Lemon Sponge Puddings

Do you ever make something, and when it's done you just stand there grinning like a fool from ear to ear, so proud of yourself you can hardly speak? That's what happened with this year's Christmas Day dessert. And it wasn't even that hard! I did go out and buy a set of custard cups (I've somehow managed to live this long without owning any, but it was time), but I should have bought two. Just wasn't thinking, really.

Anyway, I should say right off that this is not an original recipe of mine. However, I sadly cannot credit which cookbook it came from because I entered it into my files before I started making a note of where things came from. It was some sort of diabetic cookbook, but that's about all I've got. I have re-written the directions and changed a couple of things, though.

Pudding stuff. Milk, flour, sugar, egg whites, egg, lemons, vanilla, cream of tartar, fruit for garnish. Originally it called for strawberries and confectioners' sugar to garnish so that's what I put in the picture, but when I got to the store I had to buy that mixed fruit dish there with strawberries, pineapple and blueberries. The pineapple would've been goofy, but I used the other two. And skipped the confectioners' sugar altogether in favour or using a few of the mint leaves I had left from another recipe. I even sugared them, although not very well. There's also butter, which I forgot to pull out from behind the canisters.

You know me by now...it wouldn't be a picture of the ingredients if I actually had everything in the recipe in it without anything extra.

First, let me point out that it's virtually impossible to combine the sugar and butter well in the quantities you need with either a hand mixer or a spoon. Just do your best, and don't stress about it. I mixed it for about 2 minutes, but I was also watching some rabbits playing in my back yard so you can probably get away with less time.

Add the lemon zest and egg and continue beating until smooth. Note that "smooth" is a relative term here as the lemon zest will not allow it to be truly smooth. Also notice how much of the zest is caught on the beaters... Before you're done using them, make sure you get all that off and stir it into the pudding, because that's half of what makes them so deliciously lemony! Also, if you've worked to get that much zest, it's a crying shame to waste any.

Add the flour and beat until it's mixed in, something like 30 seconds to a minute. Doesn't really take much time at all since there's very little flour.

Then add the milk, vanilla, and lemon juice and keep beating. See the bottom of my mixer? See all those splashes? This stuff was ALL over my kitchen, and me! Start at low speed and work your way up, and while I can't guarantee that will prevent the splashing it'll at least keep it to a minimum. Better yet, if you own a mixing bowl with tall sides rather than sloped ones like mine, you should use it. Or, you know, plan on wiping down everything in a two-foot radius of the bowl when you're done. Either way.

When you're done, this is where you pull all the lemon zest off the beaters and stir it into the pudding batter. Trust me on this. And then, even more importantly, wash and DRY the beaters. Don't just sort-of dry them. Dry them well. You don't want any water left on them when you get to the next step.

In a new bowl, beat the egg whites until they start to get frothy. Shouldn't take much time at all, maybe a minute. Then add the cream of tartar and keep beating, increasing speed as they thicken.

Eventually, you'll end up with a bowl full of meringue. You want it to form stiff peaks, but not dry ones. Seems like it took me about 4 minutes, give or take. Just make sure you don't beat them until they start to dry, because that'll screw up the pudding. You've come too far now to have to start over!

Fold the egg whites into the lemon batter. Do not mix. Do not stir. Fold. Gently. It's going to take a few minutes, and that's OK. Just keep folding until they're completely incorporated into the batter. Make sure you scrape the sides so there isn't anything hanging out unmixed. Gently!

Remember when I said I should have bought two sets of custard cups? Yeah, about that... I bought four. Knowing full well the recipe was going to require eight. So I improvised and used one of our Pyrex casserole dishes. Goofy, sure, but it worked. And, they all fit in a 9x13 pan this way, so bonus for me!

I had to bake the center one a LOT longer than the little ones. Go figure.

Anyway, pour in hot water to come up about halfway on the sides of the cups, and into the oven (carefully!) they go.

Thirty minutes later (for the little ones anyway), lightly golden brown, slightly jiggly lemon-scented perfection! Carefully take the cups out of the water and put them on a cooling rack. I cannot emphasize enough that you should do this carefully! They're hot, they're sitting in water, and they're round. They can slip out of your hands easily, especially if your oven mitts or whatever you're using aren't very flexible.

Trust me on the being careful part. See that one in the back corner that looks all deflated? That's because it slid right out of my hands, sideways, on the counter and dumped about 1/3 of the pudding out. The top stayed, but the pudding underneath was splashed everywhere. Burned my hand, too!

But the cooling rack was originally the point. You should leave them on one for about 20 minutes, 30 maximum. At which point you can choose to garnish them and serve them warm, or you can cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them until you want to serve them, up to two days later. I opted to make mine early to give me one less thing to mess with during the actual holiday. Garnish should go on just before serving either way.

I discovered something when I did the garnish! Every "recipe" for making sugared mint leaves I've ever seen calls for brushing them with egg whites and then dredging them in sugar or sprinkling sugar on them. Which means you're eating raw egg whites, even though they're dry. Ick! So on a whim I just ran them under some warm water for a second before dredging them in sugar, and it worked like a charm! Now if only I can perfect my water to sugar ratio so they don't get all clumpy. I'm thinking maybe turbinado sugar next time, and sprinkling rather than dredging.

These are fantastically lemony! Usually lemon desserts leave me wanting more, but these were absolutely perfect. Sweet but not too sweet, rich but not too rich, and diabetic-friendly besides! Add in the fact that they're really fairly simple to make, and I may have just found a dessert I'm going to make so often we'll get sick of it. Like that could happen.

Lemon Sponge Puddings

Serves 8

1/2 cup +
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large egg
2 teaspoons lemon zest
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 tablespoons egg white (3 large egg whites)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 strawberries, hulled and halved
24 blueberries
8 sugared mint leaves

Preheat oven to 350F; spray eight 6-ounce custard cups with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl on medium speed, beat the sugar and butter until it resembles crumbs (it won't all be mixed together). Add egg and lemon zest and beat for 2 minutes or until well-combined and smooth. Add flour and beat for 30 seconds until just combined. Add the milk, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat for 1-2 minutes or until blended. Set bowl aside.

Wash and dry beaters. Make sure beaters are completely dry.

In a separate bowl on medium speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat on medium speed until they start to thicken, then increase speed to high and beat until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Should take about 3-4 minutes, but don't over-beat. Gently fold egg whites into lemon batter until completely incorporated. Do not beat or stir; make sure you fold until combined.

Ladle pudding into prepared cups. Arrange cups in a baking dish large enough to hold all of them without touching each other or sides of pan. Carefully add enough hot water to come about halfway up sides of cups. Carefully place pan in oven.

Bake for 30 minutes or until tops are golden and pudding barely jiggles when moved. Carefully remove cups from water and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes.

Can either be served warm garnished with fruit and mint leaves, or covered (ungarnished) with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to two days before serving.

Serving Size: 393g

Calories: 239

Calories from Fat: 27

Total Fat: 3.0g

Saturated Fat: 1.2g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 28mg

Sodium: 59mg

Total Carbohydrates: 51.1g

Dietary Fiber: 5.9g

Sugars: 38.5g

Protein: 6.0g