Five-spice Angel Food Cake With Orange Creme Anglaise-homemade

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon chinese five spice powder (chinese five-spice powder or find at grocery store)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 10 large egg whites, at room temperature (save yolks for creme anglaise)
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 orange, rind of, grated
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon grand marnier (or other orange-flavor liqueur) or 1 tablespoon cointreau liqueur (or other orange-flavor liqueur)

Recipe

• 1 for cake: in bowl, sift together flour, five-spice powder and salt.
• 2 sift mixture a second time.
• 3 in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and extracts together at medium speed.
• 4 increase speed to high and continue to beat mixture until soft peaks form.
• 5 gradually add the sugar, beating until just before peaks are stiff.
• 6 egg mixture should be glossy and smooth.
• 7 be careful not to over beat, or the cake will not be as tall.
• 8 fold half of the flour mixture into the egg mixture with a rubber spatula.
• 9 then fold in the remaining flour mixture, being careful not to overwork the batter and knock the air out.
• 10 pour batter into ungreased 10-inch tube pan and place on the middle oven rack.
• 11 bake at 350°f until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
• 12 for creme anglaise: meanwhile, in a 2-quart pan over medium-high heat, combine the half-and-half, sugar and orange peel.
• 13 bring the mixture to a scald (just below the boiling point), then remove from heat and set aside for the flavors to steep for 30 minutes.
• 14 return the pan to heat and reheat to scalding.
• 15 back to cake: remove cake from oven and let stand for a few minutes before inverting onto a rack to cool; do not remove cake from pan yet.
• 16 back to sauce: in a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks.
• 17 add a ladle full of the scalded cream mixture to the yolks to temper them, whisking immediately.
• 18 this is important or you will end up with scrambled eggs instead of a nice sauce.
• 19 with heat at medium, add warmed yolks to pan, whisking constantly until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
• 20 (do not allow mixture to come to a boil.) immediately pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl.
• 21 set the bowl into a larger bowl of ice water and allow it to cool.
• 22 when cold, stir in the orange-flavored liqueur.
• 23 back to cake: when cake is completely cool, turn pan over and gently run a knife around the edges to loosen cake.
• 24 turn cake out onto a serving plate.
• 25 cut cake using a serrated knife and serve each piece atop a pool of creme anglaise.