• Start by making the sweet shortcrust pastry. Place flour and icing sugar in a food processor. Add cold cubed butter and blitz it all into a mixture that resembles fine sand. Add the egg yolk and pulse. Add 1-3 tablespoon of water and pulse again until the mixture starts clumping together.
• ***If you don't have a food processor, place the flour and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter cubes and using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it resembled fine sand. Add the lightly beaten egg yolk and rub it in. Then add just about water to be able to bring the pastry together.***
• Knead the pastry just enough to during it into a ball. Flatten it out, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Once chilled, roll the pastry out onto a large sheet of parchment paper, dusted with flour. You should have a circle of thin pastry that will cover the base and up the sides of your tart tin. We used a 20cm loose-bottom tart tin.
• Pick up the sheet with rolled-out pastry and inverse it onto the tart tin. Unpeel the parchment paper and carefully push the pastry into the edges of the base and up the fluted sides.
• Using a sharp knife, trim the overhanging pastry to be flush with the time of the tart tin. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork.
• Place the lined tart tin in the freezer for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan. Once the pastry has frozen, take it out of the freezer, place a large sheet of baking paper on top and fill it with baking beans to weigh the pastry down.
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Then remove the baking beans and the baking paper and return the tart case in the oven for another 10 minutes.
• Take the tart case out of the oven and leave to cool down slightly.

Filling:

• Drain your ricotta, if it has liquid around it. Place it in a large mixing bowl, alongside caster sugar and beat it for 1-2 minutes. Add the cream and cornflour and beat again for 1 minutes. Then add the egg yolks and beat just enough to incorporate.
• Finally stir in the lemon zest.
• Pour the ricotta pie filling into the baked tart case. Bake it at 180° C Fan for 18-20 minutes. The filling should be just set.
• Take the ricotta pie out of the oven leave it cool down to room temperature. Chill it in the fridge before slicing for at least 2 hours.
• Decorate just before serving if you wish (see how to make candied lemon slices in the notes).