Pastry

• 375g (12 oz.) ready-made puff pastry
• 1 egg
• 2 level tablespoons icing sugar

Lemon Butter Cream

• 3 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
• 75g (4 Tbs.) castor sugar
• 40g (4 Tbs.) plain (all-purpose) flour
• zest and juice of 3 large lemons,
• 275 ml (1¼ cups) milk

Pastry

1. Unroll the pastry on a lightly floured surface.
2. Trim the pastry so that you are left with a rectangle approximately 23 x 25.5 cm.
3. Roll out the larger piece of pastry to a 30cm square, make sure you use a very even, gentle pressure on the rolling pin so that you end up with nice even edges.
4. Grease the baking sheet and use a rolling pin to transfer the pastry to the baking sheet.
5. Prick the surface of the pastry with a fork. Brush the pastry all over with the beaten egg.
6. Place the baking sheet on a high shelf in the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes (a very crisp finish is need).
7. Then to get it really extra crisp, preheat the oven to its highest setting, sift 1 teaspoon of the icing sugar all over the pastry, flash it under the grill.
8. Remove from the grill and, using a sharp knife, cut the square into three equal strips.
9. Turn them over, sift over the rest of the icing and then flash them under the grill again.
10. Once it has cooled on the wire rack, the pastry is ready to use and can be stored in a polythene box, each layer separated with greaseproof paper.

Lemon Butter Cream

1. Place the egg yolks and whole egg into a nice roomy bowl.
2. Use an electric mixer to whisk the eggs together with the castor sugar until the mixture is pale, thick and creamy (4-5 minutes). Add the milk as you mix.
3. Sift the flour onto the mixture and whisk again until smooth.
4. Add the lemon zest.

Final steps

1. Place a pastry strip on the plate, and cover with half the lemon creme.
2. Put the second pastry strip on the creme, and cover with the remaining lemon creme.
3. Finally, add the final pastry strip.