It’s the height of Meyer Lemon season and I am fortunate that my friend Susan has a huge tree and is so generous with the fruit. She also gave me this recipe that she found in an old Junior League cookbook…remember when we used cookbooks rather than google search?
The editor of the cookbook described the recipe as such:
This was found, neatly penned, on a tattered page of an old family recipe book. The date was 1931, the description “…a delicate crust will form on top of the pudding…supplies its own sauce. Very fine.”
It is indeed a very fine pudding cake. It is also pretty, easy to make, light and tangy, and it can be made gluten free!
Here’s the recipe and a couple of notes.
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour (any GF flour will do)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
5 to 6 tablespoons lemon juice
Grated rind of 2 small lemons
3 egg yolks
1 ½ cups milk
3 egg whites, beaten stiff
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter, lemon juice and rind. Blend with a whisk. Add yolks and milk and beat with whisk until well-blended.
Beat whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into lemon mixture. Pour into a buttered 1 ½ quart soufflé dish. Set dish in a shallow roasting pan filled with 1 inch of hot water. Bake one hour.
This is a pretty dessert that anyone can make…even if you’ve never folded egg whites into a batter before. If you find that idea daunting, here’s a quick how-to video.
Cake on the top and custard on the bottom…truly dainty!
This dessert an be served warm or cold in shallow bowls. Lovely with fresh berries!
I LOVE pudding cakes!! They are such a comforting dessert. This one sounds fantastic with the Meyer lemons. Ah, Tortilla soup and lemon pudding cake — can’t get enough comfort!!
Well…maybe add a little Southern Comfort to that mix and we’d be blissed out!
Or PASSED OUT!