, 3/4 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon...

 

 

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