Sticky Upside-down Orange and Vanilla Bean Cake

This is the last of the recipes that Loren and I made together.  It was by far the stand out (which says a lot seeing as all of the food was incredible).  The sticky orange topping made the cake moist, whilst the actual cake (below the topping) was fluffy and light.  I'm very glad we didn't include the orange skin because I think it made the topping even thicker and moister.  And although the Donna Hay recipe didn't say to, we also added a splash of cointreau (orange liqueur) to our piece of cake once it was served.  Delicious!

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup self-raising flour
150g butter, melted
1 cup almond meal

Ingredients for Orange Topping
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
2 orages, very thinly sliced (we completely removed the rind of the orange, unlike Donna Hay)

Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C and grease a round cake tin.  To make the topping, place the sugar, water and vanilla bean in a 2.5 litre capacity (10 cup) 20cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the orange and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until the orange is soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.  Place eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk for 8 – 10 minutes or until the mixture is thick, pale and tripled in volume. Sift the flour over the egg mixture and fold through. Fold through the butter and almond meal. Pour the mixture over the orange and bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Turn out onto a platter to serve.