When I made this cake originally, I made the mistake of using yogurt. Why is yogurt a mistake? Because it will leech out a ton of water (almost an endless supply of it to be frank) and make whatever is unfortunately underneath it a soggy mess. So while the original recipe calls for using yogurt in the mousse, we are going to omit that so that you will not have to tip and pour out cups of foggy mystery water every other day or so and question how does yogurt have that much liquid in it.

For the base of the cake, I used torta di mele, which is an Italian apple-yogurt cake. I really love the recipe I use for it, because it is light and spongy, but I use brown butter to add a nice nuttiness to compliment the grated apple you are putting inside of the cake itself. For the top portion, we originally had a yogurt-mascarpone-bee pollen mousse, but we are now changing it to be just a mascarpone-bee pollen mousse, because as much as I would love for yogurt to be used in all components of the dessert (so that it makes buying those large tubs in the grocery store worthwhile), it made my cake a soggy mess, and I fucking hated it, so again, let’s not put any other victims through that sort of agony. I topped the cake with shaved apples, tossed in lemon juice and honey, to season them and to also prevent them from oxidizing.

For the cake:
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup brown butter
1/2 cup yogurt
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup semolina flour
1 cup grated apple
salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip eggs with sugar until stiff and pale. Combine other ingredients and fold together. Bake at 375 degrees F in a lined pan for 30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool fully before removing from the pan.

For the mousse:
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons bee pollen
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons gelatin powder + 1 tablespoon water
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream; whipped stiff

Melt bee pollen, gelatin, and sugar into water and bring to a simmer. Whip egg yolks with syrup and temper. Fold into mascarpone cheese, then vanilla and salt. Finally, fold in the cream.

In a lined 6 inch ring mold, place a ring of the cake on the bottom. Pour the mousse on top and smooth off the top. Freeze until fully set.

For the apples:
1 apple; rinsed and cored, but not peeled
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of honey
salt

Combine honey, lemon juice, and salt. Slice the apples thinly on a mandolin, then toss in the liquid to prevent them from oxidizing. Roll into flowers and garnish the cake with.