Melbourne dessert artists Le Yeahllow have joined forces with Australian grower Montague to create a surrealist cake the puts the spotlight on the rare apple variety, Kissabel.

Le Yeahllow owner Samsky Yeung said the creation process began with a meeting with Montague to talk through ideas and goals for partnering to showcase their produce in a different way that was outside its natural form.

“It’s important to understand the produce we work with so that we may do it justice when creating our cakes,” Samsky said.

“From there we taste tested the variety to ensure we could accentuate its key flavour profiles when baking with the variety.

“The colour is the key element of the Kissabel apple, and we knew this was what we wanted to represent. We also trialled the compote recipe to ensure the colour not only remained, but the distinct flavour of the apple too.”

Samsky said he initially looked at creating an apple-shaped cake, but due to the most notable characterstic – the blushed interior of the apple – he instead decided to represent the pink hues of the Kissabel variety instead.

“This is a rare variety and we wanted to showcase this from first sight to draw customers toward the cheesecake,” he said.

“As seen in the imagery we wanted to still present the cake in an apple-like shape, but decided to put the apple compote on top so customers can see the colour directly.”

When asked what drew him and the Le Yeahllow team creating a cake in conjunction with the Kissabel apple, Samsky said part of the attraction was that the apple had been 20 years in the making.

“It’s quite a rarity on greengrocer shelves, so when the partnership was put forward we knew it would be a great opportunity,” he said.

“Le Yeahllow prides itself on working with premium ingredients and produce, so a rare apple was very appealing to us.”

Samsky noted that although the unique citrus notes of the apple and the overall flavour profile made this an easy project flavour-wise, it was important to pair the apple with something creamy to balance it – hence the cheesecake idea.

“We struggle most with the presentation of the cake. We wanted our customers to taste more apple than cheesecake, so getting the correct balance of compote to cheesecake was a challenge, specifically when creating the size of the cake,” Samsky said.

“We trialled three sizes before landing on the perfect size that didn’t compromise flavour.”

The Kissabel Apple Cheesecake is currently available to purchase instore at Le Yeahllow until the end of May.