1. Preheat oven to 190 degC. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk together.
2. Butter both sides of the bread, crusts on, and cut into triangles.
3. Grease a casserole dish or cake tin and line the base with your buttered bread triangles (you will use about half, butter more bread if you need to).
4. Keep aside some of the chopped chocolate to sprinkle over the top later, then sprinkle the rest over the bread along with the prunes.
5. Put the rest of the bread over the top and slowly pour the egg mixture over, allowing the bread to soak up the liquid. Give it a gentle push to make sure all the egg mixture has soaked right through.
6. Sprinkle the top with extra brown sugar and the rest of the chocolate, and let it sit for about 10 minutes. If you want to make this ahead, you can leave it to sit for longer until you are ready.
7. Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes until set.

Syrup of prunes:

Wash about seven prunes then cover with water and leave overnight.  In the morning, simmer gently over a low heat for an hour or until the mixture is dark and fairly thick.  Add more water if it starts to dry out. Strain through muslin or a sieve then bottle until needed.