Vietnamese baked banana bread pudding with coconut milk (Bánh chuối nướng)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and butter a roughly 20×20 cm baking tin.

2. Cut the bread, crusts and all, into cubes, put into a bowl, pour over the coconut milk and soak for 15 minutes, then squeeze into a paste with your hands.

3. Beat the eggs with the sugar, salt, vanilla extract and most of the melted butter and add to the bread mixture.

4. Slice half the bananas and fold them into the mixture; halve the rest lengthways.

5. Spread the mixture in the tin, lay the halved bananas on top, brush with the rest of the butter and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden and caramelised on top and set in the centre.

6. Leave to cool until warm, cut into slices and serve drizzled with condensed milk and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

Tip: A favourite of Saigon home cooking that makes use of overripe bananas and leftover bread. The riper and more speckled the bananas, the sweeter and more fragrant the cake; it's also delicious cold the next day.