Lemon Puddings

I have the happy problem of several citrus trees in our front yard in Australia.  Mostly it's limes, but we have been drinking a ton of limeade, so that takes care of most of them.  There are also a decent amount of lemons.  The lemons have a lot of seeds in them, unlike the limes which are practically seedless, so I am less keen to fish all the seeds out to make lemonade.  So, I have been looking for other ways to use the lemons where I only need one or two at a time so the seed fishing doesn't drive me batty.  Aussies are very fond of puddings, but I've discovered that a "pudding" is really a very broad category.  It's never what we would call pudding.  They call our pudding "jelly."  Jello is called gelatin, and jelly is usually called preserves, conserves, or fruit spread and occasionally jelly, which adds to the confusion.  Pudding is sometimes a cake, sometimes a steamed cake (such as figgy pudding or date pudding, which I have made before and is actually very tasty), and sometimes it is like this recipe which is sort of like a molten cake, or one of those pudding in the bottom cakes.  Cakes are also called cakes, so again, much confusion.  Regardless of how you would categorize it in the States, it was good.

A note about mixers:  At home I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer.  If you also have a stand mixer of some sort, you will not likely have a problem with this recipe.  I have found, however, that hand mixers are buggers when it comes to beating egg whites.  Sometimes it takes 10 minutes to achieve soft peaks, stiff peaks are hardly ever attainable, and because you are beating them so long, whatever you are putting them into tends to get tough.  Some hand mixers I have been unable to even make it to soft peaks, which was the case with the mixer here.  So, my pudding were much runnier than I would have liked.  If you have had problems with egg whites and your mixer in the past, you might want to skip the recipe or accept that you are going to have a lot more "pudding" in the bottom of your cakes that you might like.

70 g butter (approximately 1/3 cup)

200 g sugar (I used 1/2 cup regular sugar and half a cup Splenda)

5 eggs, separated

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

1/3 cup plain (all purpose) flour (I used whole wheat flour)

300 ml milk, at room temp (ml is on your liquid measuring cup, so just look)

100 ml strained lemon juice

Icing sugar to dust

Double thick cream to serve (I didn't use it)

Preheat oven to 175 (350).  Beat the butter and 70 g (approximately 1/3 cup) sugar until pale.  Add yolks and combine.  Whisk in the rind, flour, milk, and juice.

Whip the egg whites until soft peaks.  Slowly add the remaining sugar and whip to combine.  Fold the eggwhites into the lemon mixture.  Divide among four ½ cup dishes.  Bake for 20 minutes in a water bath until the tops are golden.  Cool slightly in the water.  Dust the puddings with icing sugar and serve with cream.

If you are unfamiliar with soft and stiff peaks or waterbath:  

Soft Peaks: A term used to describe beaten egg whites or cream. When the beaters are removed, soft peaks curl over and droop rather than stand straight up.

Stiff Peaks: A term describing the consistency of beaten egg whites or cream. When the beaters are removed from the mixture, the stiff peaks will stand up straight.

Water Bath:  The French call this cooking technique bain marie. It consists of placing a container (pan, bowl, soufflé dish, etc.) of food in a large, shallow pan of warm water, which surrounds the food with gentle heat. The food may be cooked in this manner either in an oven or on top of a range. This technique is designed to cook delicate dishes such as custards, sauces and savory mousses without breaking or curdling them. It can also be used to keep cooked foods warm.