Lemon Delicious Pudding - extra saucy!

Recipe video above. This is a self-saucing lemon pudding that comes with plenty of sauce!! It's made with one batter that magically separates into a light soufflé-like sponge with silky lemon custard sauce underneath.

Brilliant cosy dessert for winter nights, light and tangy so it's a great finish to hearty meals. And it REHEATS PERFECTLY so it's a dinner party dream, especially if you make it in ramekins!

You'll need 2 large lemons for this recipe, to get sufficient amount of juice.I also like that no forward planning is needed to bring things to room temperature. Butter, eggs and milk are all used fridge cold!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British, English, Western

Keyword: lemon delicious, lemon delicious pudding, lemon pudding, self saucing lemon pudding

Servings:

Calories: 350cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

60g / 4 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into ~1cm / 0.4" cubes
1 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar , or regular / granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice (2 large lemons)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract , optional
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs , separated (fridge cold is fine)
1 1/2 cups milk , full fat is best but low fat ok (fridge cold is fine)
1/3 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour

Serving

Whipped cream (use 3/4 cup cream) or creme fraiche
Decorate - icing sugar (recommended), small lemon slices, raspberries, mint sprigs

Cups - Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE

Melt butter, whisk in sugar, vanilla and zest. Whisk in yolks and lemon juice. Whisk in flour, then milk. Beat whites to stiff peaks, fold into batter. Bake in 5- 6 cup dish in water bath at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for 35 min (ramekins 30 min).

FULL RECIPE

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced).
Baking vessels (Note 1) - You will need a 5 to 6 cup ceramic or glass baking dish (1.25 - 1.5 litres / quarts), or 6 x 200 ml / 7oz ramekins. No need to grease it.
Barely melt butter - Put the butter cubes in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 20 second increments until almost melted. Then whisk by hand to finish melting using the residual heat - it will look milky rather than a yellow oil. (Note 2)
Make batter - Add the sugar, vanilla and lemon zest into the butter. Whisk to combine. Add lemon juice and egg yolks, whisk to combine. Add flour and whisk until lump free. Add milk and whisk. The batter will be very thin!
Beat whites - In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff using a handheld beater of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. You want upright rather than floppy Santa hats!
Fold through a big scoop of the fluffed egg whites into the batter using a rubber spatula. Then add the remaining egg whites in and fold through, don't stir vigorously (Note 3 for what I mean by this). Little lumps of egg whites is fine.
Fill - Gently pour the batter into the baking dish and put it in a larger roasting pan. Ramekins: Use a ladle, and make sure to scoop from the bottom so every ramekin gets even amounts of foamy batter (which sits on the surface), this turns into the cake. Fill to 1 cm / 0.2" from the rim. Transfer to a pan for water bath.
Bake in water bath - Fill pan with boiling water until it comes halfway up the side of the baking dish. Bake 35 minutes for a single dish or 30 minutes for ramekins, until the surface is golden (it will feel jiggly if you prod it because of the sauce underneath).
Rest for 5 minutes, then dusting with icing sugar. Scoop out to serve, ensuring everyone gets their share of the lemon custard sauce! Top with a dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche, and decorate with little lemon slices, raspberry and mint sprig if desired.

Notes

1. Baking dish - The recipe makes just shy of 5 cups of batter (1.25 litres / quarts) so you'll need a baking dish that can hold 5 to 6 cups (12.5 - 1.5 litres / quarts). You can fill it close to the top - I just leave 1 cm / 0.2" - as it does not rise much when it bakes.

Ramekins - 6 x 200 - 250ml / 7 - 8 oz ramekins are the ideal size. Or you can use larger or smaller, just calculate how many you'll need based on the volume of batter.

Metal pans will work too (20 - 23cm/8 - 9" round, 5cm/2" tall) but ceramic dishes makes a softer cake and looser sauce, and also present nicer too.

2. Barely melting butter - This prevents the melted butter from getting too hot so it doesn't melt ingredients added into it. But if you fully melt the butter and it's quite hot, that's fine - just set it aside for a few minutes to cool down before proceeding with the recipe.

3. Folding through egg whites - Adding a bit of whipped egg whites into the batter first lightens the batter and makes the rest easier to fold through. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir with big scooping motions, rather than vigorous stirring, to avoid knocking the air out of the egg whites.

Leftovers will keep for 3 - 4 days in the fridge. Reheat gently in the microwave.

Make-ahead - Reheats amazingly well, so terrific for dinner parties! Make the pudding per recipe and fully cool uncovered. Refrigerate, then reheat in the microwave until the centre is warm. The lemon custard sauce will loosen and the sponge will spring back!

Time guide - one ramekin takes me 40 seconds on high. Do 30 second increments, reducing time of bursts as it gets warmer.

Ramekins reheat better (smaller = more even reheating), and the closer you can make it to serving time, the more perfect it will be when reheated.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition