French orange and poppy cake

One of the most classical cakes in France (not the taste but the form) that I discovered over 15 years ago via my French friends, who always brought some form of cake to our gatherings, be it just us ladies or afternoons with kids. Although lemon would be considered the best partner for poppies, I love the marriage between orange and poppies much more.

135 g 35% creme fraiche 
zest of 2 oranges, finely grated
4 medium eggs, room temperature
200 g golden caster sugar
1/2 pod vanilla bean seeds
pinch of salt
235 g all-purpose wheat flour
6 g baking powder
30 g poppy seeds
70 g butter, melted

syrup:
125 ml fresh orange juice
50 g light brown sugar
pinch of sea salt
a few orange zest slices

Heat the oven to 200°. Line a pan (about 20/23x12 cm) with baking paper.

Place cream, zest, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl. Whisk with a hand whisk until smooth (1 minute). Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and poppy seeds.

When the eggs are done, add the flour mixture and mix in. Add butter and mix in again. Until incorporated, no longer.

Pour all into a pan and place in the oven one level lower than the middle. Lower the temperature to 170°. Bake for around 50-55 minutes or until golden and the skewer inserted comes out clean. Sometimes it takes up to 1 h 10 minutes.

Make the syrup. In a pot, add all the ingredients and boil on medium heat letting the sugar melt. Then raise the heat to almost highest and boil until the syrup reduces by 1/3. Remove and let cool.

Take the cake out and immediately pour on the syrup, which I do one tablespoon at a time. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then lift out slowly with the baking paper and place on a cooling rack. Serve warm or room temp.