Lemon Delicious Pudding

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 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!

What you need for Lemon Delicious Pudding

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.
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

Watch how to make it

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Lemon Delicious Pudding – Extra Saucy!