Lemon Cream, Almonds and White Peaches

Lemon custard, a yoghurt, lime and green tea sorbet, polenta and almond lemon drizzle cake, served with almond crumble, salted almond caramel, peach purée, roasted peaches and apple blossom.

Lemon Cream:
6 Sorrento lemons, freshly juiced (160 mL)
1 Sorrento lemon, freshly zested
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
caster sugar (150 g)
double cream (200 mL)

Polenta and Almond Lemon Drizzle Cake:
soft butter (200 g)
caster sugar (200 g)
2 lemons, freshly zested
2 lemons, freshly juiced
2 eggs
ground almonds (200 g)
fine polenta (100 g)
all-purpose flour, unbleached (50 g)
1 Tbsp. baking powder

Topping For Lemon Drizzle Cake:
1 lemon, freshly juiced
caster sugar (25 g)
water (25 g)

Peaches:
white peaches (1 kg)
sugar (50 g)
½ lemon, freshly juiced
agar agar (0.5 g)
1 Tbsp. caster sugar, for glazing the peach cubes

Crumble:
flour (150 g)
ground almonds (150 g)
sea salt (2 g)
hard butter (150 g)
caster sugar (150 g)

Sorbet:
castor (250 g)
2 limes, freshly zested
2 bags green tea
Trimoline inverted sugar (25 g)
plain yoghurt (500 mL)

Caramelised Almonds:
caster sugar (100 g)
whole blanched almonds (200 g)

Garnish:
apple blossom
segments from 1 lemon

To Make the Lemon Cream:
Add the lemon zest to the lemon juice and bring to the boil, reduce to 80 mL. Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar. Add the double cream to the reduced lemon juice and bring to the boil.

Boil and pour over the egg mixture and pass through a chinoise (fine meshed seive). Skim off foam and cook in a metal tray lined with cling film at 100°C for 40 minutes, or until it has set.

Place in a fridge for one hour or until cold and set.

To Make the Polenta and Almond Lemon Drizzle Cake:
Mix the butter, caster sugar and zest of two lemons with a paddle until fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one. Mix in the lemon juice along with the ground almonds, fine polenta and all-purpose flour.

Mix in the baking powder and put the mixture in a metal baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.

Cook at 140°C for 25-30 minutes.

To Make the Topping:
Heat together in a pan the lemon juice, caster sugar and water. Bring to the boil and then drizzle over the cake once cooked, when it is still warm.

To Make the Peaches:
Blanche the peaches whole in boiling water for about 10 seconds until the skin starts to come away. Chill in iced water.

Peel them, cut in half and remove the stones, use half for the puree and half for the roasted garnish.

Add half the peaches to a pan with 100 mL water, 50 g sugar and the lemon juice and cook until it becomes a puree, this should take about 20 minutes.

Add 0.5g agar agar to this mixture. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Bring back to boil and blitz in a thermo mix. Set in a tray and then put into the fridge for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes re-blitz and pass through a fine sieve.

Cut the other peaches into 1cm cubes and roast off with a little bit of caster sugar in a pan for 1 minute.

To Make the Crumble:
Put the flour, ground almonds, salt, butter and sugar in a food processor and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Put the mixture in a baking tray and cook at 170°C for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

To Make the Sorbet:
Boil 250 mL water with the sugar, Trimoline, lime zests, bags of green tea and infuse for 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve, mix in the natural yoghurt and churn in an ice cream machine, for 30-40 minutes until frozen.

To Make the Caramelised Almonds:
Caramelise sugar in a pan and add the almonds, making sure they’re coated in the caramel.
Separate the almonds on a silicone mat.

For the Lemon Segments:
Cut the top and bottom off 1 lemon and remove the skin.

Cut into segments and then into 1 cm dice.

Plating Up Method:
Spread a spoonful of the crumble randomly on the plate.

Cut the lemon cream into 8 cm length and 2 cm width. Sprinkle with a little castor sugar and blow touch until golden caramel and place the lemon cream in the centre of the plate.

Cut the cake into 2 cm cubes and place three pieces randomly on the plate. This should be served at room temperature.

Place 5 pieces of the lemon dice and the roasted peach across the plate. Using a squeezy bottle, place 5 dots of puree on the plate, putting a few on top of the cake. Place 5 caramelised almonds randomly on the plate. Put a scoop of sorbet on top of the lemon cream in the centre. Garnish with apple blossom and serve.

Makes 4 servings.