Experience the magic of Lemon Delicious! Also known as Self-Saucing Lemon Pudding or Lemon Pudding Cake, one batter separates into a light soufflé-like sponge with silky lemon custard sauce underneath. Not just a wimpy amount. This has plenty of sauce!
Bonus: It’s a dinner party dessert dream because it reheats brilliantly. Especially in ramekins!
Lemon Delicious Pudding
Lemon Delicious Pudding is a cosy dessert that’s literally the perfect way to finish a hearty meal during cold winter days. The lemon custard sauce looks rich and creamy, but it’s actually bright and tangy, and the sponge layer is incredibly light, almost like a soufflé.
It’s a nostalgic Australian favourite that’s also well loved in the UK and New Zealand, while the American version, known as Lemon Pudding Cake, is similar but has a layer of thicker custard under the cake rather than a drizzle-able sauce.
While Chocolate and Butterscotch Self Saucing Puddings have existed on here for many years, truthfully, the lemon version never excited me in the past because I always found the sauce part …… underwhelming. Just a token thin layer, most of which soaked into the cake, whereas I wanted a good amount of sauce I could scoop up and spoon over every bite. Like this:
Little did I know that my grievances were widely shared until readers requested it in droves after a call-out for winter recipes on Instagram! This sparked an obsession to create the Lemon Delicious I’d always wanted. And there really is no other word than obsession to describe how I went about tackling this. It’s just how I’m wired – I get fixated on perfecting a recipe for something I really want to eat, and I make it over and over and over again until I get there!
And here’s the maddening part about creating this recipe – you can’t tell if it worked just by looking at it. Every Lemon Delicious looked like a success coming out of the oven. It’s only when I dug through the cake layer that I knew if the sauce worked or not!
But I did get there, and even JB was mighty impressed with the final version. Or perhaps astonished is the better word, given how different it was to my first attempt. I have to laugh remembering how restrained and polite he was about that one, which somehow managed to be dry, crumbly, way too sweet AND eye-wateringly sour all at once.
It takes skill to make a pudding like that! 😂
And while I remember, YES, you can make this in individual ramekins too! (So many exclamation marks already, and I haven’t even started talking about the recipe 😂)
Ingredients in Lemon Delicious
Here’s what you need to make Lemon Delicious. All pantry basics – except lemons, unless you’re lucky enough to have a tree in the backyard you can pluck one from!
I also have a deep appreciation for any recipe where dairy ingredients can go in straight from the fridge – eggs, milk and butter. No need to plan ahead and bring anything to room temperature!
Lemons – You’ll need 2 large lemons to get 1 tablespoon of zest and 1/2 cup of juice for this recipe. Fun fact: it’s the zest that provides most of the lemon flavour, while the juice mainly adds tartness rather than lemon flavour. 🙂
Sugar – I use caster sugar / superfine sugar as my default for baking recipes, but regular sugar (granulated sugar) will work fine too.
The recipe calls for 1 cup (200g) of white sugar. I know that sounds like a lot, but it’s needed to balance the lemon juice – otherwise the pudding is far too sour. I know because one of my early versions used half the sugar, and it was so tart it was inedible.
Milk – Use full fat milk if you can, as the lemon custard sauce comes out nicer. Just a better mouthfeel, like using full fat versus low-fat cream.
Flour – Just plain flour (all-purpose flour), and not very much at all – just 1/3 cup (50g) which is why the sponge layer comes out more like a delicate soufflé rather than a cake. It cannot be substituted with self-raising flour. In fact, this pudding doesn’t use baking powder or baking soda at all – it gets its rise entirely from whipped egg whites.
** GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR ** Though I myself have not tried this with gluten-free flour, I am very happy to hear from quite a few readers who have and reported perfect results! Just substitute the flour in the recipe with the same quantity of gluten-free flour. **Eggs – Use large eggs, which are eggs from cartons labelled “large eggs”, ~50 – 55g/2oz each (in shell). Fridge cold is fine, it doesn’t need to be brought to room temperature.
Unsalted butter – Fridge cold, cut up into cubes to help it melt evenly.
Vanilla extract – This is optional, for a touch of extra flavour.
Salt – A pinch, to bring out the flavours in this dessert.
The Magic of Lemon Delicious: How It Works
The word “magic” really is what comes to mind when you think about how one batter can make such a lovely delicate sponge cake and so much silky lemon custard sauce! But here’s how it actually works – the thin batter has whipped egg whites folded through it which is what makes the cake rise. When you stop stirring, you’ll see it start separating almost immediately, with a foamy part (from the egg whites) rising to the top while a darker coloured lemon mixture settles underneath.
It then bakes just like that – the egg white layer becomes the light sponge, while the lemon mixture transforms into that glorious silky custard sauce.
How to make Lemon Delicious
Most Lemon Delicious recipes start by creaming softened butter with an electric beater, then you have to wash it before whipping egg whites to fold into the batter. I use melted butter instead so everything can be mixed with just a hand held whisk and the (clean!) electric beater reserved for the egg whites. Plus, no need to remember to soften the butter first!
Melt the butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave until almost melted, then whisk by hand to finish melting it. This way, the butter isn’t too hot so we don’t need to wait for it to cool a bit.
Thin batter – Whisk the sugar in first (it will be thick like wet sand) using a handheld whisk. Then add the egg yolks, lemon juice, vanilla and salt and whisk until combined. Add the flour and whisk until lump free, then whisk in the milk. It will be a very thin, runny batter.
Beat egg whites to stiff peaks using an electric mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. By stiff peaks, I mean upright pointy Santa hats, not floppy elf hats (that’s softly whipped).
Fold through – Fold a big scoop of the fluffed egg whites into the batter first (this lightens the batter and makes the rest easier to fold through), then fold through the rest of the egg whites. By “fold”, I mean 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.
One baking dish – Gently pour the mixture into a 5 to 6 cup ceramic baking dish (1.25 – 1.5 litres / quarts). I prefer using a smaller dish with taller sides rather than a flatter one as you get a thicker sponge layer, but it will work whatever the shape.
I don’t recommend using a metal pan, it conducts heat faster and more directly so the custard sauce cooks more and it’s thicker. Still nice, but ends up more like a thick dollop custard rather than a sauce.
Individual ramekins – You can also use ramekins to make individual portions. Six 200ml / 7 oz ramekins is the perfect size, else you can use whatever size baking dishes you want to divide 5 cups of batter (12.5 litres / quarts). The pudding barely rises as it bakes so you can fill it to 1 cm / 0.2″ from the top.
Water bath – Place the baking dish or ramekins into a large pan and fill halfway up the sides with boiling water. Baking in a water bath makes the pudding cook evenly and gently so the cake part is beautifully light and moist and the custard sauce underneath doesn’t dry out.
Bake – Bake for 35 minutes if making a large single one, or 30 minutes if making individual ones, or until the top is light golden. It will still feel jiggly if you poke it because of the sauce underneath.
Rest for 5 minutes to give the sponge a chance to stabilise (it is very delicate hot out of the oven). Give it a dusting of icing sugar (makes everything prettier), then serve, taking big scoops out of the dish, being sure to scoop up plenty of sauce too! A dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche is highly recommended as it really compliments the tangy lemon flavour.
Garnish options – A little slice of lemon, raspberry and mint sprig are little garnishes you can add for a touch of colour, and gives it a little “dinner party” vibe. 🙂
Making Lemon Delicious ahead
Speaking of dinner parties – I made an accidental discovery while reheating leftover Lemon Delicious for breakfast one day (don’t judge me, there were a lot of leftovers during testing!). It reheats almost perfectly! On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being fresh-from-the-oven perfection, I give it a 9.
And I do not hand out 9’s lightly!!
Just refrigerate until required, then reheat in the microwave. The sponge fluffs back up beautifully and the lemon custard becomes a warm pouring sauce again. And you can do it for either a single large pudding or individual – though ramekins reheat better because they’re easier to heat evenly.
Honestly, if your guests don’t catch you using the microwave, I’d bet they’d never guess they weren’t freshly baked!! – Nagi x
Lemon Delicious FAQ
Yes, you can make this with orange or lime. Start using the same juice and zest quantity per the recipe. Then when you’ve mixed the batter, before folding in the fluffed egg whites, have a taste and if you want more flavour, add up to an extra 2 tablespoons of juice and as much zest as you want.
It will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days after making it. The longer it is kept, the more the custard sauce will soak the cake part. But honestly, it was still very enjoyable on day 4!
If you’re planning to make ahead then reheat to serve, try to make it closer to serving time as it reheats better if you make it on the day-of compared to the day before.
Unfortunately not, the sauce gets watery and kind of splits, and you can’t exactly stir it when it’s buried under cake! 🙂
Unfortunately I haven’t tried this with gluten-free flour but I feel like this has a good chance of working because it’s leavened with egg whites rather than baking powder. Though I myself have not tried this with gluten-free flour, quite a few readers made it over the weekend and reported perfect results! Just substitute the flour in the recipe with the same quantity of gluten-free flour. **
I looked at a lot of recipes before coming up with my own. Flour, butter and milk ratios vary widely, with Australian and UK recipes using far more flour than American ones (as low as 3 tablespoons vs 125g / 1/2 cup for Australian recipes), leading to more cake-like sponge layers, whereas the Americans ones were so light, they were more like a soufflé (a bit too wet for my taste, to be honest).
American recipes also tended to use more egg (usually 4 compared to 3 eggs for Australian / British recipes), resulting in the sauce layer ending up more like a baked custard (ie very thick) rather than a sauce.
The good news is that all the recipes I tried – even early version of my own – separated into a cake and sauce / custard layer. It’s good news because it showed that the self-saucing magic of the recipe is actually pretty foolproof. The question of how good each of those elements were was another matter. 🙂
Where my recipe differs from typical recipes is that it uses 50% more milk which is how I get so much more sauce. While 1/2 cup extra of milk might not sound like much, it thins the batter substantially and results in more than 1/2 cup extra of lemon cream sauce.
No need to make a separate sauce: I also tried making a sauce separately and pouring that onto a thick cake batter, expecting it to settle and thicken under the cake, much like Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding. It worked, but actually, it’s an unnecessary extra step because this is essentially what happens when you mix up the batter – when you stop stirring, you’ll see it separates almost immediately with the airy egg whites rising to the top half while the thinner lemon mixture settles on the base and this is what becomes the sauce.
Watch how to make it
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Lemon Delicious Pudding – extra saucy!
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 (or gluten-free flour)
Serving
- Whipped cream (use 3/4 cup cream) or creme fraiche
- Decorate – icing sugar (recommended), small lemon slices, raspberries, mint sprigs
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 or 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.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More cosy puddings and desserts
Life of Jaffle
And just like that, my sweet little puppy enters his wild child era ……
Current status:
4 months and 6 days old
20 kg (40 lb) – putting on 1 kg every week
Food consumption – 800g / 1.6lb daily plus undetermined quantity of treats 😇
Energy levels – unlimited
Personal space awareness – none
Recall success rate (with treats) – varies significantly depending on nearby distractions (dogs, birds, sticks)
Current life philosophy – if it moves, chase it. If it doesn’t move, see if it will.
Favourite household item – skirting boards and anything mum is wearing.
Point down with a camera at any time and there’s a high probability of capturing this exact shot 😂:
Ahhh, but for all the naughtiness, this not-so-little-anymore fur ball has totally stolen my heart.
And that’s probably the last photo you’ll see of me holding him. 😂
The lemon pie is delicious my custard not as runny as yours looked in the photo more thick like my English custard always is. But the taste absolutely just how I like it. I made it with half sugar amount as I use my onstevia sugar being diabetic. Perfect.
I live in Athens Greece and although it is said a winter desert with ice cream it was super.
It’s my new desert when family visit as we always enjoy lemon deserts.
Do miss Dozer and I know you must but you did do well getting another puppy and I so look forward to seeing him grow.
Your recipes are the best. Have so many comments about my pastry when people visit and all thanks to you!!!
A beautiful desert, very little effort with huge rewards! Everyone at the table devoured it, definitely going to be a regular!
I substituted the zest and juice of three limes, 60g. of sugar topped up with the same amount visually of Candarel and it was absolutely gorgeous! Your recipes never fail to delight. Thank you, you’re a star.
Made step by step but no sauce appeared…. What could have gone wrong ????
Still delish tho
Absolutely deeeeelicious!! Wow! Could eat the whole thing on my own. Thank you for all of the incredible recipes you provide to us.
I baked this cake as soon as I saw the recipe because it sounded so delicious. And OMG, it was mind-blowingly delicious! I have a lemon tree in my backyard, and the lemons are not tangy at all, so I reduced the sugar by half. It was perfect. The amount of sauce and its thickness were perfect too. Such a dreamy dish, I could eat it every day. This is going to be my regular cake from now on. Thank you so much for the amazing recipe, Nagi!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this so much Aya! Thank you for the feedback – N x
Perfect result, love all the helpful tips
Glad you enjoyed it Maureen! – N x
All promises made well and truly kept. Light, fluffy, sauce to go back for more.
So happy to hear you loved it Sandy! – N x
Can this be cooked in a slow cooker? It looks fabulous and we have so many lemons at the moment.
I don’t think so Ren, sorry to disappoint! It would certainly be handy if it could 🙂 – N x
Oh, wow, wow, wow.
I’ve seen “lemon delicious” recipes before and was always quite dubious, but if NAGI is making it, well, then….
And yep. It’s wow, wow, wow. Perfect timing, too, because my hens haven’t realised it’s winter and are cranking out eggs, my house cow is producing plenty of milk (and cream for butter), and my lemon tree has gone berko this season. I reckon I’ll be making this recipe A LOT for the foreseeable future.
Lucky you!! You are living my dream 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it Fran! – N x
I made this last night Nagi, and followed each step, I weighed the butter.
It was a perfect result. Lots of delicious sauce at the bottom.
It was a real hit and thoroughly enjoyed. A great dessert for a cold winters night xo
I’m so pleased you loved this Cheryl! Thanks for letting me know! – N x
OMG!!! Made it last night for dessert! Turned out perfect – I love lemon flavour and probs added a tad more zest and it was just right so lemony and yummy! Thanks Nagi! I’m also loving Jaffle – he is a BIG ball of mischief!! Right at the mischievous puppy stage! Thank you x
Yay!! So glad you loved it, Patsy! 😂 Extra zest is always a good idea in my book! And yes… Jaffle is currently treating mischief like it’s a full-time job 😅 – N x
Absolute winner, the right amount of sweetener versus tartness
Love hearing that, Alex! I was chasing exactly that balance, so I’m thrilled you thought so too! – N x
Have made it today. Live in Greece just had loads of lemons which I love so decided to make it. I guess I need to warm it up as made it 7 hours ago.
So will put in individual dishes and warm up for three minutes.
Do love your new puppy. He’s already grown so much. Yes don’t think you will be holding him again the way he’s growing.
Perfect! It reheats so well, Lindsey, so I hope you enjoyed it. And yes… I don’t think I’ll be carrying Jaffle for much longer either 😂 – N x
This turned out fantastic! I didn’t have lemons, only oranges and it was absolutely everything i needed!
Orange Delicious!! 😂 I love that it worked so well – what a great save! – N x
Very delicious! I made it with gluten free flour and it worked perfectly
Thanks Sophie – my daughter is a celiac and I’d like to make it for her so pleased that the swap with GF flour works well.
So happy to hear it worked with GF flour Sophie!! – N x
Served with lunch for a friend who loves lemon but doesn’t cook much. Am I the star!! Oh yes I am! We all loved it. Leftovers tomorrow 😋
Hahaha yes you are!! 😂 Love that you got all the credit, Polly! And I hope you enjoy the leftovers too – N x
Hi Nagi, can this be reheated in the oven if I do in ramekins? Reheating 15 ramekins for guests in the microwave would take a while to be able to serve them up together
Hi Sarah! I would take them out of the fridge about an hour prior to remove fridge chill. Then I would pop them into large roasting pans with a bit of boiling water, cover with foil then reheat at 180C/350F (160C fan-forced) for about, hmmm… I am guessing 10 minutes, the boiling water will help warm them through nice and quick. The water and foil will prevent them drying out. I have some in the fridge, I’ll give it a go tomorrow and update this comment! – N x
Hello,
Does this freeze? Thinking to thaw in the fridge…
– S
Sorry Sandra, it doesn’t freeze well as the sauce splits and you can’t really stir it because it is under the cake 🙂 – N x
You have to cook this!!!!! Soooo much delicious lemon curd Nagi you are a such a star. Best winter dessert ever with a dollop of cold vanilla Peters I also added extra zest it can never be too lemony😊
I love hearing this Di! So glad you enjoyed it!! And yes to ice cream, I will add that as a suggestion! – N x