Cheese & Bacon Breakfast Strata Cake (Breakfast Casserole!)

1. Bread –any plain bread will work here, white or wholemeal, loaves, French sticks/baguettes (which is what I used), hamburger buns, rolls. I personally prefer plain rather than with seeds or other bits in it just to have a smooth custardy centre.

Also best to avoid artisan dense breads like sourdough with really thick chewy crusts which are a bit too thick for the custardy inside of this dish.

How much bread?– It’s a bit tricky to define because different bread have different weights. I used a standard baguette – about 270g / 9 oz. Best to go by volume: 7 packed cups – push the bread cubes into a 1 cup measure for each cup, pressing down to level the surface.

2. Cheese –You can use any good melting cheese eg. tasty / cheddar, gouda, Monterey Jack, pepper jack.Although tempting, avoid mozzarella because it doesn’t have much flavour (but if you do use it, add another 1/4 tsp salt).

3. Cake pan – If you don’t have a springform pan, use a standard cake pan (it holds together well enough to turn out) or a 10″/25cm square baking dish . Do not make this in a sandwich pan with a loose base (ie not springform) – egg will leak.

Leakage note – if you know your springform pan is prone to leaking with runny cake batters, put a tray on the shelf underneath, just in case (not on the same shelf, reduces heat around cake pan so increases cook time). The bread should soak up most of the egg so there should be little leakage, if at all.

4. Leftovers – Will keep in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, and can be reheated in the microwave. Also tasty at room temperature!Freezes for 3 months – wrap in cling wrap and store in airtight container (reheats 100% perfectly like quiches do!)

5. Nutrition –Assumes 8 servings, including an estimation of bacon fat discarded.