Do you usually eat dessert after every meal?

I have this notion that no meal is complete without a sweet ending. That said, I don’t eat cakes, brownies or trifle on a daily basis. Otherwise, that’d be lovely outrageous, no?

To satisfy my insatiable sweet tooth and trying not to overwork my digestive enzymes at the same time, my everyday dessert consists of a cup of hot chocolate or honey tea. It may not be the perfect dessert I have in mind but some sugar is better than none. Striving for middle ground here, remember?

This recipe was originally intended for a weekend treat. But when you just had a bad day and a lacklustre dinner, the need of a fabulous dessert became apparent.

Yes, this is another recipe from the same cookbook as the mustard chicken wings which I have made earlier on. I have a sneaky feeling that I’ll end up cooking all the recipes from “Good Cooking – The New Essentials” by Jill Dupleix. Whenever I go through a cookbook, I love to stick my arrow-shaped post-its to recipes that stand out amongst others (do you do that too?). But when it comes this particular book, there’s no point in bookmarking the recipes as almost every recipe is a yes to me *sigh*.

Anyway, a quick description of this pudding: think of a molten chocolate cake (or a lava cake as some would call it), but in this instance, it’s in a lemon cake form. What you end up with is “a pillow of soft golden lemon sponge cake on top, with a tangy lemony curd underneath” (quoting from Jill). Sounds like lemony heaven? You bet.

Sticky Lemon Pudding

Serves 4

(adapted from Good Looking – The New Essentials by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:

70g (2.5 ounces) butter, plus extra for the baking dish – soften at room temperature

180g (6 ounces) caster sugar

2 tsp grated lemon zest (about 3/4 of a lemon)

3 medium eggs, separated

60g (2 ounces) plain flour, sifted

250ml (1 cup) milk

100ml lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

Icing sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius /356 degrees Fahrenheit / Gas 4.

2. Using either a food processor or manual labour of whisking, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until pale. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.

3. Add the flour and milk alternately until you have a smooth batter, beating well. Lastly, beat in the lemon juice.

4. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until firm but not stiff, and fold the two mixtures together.

5. Pour into a buttered 1 litre ovenproof dish and place in a baking tin.

6. Half-fill the tin with hot water and bake for 50 minutes or until the pudding is lightly browned and set on top, with a soft base of gooey lemon curd.

7. Remove the dish from the water, dust the pudding with icing sugar and serve immediately.

{Enjoy!}