Easter weekend is just around the corner.

It is so close that we can already visualise butter melting into lightly toasted hot cross buns; guiltily take pleasure from a plethora of indulgent Easter eggs and frankly, we cannot wait for our traditional roasted leg of lamb sat on the kitchen table come Sunday afternoon.

However, each culture celebrates Easter in a different way. For instance in Poland white sausages are generally eaten as a typical Easter breakfast.

Looking around for a great recipe to share with you, we stumbled across this desert dish. It’s a pudding that has no fixed formula. So feel free to construe your own vision from our interpretation!

Capirotada

Usually served up during Lent, the ingredients all have a rich symbolism to the Passion of Christ, Capirotada is similar to what we would call a bread and butter pudding, but it can’t truthfully be classified as a desert: it’s a symbiotic creation of both savoury and sweet.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• ½ loaf of ‘crusty’ bread – cubed and toasted.
• 200g Demerara sugar
• 250ml water
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 100g grated cheese – we recommended mature cheddar.
• 100g pecans, lightly toasted and chopped
• 50g raisins
• 50g dried apricots, chopped
• 2tbsp butter, melted

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F
• Grease a skillet, set aside
• In a medium sized saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and water and then bring to the boil. Boil for around ten minutes, or until thickened and reduced.
• In a bowl, place half of the bread and drizzle over the melted butter and toss.
• Pour over around ¼ of the syrup-like substance and toss.
• Transfer this mixture to the skillet and evenly arrange. Add the cheese and dried fruit.
• Repeat step four
• Add this on top of the cheese/dried fruit ‘layer’. Pour over the remaining syrup.
• Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes before removing foil and baking for a further 15 minutes.

Serve!