Cake and other Notes ...

You could bake your own Madeira cake if you wish but it seems unfair on the cake when you're going to dunk it in syrup! Why note use an “economy” range Madeira cake available in most supermarkets – a word to the wise – they vary in size so I'd buy two to be on the safe side.

You could bake a lemon drizzle cake for the lemon version, instead of the Madeira or again, use shop-bought if that's more convenient or you're not a baker!

For the decoration choices :

2 x Cadbury's Flake – perfect for the kids

or

grated plain chocolate – or small chocolate

drops if you have them - perfect for the big kids

or

crushed Amaretti biscuits - perfect for those

who don't like chocolate and/or added crunch

A tip if you're using the Flake for the kids, bash it in its packet so that it doesn't fly all over the kitchen worktop, open carefully and sprinkle over to decorate. If you want grown-up “sprinkles” grate plain chocolate or use small plain chocolate drops if you have them in your pantry!

Crushed Amaretti biscuits are a great addition for “crunch” and texture – with or without the chocolate choices - since they are an iconic Italian ingredient it seems only fitting to include them.

Here's a photo of the Lemon Tiddy Tiramisu :

You can see that you don't have to line the glass, you just alternate layers of cake and mixture finishing with a cake top. Add a teaspoon of lemon curd to the cake top then cling film loosely and fridge until you're ready to decorate and serve.

The idea is to give the tiddy height using a circle of cake at the bottom of the glass and then line the glass with circles of cake. Place a generous blob of mixture on top of the circle in the bottom, then repeat with another circle of cake and mixture – you should get three tiers finishing with a circle of cake on the top.

Now for the recipe ...