I may have resisted the temptation to call this ‘lemonisu’ (partly because it doesn’t sound right anyway) but I could not resist writing a recipe for a pale yellow, lemony tiramisù. Of course, a real tiramisù should have coffee and cocoa (and in my mind, marsala and brandy), but this is a truly heavenly (if heathen) version, which, quite apart from being delicious, has a strong aesthetic argument behind it; such swathes of lemon yellow and pale cream seem like some sort of divinely luxurious sofa, smug and snug in the corner of an idyllic Amalfi residence.

If you happen to have any leftover lemon cake use that as it will be even better. Some people like to soak the sponge layer in limoncello, but I find it both too sweet and too strong, so I have left it out. This version is innocent, unapologetically creamy and child-friendly.For the lemon curd:

Method:

• First, make the curd. Whisk the cornflour with the water until dissolved and milky looking, then place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over a low heat. Whisk constantly, helping the butter to melt, then gradually increase the heat to medium and stir until it thickens to form a curd the consistency of loose mayonnaise. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Whip the mascarpone with the cream and icing sugar to form soft peaks. Decant into a piping (pastry) bag if you have one.
• Soak the savoiardi in milk, allowing them to absorb enough to become just damp and spongey but not dripping, then layer them at the base of a 23 cm (9 in) dish. Pipe over a third of the cream, flatten with a spatula or back of a spoon, then spread over half of the cooled curd. Repeat, then finish with little piped peaks of cream.
• If you do not have a piping bag or prefer not to use one, you can layer differently and finish with a shining layer of yellow curd, which is equally beautiful. In this case, do two layers of both: start sponge, then cream, then curd; sponge, cream and finally curd. To finish, arrange the lemon zest, slices and sprigs of mint on top.

Recipe extracted from For the Love of Lemons, Italian-inspired sweet and savoury recipes (Hardie Grant)