Lemon Pudding Cake
This lemon pudding cake has the intense lemon flavor of a lemon meringue pie without the work, which makes it the perfect recipe to bake when spring rolls around. Since it’s super easy to make with bright lemon flavors, it makes the perfect Easter dessert. The cake has a fluffy topping with a pudding-like layer underneath, and when dusted with powdered sugar and toasted almonds, it’s a true showstopper!
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar separated
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 4 large eggs whites separated
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- sifted powdered sugar (optional)
- toasted sliced almonds (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar (reserving 1 tablespoon) and lemon zest. Work the zest into the sugar until it becomes sandy and fragrant, 1 minute. Add the egg yolks to the sugar and whisk until they are pale yellow and thick, 2-3 minutes.1 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 4 large eggs
- Whisk in the melted butter, flour, salt, lemon juice, and milk until it is smooth.4 tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- Separately, whip the egg whites. Whip the whites until they are foamy, and slowly pour in the reserved 1 tablespoon of sugar until fluffy and hold a stiff peak. Add ⅓ of the whipped egg whites to the batter and whisk until combined. Then add the remaining ⅔ of the whipped egg whites and fold gently until no lumps remain.4 large eggs
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven until the cake is golden and set but jiggles from the pudding underneath, 25-30 minutes.
- Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and cool for 15 minutes before sprinkling it with powdered sugar and toasted almonds, if desired.sifted powdered sugar (optional), toasted sliced almonds (optional)
Video
Notes
Mixing the sugar with the lemon zest before adding the other ingredients makes a big difference when it comes to adding even more flavor impact to the recipe. The action of working the lemon zest into the sugar allows the essential oils in the zest to be released, greatly increasing their potency.
Do not be fearful if the batter is very wet in texture before it is baked. This is exactly what this pudding cake’s batter should look like before it goes into the oven.
Make sure to only add about ⅓ of the whipped egg whites to the batter when beginning to mix everything together. If the entire egg white mixture is added at once, it defeats the purpose of the whipping, as the whites will be deflated by the heaviness of the batter. Instead, adding a portion to begin with lightens the batter. This first amount can be whisked into the batter more forcefully. The remaining 2/3 should be folded in lightly to retain some of the air that was created by the whipping.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 134kcal