Strawberry, Orange and Cointreau Brunch

A decadently delicious brunch sandwich! Make it with your favourite bread or raisin bread. The end result will, of course, be very much dependant on your choice of bread, and on the quality of the other ingredients, particularly the strawberries. It is a while since I’ve made this so I cannot remember exactly how long this 'sandwich' needs to be in the oven. Nor do I remember where I got the idea - modified over time - from originally, but I wanted to share it because this dish is just SO right to serve for some occasions! Probably best served with fresh strawberries and champagne.

• Ready In: 10 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 250  g strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 2  teaspoons  orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons Cointreau liqueur (or an additional 1/2 teaspoon of orange juice) or 1 1⁄2 teaspoons Grand Marnier (or an additional 1/2 teaspoon of orange juice)
• 1  teaspoon caster sugar
• 1  tablespoon  orange rind, finely grated
• 1⁄2 cup  slivered almonds, toasted
• 1  cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 8  slices  raisin bread (thick slices) or 8  slices  rye bread (thick slices)
• 4  eggs, lightly beaten
• 1  cup milk
• 1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 4  teaspoons cinnamon
•  maple syrup, to taste

Directions

1. Turn the oven to a moderate heat.
2. In a bowl, combine strawberries, orange juice, Cointreau (or Grand Marnier), caster sugar, orange rind, slivered, toasted almonds and feta cheese.
3. Thoroughly grease a shallow baking pan large enough to accommodate four slices of bread without the slices overlapping.
4. Place half the slices of bread in the baking pan.
5. Divide the strawberry mixture evenly over the slices of bread. Don’t worry if some spills over the edges. When you pour the egg mixture over the ‘strawberry sandwiches’, this should cover the ‘sandwiches’ and spill over to the sides of the baking pan.
6. Top the filled ‘strawberry sandwiches’ with the remaining bread slices.
7. Lightly beat the four eggs, add the milk and beat for an additional 30 seconds, until the eggs and milk are combined.
8. Pour the egg/milk over the top of the ‘strawberry sandwiches’.
9. Stand for 2 minutes.
10. Using Dancer^’s recipe for Cinnamon Sugar #41463, combine cinnamon and sugar to make Cinnamon Sugar.
11. Bake the ‘strawberry sandwiches’ in the oven until golden brown.
12. Sprinkle the ‘strawberry sandwiches’ with cinnamon sugar.
13. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve with maple syrup.