My friend Caitie often waxes poetic about her love of Switzerland's favourite bread, Zopf, and gets a dreamy look in her eyes as she describes slathering a slice with Nutella. It's a rich, soft and delicious bread—full of eggs and ächte schwiizer Anke (real Swiss butter). 

I have a bit of a problem with Zopf. I know that a one kilogram loaf is too much for two people for one weekend, but sometimes I end up buying one anyway. 

I'm loath to freeze this glut of bread, as our freezer has barely enough space for my multipack of Migros Vanille Rahm-Glace, so therefore I make a lot of strata.  

400-500 g stale bread, cubed

250 g mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters

500 ml milk

3 eggs

pinch nutmeg

salt and pepper

200 g Gruyère cheese, grated

Place the bread and mushrooms in a 2.5 L ovenproof dish. 

In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, eggs, and seasonings.

Pour the egg mixture over the bread, then cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.  

When you are ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F / gas mark 6

Remove the plastic wrap and top with the grated cheese. 

Bake for about 45 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and brown. 

• This recipe is endlessly adaptable. Any kind of bread will work, preferably stale. You could use any kind of melty cheese. If you don't have mushrooms, throw in some ham, or bacon, or leftover cooked chicken. If you have fresh herbs, throw in some of those in too. If you want to make this sweet, just omit the cheese and add some raisins or other dried fruit.