Orange and Spiced Rhubarb Pudding

_INGREDIENTS:

_{ORANGE CAKE:}

• 1 orange 
• 4 eggs
• 250g self-raising flour 
• 200g caster sugar 
• 175g melted butter, cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 

_{SPICED RHUBARB:}

• 400g rhubarb 
• 160g brown sugar 
• 50ml water 
• 4 cardamom pods or ¼ tsp cardamom powder 
• ½ tsp cinnamon 
• ½ tsp nutmeg 

_{INSTRUCTIONS:}

1. Preheat oven to 170°C and grease a medium sized baking dish with butter
2. Begin your cake by melting butter on the stove or in the microwave and set aside to cool
3. Bring a large pot of water to the boil
4. Rinse the orange, then add to the boiling water to cook for 1 hour or until soft (boiling the orange reduces the bitterness of the peel, so that you can use the entire fruit and reduce waste!)
5. Once cooked, remove the orange from the water and carefully cut into 8 pieces. Place the pieces into a blender and blitz until smooth.
6. When the orange is completely blitzed, add the remaining cake ingredients and blitz for a further 2-3 minutes.
7. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, and sift over the flour. Fold the flour through the mixture until combined.
8. Transfer into the prepared dish and bake for 40 minutes. 

‍While the cake is in the oven, prepare the Spiced Rhubarb:‍

1. Remove any green leaves and slice the rhubarb stalks into 5cm pieces.
2. Add the water, sugar, spices, and rhubarb pieces to a large sauce pan and cook over low to medium heat for 5-7 minutes, turning the rhubarb after the first 4 minutes. You'll know the mixture is cooked when the rhubarb is soft but not falling apart, and the sugar mixture has thickened slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

To assemble: Remove the cake from the oven and while still hot, use a skewer or fork to pierce approximately 12 holes in the cake. This is to allow the delicious juices from the rhubarb to seep through andcreate a lovely moist pudding. Spoon the spiced rhubarb and the juice on top.  

Best served warm with yogurt or vanilla ice cream.

To enjoy leftovers, warm in the microwave at 20 second intervals until pudding reaches your desired temperature.