Warm Lemon Pudding Cakes

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Spoon into these lovely lemon pudding cakes and discover a layer of luscious lemon pudding beneath the cake!

lemon pudding cakes

As someone who cooks for a living, I’m always mindful of dessert portion sizes, yet I make an exception for these irresistible lemon pudding cakes. They’re refreshingly light and practically guilt-free. Plus, they come with a delicious surprise: the batter separates during baking into a fluffy cake layer and a luscious lemon pudding beneath. If you don’t have ramekins, an 8-inch square or a 2-quart baking dish works just as well—the baking time will be about the same.

“Absolutely delicious and really easy! Makes such an elegant dessert…I get rave reviews when I serve this.”

Janet

What You’ll Need To Make Lemon Pudding Cakes

Cake ingredients including lemon, flour, and eggs.

Step-by-Step Instructions

First, spray six (6-oz) ramekins with nonstick cooking spray then begin making the batter by whisking the egg yolks, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk in a bowl of cake ingredients.

Add the flour and sugar and whisk until smooth.

Whisk in a bowl of cake ingredients.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

Electric mixer whipping egg whites.

When you lift the beaters out, the peaks should curl.

Bowl of beaten egg whites.

Whisk a bit of the beaten eggs into the lemon mixture to lighten it. Then add the remaining beaten egg whites to the mixture.

Egg whites in a bowl of lemon mixture.

Gently fold with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth.

Spatula folding egg whites into a lemon mixture.

The batter will be light, foamy, and liquidy.

Bowl of light, foamy batter.

Place the prepared ramekins into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Ladle the batter evenly into 6-oz (180-ml) ramekins (it will come almost to the top). Using a teapot or pitcher, pour room temperature water into the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. The water bath (also called a bain marie) regulates the temperature and keeps the cake baking at a gentle temperature so the custard, or pudding, can form.

Ramekins of batter in a baking dish with water.

Carefully place the baking pan in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the cakes are puffy and lightly golden on top.

Baked pudding cakes in a baking dish.

Using tongs, carefully remove the ramekins from the baking dish and let cool on a rack for about 20 minutes before serving. (They will sink a bit as they cool; that’s okay.) Dust with Confectioners’ sugar and serve with berries, if desired. Enjoy!

Lemon pudding cakes topped with powdered sugar and blueberries.

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Warm Lemon Pudding Cakes

Spoon into these lovely lemon pudding cakes and discover a layer of luscious lemon pudding beneath the cake!

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 5 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 1 cup milk (low-fat or whole)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest, from 2 lemons
  • 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 2 lemons
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Fresh berries and Confectioners' sugar, for serving (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Spray six (6-oz) ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, butter, and salt. Add the flour and sugar and whisk until smooth.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. (The peaks should curl when you lift the beaters out of the bowl.) Spoon about ¼ of the egg whites into the lemon mixture and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining egg whites and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold into the lemon mixture until smooth. The batter will be light, foamy, and liquidy.
  4. Place the prepared ramekins into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Ladle the batter evenly into the ramekins (it will come almost to the top). Using a teapot or pitcher, pour room temperature water into the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cakes are puffy and lightly golden on top. Using tongs, carefully remove the ramekins from the baking dish and let cool on a rack for about 20 minutes before serving. (They will sink a bit as they cool; that's okay.) Dust with Confectioners' sugar and serve with berries, if desired.
  5. Make Ahead: The cakes can be made a day ahead of time. Once completely cool, cover the cakes with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Before serving, preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Remove the plastic wrap and place the ramekins on a baking sheet; heat for 10-15 minutes, until warmed through.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (1 cake servings)
  • Calories: 248
  • Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated fat: 3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 43 g
  • Sugar: 36 g
  • Fiber: 1 g
  • Protein: 6 g
  • Sodium: 152 g
  • Cholesterol: 105 g

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • Made this last night at the last minute for a dinner party and it was fantastic! Did everything as written and it is now my favorite! Love the lemon flavor with the blueberries together and I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for such easy directions and the pictures are always welcomed. By the way, I made them in the afternoon, and just before serving, put them in the oven for 10 minutes and they were heated completely through. I didn’t put the powdered sugar on them and I didn’t miss it at all. The bomb!

  • Made this for my lemon-loving son’s birthday and we all loved it! It was requested that this be made for his birthday in perpetuity.
    Recipe was easy to follow, simple to put together. I used 1% milk and agree with another reviewer that I’d back off on cooking time 3-4 minutes especially if making ahead and reheating.

  • I love your recipes. I was hoping to make your warm lemon pudding cakes for dinner this evening. I am with a friend and she does not have ramekins. I noticed you recommended an 8-inch baking dish. Would a glass pie plate work? I do have an 8X8. thank you. Love your recipes and the friendly way you explain them.

    • Hi Joy, glad you like the recipes! A pie plate should work here. Please LMK how it turns out!

  • Hi Jenn,
    I was hoping to make two of these and adding fresh thyme to one of them for a unique twist.
    Would you recommend trying that?
    Thanks,
    Lori Anne

    • Hi Lori, It definitely sounds like an interesting twist. I’d just be conservative with how much you add. Please LMK what you think!

  • AMAZING !!! DELICIOUS !!!
    WONDERFUL !!!
    I baked them a bit shorter …37 minutes ! I loved it! Detailed instructions and a recipe that turns out perfect !

  • Made this tonight for a dinner party. It was a hit, so delicious! I’ll be saving this recipe for sure.
    The tartness from the lemon was spot on.

  • i do not have ramekins what would be usable? i do have pyrex 176m cups and i have brulee dishes

    • — sharon potusky
    • Reply
    • Hi Sharon, can you clarify the size of your pyrex? What are the dimensions of it?

  • What a fantastic recipe. We had friends round to dinner at our house in Spain where we have been at home for 8 weeks without seeing anyone. We needed to do the ‘social-distancing’ and I wanted a three-course menu where the food needed no handling, apart from using oven-gloved hands to serve it. This was the perfect choice for pudding and everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing.

  • I made these for myself for Mother’s Day and they were SCRUMPTIOUS! The fluffy cake and warm lemony pudding are so perfect. Not as tart as a curd, just a nice lemon. I wrapped individually and placed in the fridge. My husband ate one today (didn’t warm it up) and said it was still absolutely perfect. So glad I found this! It’ll be my go-to lemon splurge.

  • Omg! Made for Mother’s Day (for me). Husband loved it, so did I! I was pretty easy and delicious!

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