Ingredients | Serves 6-8

1 baguette/ 8 brioche slices or white bread (use stale bread)

800ml whole milk

120g caster sugar 

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Drop of vanilla essence 

2-3 slices orange peel 

3 eggs 

Olive oil for frying 

Caster sugar and cinnamon for dusting 

Method

1. Slice the baguette into 1” slices (we did ours slightly too chunky) set aside. 

2. In a large pot combine the milk, sugar, cinnamon sticks and powder, vanilla and orange peel. Place on a medium low heat, stir and bring to boil. Once boiling, taste to check it is sweet enough and then remove from the heat. Pour into a jug and let it cool for 5 minutes. Discard orange peel and cinnamon sticks. 

3. Place the bread slices in a large round dish, give the milk mixture a good stir and then pour evenly over the bread. Let it sit for a few minutes until the bottom has softened and then turn each slice over to absorb any remaining milk. 

4. Whisk together the eggs in a wide bowl and place a frying pan on a medium heat. Add enough olive oil so that the bottom of the pan is slightly coated. 

5. When the frying pan is warm enough and the oil is thin and glistening, one by one, place a slice of bread in the beaten egg coating both sides twice and then use a spatula to lower into the frying pan. Repeat the process with the rest of the slices. You may need to do this in two batches. If the bread sticks to the pan then you need to add more olive oil. 

6. Once golden, flip, so that both sides are golden, then remove and place on a plate lined with kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil. Finally, dip each slice in some sugar until fully coated, dust with cinnamon and serve.