Perfume-inspired desserts by Jordi Roca

Jordi Roca, the pastry chef at El Celler de Can Roca, which was named the second-best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine, is known for making desserts based on perfumes. Since he realized, seven years ago, that many compounds that go into popular perfumes are edible, he has riffed on scents by brands from Lancome to Bvlgari to create exquisite pastries. But now, for the first time, Roca is going in the other direction. He's releasing a perfume, Nuvol de Ilimona, based on one of his desserts. According to Time, the new scent is based on a dish called Lemon Distillation, which includes milk, brown sugar and a lemon sponge cake. He originally developed the non-edible scent as an accoutrement to the dish; he would spray it near diners to accentuate the citrusy notes of the dessert. But customers at the restaurant started to ask if they could buy the spray to wear. Roca, who operates the restaurant with his two brothers, obliged. He is releasing the perfume at the same time as his new cookbook, Los Postres de Jordi Roca. For Roca's sake, let's hope Nuvol de Ilimona is a little more successful than Jessica Simpson's Dessert perfume. The faded pop star's imprimatur was not enough to prevent the entire line of pastry-themed beauty products from being discontinued in 2007.