Pear and stem ginger muffin cake

Method

1. For the crème anglaise, slit open the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a sharp knife. Put the milk and cream into a non-stick pan with the vanilla pod and seeds. Bring almost to the boil, then set aside to infuse.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Grease and base-line a 23cm x 5cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
3. To make the cake, sift the flour, baking powder and ground ginger into a large bowl. Stir in 100g sugar and the ground almonds, then make a well in the centre of the ingredients.
4. Peel, quarter and core the pears. Cut them into roughly 1cm pieces, then put in the well in the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter, beaten eggs and stem ginger, then gently stir everything together until well combined.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin, then scatter over the flaked almonds. Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-45 minutes until firm to the touch and golden brown – a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
6. While the cake is cooking, make the crème anglaise. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and discard (or wash and dry it, then push into a jar of caster sugar to infuse). Bring the milk and cream mixture back to the boil, then whisk into the egg yolks. Return the mixture to the pan, then cook over a low heat, stirring, until it lightly coats the back of a spoon. It should reach between 82°C and 84°C in temperature, but no higher. Remove from the heat, stir in the liqueur, if using, and keep warm.
7. Remove the cake from the oven, sprinkle over a little more caster sugar, then leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Carefully remove, slice into wedges and serve with the crème anglaise.