This three-ingredient lemon posset is the easiest dessert you’ll make.

Cook, author and presenter Julia Busuttil Nishimura has built a loyal following with recipes that celebrate good seasonal ingredients without making cooking more complicated than it needs to be. Her food draws inspiration from her Maltese heritage, the Italian cooking she discovered while living in Tuscany and the dishes she prepares for her family at home in Melbourne.

From her new cookbook, Simple Pleasures, this old-fashioned English lemon posset needs just three ingredients and a little patience while it sets in the fridge. The result is a bright, creamy dessert with a texture similar to panna cotta, but without the need for gelatine.

Lemon posset
Serves 6–8
Ingredients

2–3 lemons
500ml (2 cups) pure cream, with a minimum of 36 per cent milk fat
160g caster sugar

Method

Peel two of the lemons with a vegetable peeler and place the peel in a small saucepan with the cream and sugar.

Bring to the boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 4–5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Juice the lemons. You will need 150ml of juice. Stir the juice into the cream and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Strain the mixture into a large jug, discarding the peel. Pour the lemon mixture into six or eight serving cups or glasses.

Chill in the fridge for at least four hours, ideally overnight, to set. Serve straight from the fridge.

Simple Pleasures by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, published by Plum, RRP: $44.99, photography by Armelle Habib.