Slice the baguette on a bias, each slice about a half-inch thick, and set them aside. In a shallow container, like a glass pie dish, crack the eggs, add the milk and other custard ingredients, and mix the ingredients together with a fork. Make sure all the ingredients are well integrated. Egg beaten, cinnamon dispersed and the kitchen smelling slightly of vanilla.

Once the custard is ready, place a pan on a burner set to just above medium. Let the pan heat a while. It’s important the pan be up to temperature but not too hot. You want to make sure the French toast heats all the way through, the custard cooks, and each piece browns nicely. Go ahead and set the oven for 200 degrees while you’re at it.

While you’re waiting for the pan to heat, put the strawberry slices in a bowl, sprinkle with four tablespoons of brown sugar and heat about 30 seconds in the microwave. Once heated, stir the strawberries with a spoon. The sugar crystals will tear some of the strawberry cells, and the juice will mix with the sugar to create what is, essentially, a simple syrup. Dip a pinky into the mix and taste. If it’s not sweet enough for you, begin adding additional brown sugar until you reach your own sweetness ideal. Continue heating and stirring until you have a nice mix of syrup, in-tact strawberry slices and other pieces that have been reduced and are more like the bits in jam. Once it’s all done, cover to retain the heat.

Put a tablespoon of butter in the pan on the stove. It should melt immediately.

Set your bread slices in the custard mix and count to thirty. Flip them and count again. You want to make sure the mixture has a chance to work its way through the bread’s cells and crannies and nooks, filling air pockets with new pockets of pure deliciousness. I like five slices per serving because they can be arranged in a nice star pattern, once you’re ready to plate.

Once the slices have soaked, set them in the buttered pan about 2 minutes on the first side, then one minute, 30 seconds on the other. You want to keep an eye on them, though, as your pan may be hotter or cooler at specific settings. Remember, you can always cook longer. You can’t undo burnt French toast.

I doubt you’ll have a pan or pie dish big enough to coat and cook all slices simultaneously. Go ahead and set the pieces on a cookie sheet and place them in a warm oven. Once you have all the pieces cooked, it’s time to serve.

To plate, arrange the slices in a star pattern and spoon on the macerated strawberries. Then sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar for a touch of contrast.