Please note this cake needs to be made ahead of time, so I recommend making it the night before you plan on serving it.

Line a 9 x 9 inch square pan with parchment paper. I like to make the sides of the parchment paper a bit higher than the pan so that when the cake is done, you can lift up the whole thing using the excess parchment as handles, which will make it easier to slice and serve.

Add heavy cream and sugar to a large mixing bowl (I used a stand mixer). Beat heavy cream at high speed until stiff peaks form. Add in the lemon juice and zest. Fold it in with a spatula until lemon juice is fully incorporated. The lemon whipping cream should have a very thick creamy texture.

Spread a thin layer of lemon cream across the bottom of the lined pan. This will help the ladyfingers stay in place and also will help soften them. Line the bottom with a layer of ladyfingers. You should be able to fit exactly 14 ladyfingers in a 9 x 9 pan.

Add about 2.5 cups of lemon cream over the ladyfingers (a little under ¼ of the remaining cream). I like using an offset spatula to help me spread it evenly across but a regular spatula should also work. The layer of cream should be about ½ inch thick. Add another layer of ladyfingers, followed by another layer of ½ inch thick cream. Add one more layer of ladyfingers so you have 3 layers of ladyfingers total. Make sure each layer of ladyfingers have the ladyfingers facing the same direction as the previous layer so that all the layers line up. This will help ensure a uniform cake layer when cut.

Top the last ladyfinger layer with a thin layer of lemon cream (about 1 to 1 ½ cups). You want enough to cover the ladyfingers so that they will soften but you want to save enough cream for frosting later. I had about 2 cups of cream leftover. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate the cake overnight to allow the flavors to meld and the cookies to soften. Refrigerate and save remaining cream for the frosting.

When cake is ready, remove plastic wrap. Spread remaining cream on top for the frosting. Garnish with lemon curls, thin lemon slices and fresh mint if desired. Slice and serve chilled.