This lemon pudding couldn’t be easier. It’s made with just four ingredients: whipping cream, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
All you do is warm everything up, then let the pudding set. It’s like magic.
Elegant, simple, and with a velvety texture that is positively dreamy, this lemon pudding is perfect for Easter dinner, Mother’s Day brunch, and everything in between.
No one needs to know it only took you 15 minutes to make.
The recipe is a modern adaptation of a medieval drink called a posset, which was popular from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century. This was a hot milk or cream mixture thickened with acidic wine or cider. It was considered medicinal for treating a cold or flu. Syllabubs, another sweet frothy drink, are closely related.
History lesson over! Lemon posset is fast becoming a trendy dessert, especially in Britain.
The magic is in the thick cream, reduced slightly, and combined with tart lemon juice. The two interact to form an exquisite creamy consistency, especially after you strain out the little bits of zest.
Look through your cupboard for pretty stemmed glasses if you want to be fancy, and make this for your next party!
Easy Lemon Pudding Recipe
PrintRecipe is easily doubled.
Recipe can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries or blackberries, to garnish
Method
1 Warm the cream and sugar: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cream, sugar and lemon zest. Bring to a boil. Adjust the heat to a gentle boil, and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
Watch carefully and stir frequently to keep the cream from boiling over.
2 Add the lemon juice and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes. Stir frequently.
3 Take the pan off the heat and let the cream cool for 5 minutes.
4 Strain and chill. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup or other container for easy pouring.
Pour into 4 four-ounce ramekins or pretty stemmed glasses.
5 Refrigerate, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours, or until set. This pudding can also be prepared and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance. Top each glass with berries just before serving.
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Sally Pasley Vargas is a freelance writer and the author of three cookbooks (Food for Friends, The Tao of Cooking, Ten Speed Press, and The Cranberry Cookbook). She currently writes the column The Confident Cook for The Boston Globe along with seasonal recipes for the Wednesday Food Section.
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Can I use lemon extract instead of lemon peel. If so how would I use the extract in this pudding ? Also would it be possible to use whole milk instead of heavy cream ? Maybe half and half ?
I made this recipe with Pyure granulated stevia but it didn’t thicken. I am unable to eat sugar. Could I thicken this pudding with corn starch or arrowroot?
In ingredients it says 2/3 cups of granulated sugar. Is this between 2-3 cups or two thirds of a cup? Please help – I want to make it this week!
Hi! I want to use this pudding as pie filling. Will this yield enough for that or should I double the recipe/make two batches?
OH MY! Simply delicious! I only had one cup of heavy cream so I halved the recipe. I was a bit skeptical at first since I couldn’t imagine a pudding without a thickening agent, like cornstarch. Not only did it thicken like a pudding but the resulting texture was an incredible silky delight. The lemon flavor in this pudding was well balanced by just the right amount of the sugar so as not to overwhelm the taste. Thank you for this dessert. It will become a family favorite for sure.
PS: I didn’t want to waste the bits of lemon peel so, after straining, I rinsed them, let them air dry and then heated them in a frying pan with half teaspoon of granulated sugar and a tablespoon of water with a teaspoon of lemon juice. I put them on wax paper to dry and, while the pudding cooled in the fridge, so did the lemon peel bits. I crunched them up with the back of a spoon and sprinkled them atop one of the dishes of pudding. Both with and without candied bits, this dessert was DELISH!
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