I came up with this dessert because I was craving medovik, or Russian honey cake. That is essentially just an icebox cake with honey wafers. I love to infuse mine with bee pollen, just to give it a unique flavor. Since it would be kind of boring to just do the medovik, I went with an ice cream to accompany it, and opted for a bee pollen-apple ice cream. I love the pairing of honey and apples, so I wanted to celebrate that a little here. The name is a given, since there’s honey and bee pollen in the dessert.

For the bee pollen-apple ice cream:
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup bee pollen
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 honey crisp or opal apples, peeled, diced, and cored

Dissolve the bee pollen, honey, sugar, and salt into the heavy cream. Temper into the egg yolks with the heavy cream and whisk on medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Pass through a sieve then puree with the apples. Churn the ice cream base in an ice cream maker then freeze for at least an hour before using.

For the dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour with more for rolling
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons bee pollen brown butter

Start by whipping the egg with honey, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Pour into that your bee pollen brown butter and continue to whisk until combined. Fold into that your flour to form a dough. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into 8 1/8th inch thick, 4 inch squares. Roll out any spare dough as well. Transfer to parchment or silpat lined baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. Cool down completely before using in the assembly.

For the bee pollen brown butter:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons bee pollen

Heat up the brown butter in a pot on low heat until it turns an amber color. Take off heat and stir in the bee pollen until it dissolves. After using this brown butter for the dough, reserve the pan for making your powder with.

For the bee pollen-brown butter powder:
1/4 cup tapioca maltodextrin
reserved bee pollen-brown butter mixture

Mix together to form a powder. Transfer into a small bowl and cover with cling wrap.

For the filling:
8 oz creme fraiche
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Whip together into a smooth cream. Refrigerate until time to assemble.

For the honey brittle:
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
a pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat up the honey, sugar, water, and salt until the sugar begins to brown. Once the mixture reaches 300 degrees F, take off heat and stir in the baking soda and butter. Pour onto a sheet of parchment and transfer to the freezer. Once cold and hardened, crack into smaller pieces.

To assemble:
1 pink lady apple
2 tablespoons yuzu juice
Edible flowers

Crush the scrap piece of dough into a fine crumb. Layer on your filling between the dough pieces and spread the filling around the dough, making sure to encase everything in the cream. Cover with the crumb pieces and refrigerate for an hour. Shave the apple on a mandolin on the thinnest setting. Toss the apple slices in the yuzu juice to prevent them from going brown. Slice the honey cake into two rectangles. Toss any spare dough crumb with your powder. Form a mound of powder on the plate and place on one of the honey cake rectangles next to that. Sprinkle on the brittle and the flowers, and garnish with some apple slices. Place a quenelle of the ice cream onto the mound of powder to finish the plate.