Mediterranean Orange Cake with Cardamom Creme Anglaise

If I ever needed any excuse to eat cake, the fact that it's fresh out of the oven would be good enough for me.

Mediterranean Orange Cake with Cardamom Creme Anglaise

slightly adapted from here

For the Creme Anglaise:

500ml full cream milk

1 vanilla bean split in half lengthways and seeds scraped

3 cardamom pods, bruised

5 egg yolks

70g caster sugar

For the Cake:

180g almond meal

65g fresh breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon orange flower water

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

150g caster sugar

4 eggs

160ml vegetable oil 

Make the Creme Anglaise:

Heat the milk, vanilla bean and seeds and the cardamom pods in a saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling. Remove from the heat, discard the vanilla bean and set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until combined. While whisking, pour the warm milk over the egg mixture. Return the mixture to the stove and stir over low heat until it coats the back of the spoon (around 86C). Do not boil. Stain through a fine meshed sieve and set aside to cool. 

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 170C. Lightly grease the base and sides of a 22cm round cake tin and line with baking paper, making sure the paper comes up 2cm above the top of the pan. Set aside.

Put the almond, breadcrumbs, baking powder and orange zest into a bowl and whisk to mix. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the sugar and eggs together until thick and pale. Gradually add the oil and orange blossom water and beat until well combined. Use a large metal spoon to fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  

Allow to stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack rack to cool.