A dessert quite literally in the shape of Spring. Lemon drizzle cake infused with lemon essential oil is layered with liquid shortbread, lemon curd, and a sheep’s yoghurt and wildflower honey parfait. The layers are set in a flower mould before being dipped in a soft yoghurt mirror glaze, forming the petals of a daisy. At the centre sits the pollen… lemon curd, dipped in orange cocoa butter and lightly sprayed in yellow and orange tones. Spice of Angels, the aromatic pollen of wild fennel, seasons elements throughout the dessert, with a final small pinch over the top.

The inspiration comes from landscapes where fennel grows wild along the coast. The ingredient became widely used in Michelin-starred kitchens and chefs such as Thomas Keller, who referred to fennel pollen as the “Spice of Angels.” Along the hillsides of California, wild fennel grows among spring flowers while bees move between blossoms gathering nectar.
At MSK, we bring those ideas together through ingredients that naturally belong to the same season. Sheep’s yoghurt during the spring milking period, wildflower honey from early blossoms, citrus oil, and fennel pollen.


Lemon Drizzle Cake

Heat the oven to 170°C with 50% humidity.


Cream the butter and honey together until smooth and slightly fluffy.


Beat in the eggs one at a time.


Fold in the self-raising flour, colour powder, spice of angels, essential oil and salt.


Mix in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and milk until just combined.


Pipe approx 70g into the Margherita kit silicone mould base.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.


Remove from the mould and brush with honey and sprinkle with the spice of angels and a squeeze of lemon juice while still hot.


Shortbread Crumb
  • 250g goats butter
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 350g plain flour
  • 5g kosher salt

Heat oven to 160°C.


Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.


Mix in the flour and salt until a soft dough forms.


Bake in the oven, stirring often with a fork to ensure a golden colour all over.


It will take approximately 30-35 minutes, stir every 5 minutes for the best baked shortbread flavour.


"Liquid" Shortbread

Place the shortbread crumb and egg yolk into a blender and blend on high speed until a smooth base forms.


With the blender running, slowly stream in the grapeseed oil, emulsifying gradually in the same way you would build a mayonnaise.


If the mixture becomes too thick while emulsifying, add a small amount of goat’s milk to loosen and allow the emulsion to continue forming.


Once the oil has been fully incorporated, add the remaining goat’s milk, followed by the flavour burst and lemon essential oil.


Blend briefly until smooth and fully combined.


Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and reserve for later use.


Lemon Curd

In a bowl whisk together egg, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and whisk until fully smooth.


Transfer to a saucepan and cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula.


Cook until the mixture reaches 82-84 °C and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.


Strain immediately.


Pass the curd through a fine sieve into a blender jug or tall container.


With a hand blender running, gradually add the cold diced butter until the curd becomes smooth, glossy and fully emulsified.


Allow the curd to cool to 55 - 60 °C.


Dissolve the citric acid in a teaspoon of warm curd and blend in.


Add drops of lemon essential oil and blend briefly.


Transfer to a container and cover.

Chill until set.


Pipe into the tops of the Margherita kit silicone mould and place in the freezer.

Once frozen, remove each from the mould and dip into the Orange Colour Cocobuter.

Then spray with Orange and Yellow Velvet Coco Butter Spray.


Sheeps yoghurt, honey and spice of angel Parfait

Place the egg yolks in a stand mixer and whisk on medium speed until slightly thickened
.

In a saucepan, combine honey, sugar and water, heat to 118–120°C.


Make the pâte à bombe


With the mixer running, slowly stream the hot syrup into the yolks.


Increase speed and whisk until the mixture becomes pale, thick and cools down.


In a bowl, whisk together the sheep’s yoghurt, salt, lactic acid, ultramousse and spice of angels until smooth.


Whip the double cream to soft peaks.


Fold the yoghurt mixture into the pâte à bombe, then gently fold in the whipped cream until fully incorporated but still light.


Put in a piping bag and reserve for later.


Sheeps yoghurt Glaze

Mix the gelatine with the 40g cold water and leave to hydrate for 10 minutes.

In a saucepan, combine water, caster sugar, glucose syrup and heat to 103°C.


Whisk in the yoghurt powder until fully dissolved.


Remove from the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatine until melted.

Transfer to a tall jug and blend with a hand blender until smooth.


Allow the glaze to cool to 45–50°c and blend in sheep’s yoghurt and salt.


Blend in lactic acid, essential oil and titanium dioxide.


Cover and refrigerate.

When using, reheat to 30-31°c


Assembly

Thinly slice the lemon drizzle cake.

Line the base of the Margherita silicone mould with a layer of cake, followed by lemon curd, liquid shortbread, and yoghurt parfait.

Repeat this layering process three times.

Lightly compress each layer and tap the mould gently to remove any trapped air before placing in the freezer until fully set.

Once frozen, remove from the mould and insert a skewer into the centre of the cake then set aside.

Warm the glaze to approximately 30°C and prepare a liquid nitrogen bath.

Dip the cake briefly into the liquid nitrogen, then immediately into the glaze to coat. Repeat if required to achieve an even finish.

To finish, place the dipped and sprayed lemon curd in the centre.

Allow both the cake and curd to defrost slightly before serving

Finish with a light sprinkle of Spice of Angels.