Preheat oven to 175C. Grease a 15cm x 25cm baking dish. Butter bread on both sides and cut into triangles. Arrange in layers in baking dish, sprinkling sultanas between each layer.

Mix together eggs, maple syrup, vanilla seeds and milk in a bowl. Pour over bread until the dish is full, then allow the bread to soak up custard for about 1 hour. Add remaining custard. Bake in a water bath (see tip) for 45 minutes or until golden brown and puffed in the centre.

Drizzle with maple syrup before serving.

*Tip: Don't burn the dessert

Recipes for custard-style baked desserts often require the baking dish to be placed in a large, deep pan of water in the oven as this helps the dessert cook slowly and evenly. However, not all roasting pans have strong, heavy bases and it's easy for these delicate desserts to burn on the bottom. An extra safeguard is to place a folded tea towel in the roasting pan. Put the baking dish on top and then fill the surrounding pan with water as the recipe directs.