When I first arrived on the Côte d'Azur I was enchanted by the smell as I got off the plane in Nice. I now recognise that smell as the blossom from all the citrus trees growing along the French Riviera and its surrounding countryside. For centuries the local economy was based on processing this blossom which is used in the perfume and food flavouring industries and making jams and liqueurs from the fruit.

I have an abundance of lemon trees in my garden and there are only so many G&Ts with a slice of lemon that I can drink.

However, there are lots of other things you can make with lemons such as lemon drizzle cake, lemon tart, homemade fizzy lemonade and my favourite the sweet tart flavour of lemon curd. Lemon curd has lots of uses not just spreading on toast. I use it to flavour no bake cheesecakes as a topping on pancakes as a filler for sponge cakes and sometimes slightly heated til it goes runny as a topping on vanilla ice cream. Here is my quick and foolproof way of making it in a microwave.