Gingerbread Cake with Crème Anglaise

David Lebovitz, a friend and colleague, is the author of several dessert cookbooks, including Room for Dessert, which has this recipe for his famous ginger cake. In the introduction to the recipe, he writes, “This is the most-often requested recipe in my repertoire, and i’ve passed it on to many, many people.” He mentions that it frequently appears on Bay Area menus, sometimes called Dave’s ginger cake. I asked David via e-mail (lucky guy, he lives in Paris) if could adapt his recipe