My lemon trees are laden, so I am making all things lemon at the moment.

One of my all time favourite desserts is this lemon cream recipe! The French call them Petit Pots au Citron, but I often steer away from the traditional, tending to alter the basic recipe by adding other flavours. The only factor that you cannot change is the lemon to cream ratio, as it is the acidity that sets the cream.

When I first saw this recipe many years ago I could not believe that you get such a delicious, smooth cream without achieving a curdled mess, but it works perfectly every time I make it.

What I love about it is recipe is that you don’t need an oven and bain marie, as for a baked cream or custard and secondly that you don’t need gelatine to set it.

It also has an amazing shelf-life. I have made them up to 5 or 6 days in advance and they keep perfectly in the fridge.

As they are very rich you really do not require more than 100ml per serving, so look out for tiny containers or glasses to set it in. The gel or cream is not firm enough to unmould, so use something that looks good to serve in. When we have a small group to dinner this gives me an opportunity to the dust the antiques and to use my collection of tiny coffee cups!

For those who are carb conscious, you can omit the sugar and use a sweetner such as Stevia. Honey is also delicious instead of sugar, but remember, honey is a carbohydrate.

Recipe: Little Pots of Lemon Cream