Lemon Pudding Cakes
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A dessert that bakes into two dreamy layers—fluffy cake on top, silky lemon pudding underneath. One spoonful of these lemon pudding cakes, and you’ll be hooked!
As someone who cooks for a living, I’m always mindful of dessert portion sizes—but I make an exception for these irresistible lemon pudding cakes. They’re refreshingly light and practically guilt-free, with a built-in surprise: during baking, the batter magically separates into a fluffy cake layer on top and a luscious lemon pudding beneath.
If you don’t have ramekins on hand, no worries! An 8-inch square pan or a 2-quart baking dish works just as well, with about the same baking time.
Love citrusy desserts? You might also enjoy my lemon bars or lemon pound cake—both bright, tangy, and perfect for lemon lovers.
“Absolutely delicious and really easy! Makes such an elegant dessert…I get rave reviews when I serve this.”
What You’ll Need To Make Lemon Pudding Cakes
Step-by-Step Instructions
First, spray six (6-oz) ramekins with nonstick cooking spray then make the batter by whisking the egg yolks, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, melted butter, salt, and flour in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. When you lift the beaters out, the peaks should curl.
Whisk a bit of the beaten eggs into the lemon mixture to lighten it. Then add the remaining beaten egg whites to the mixture. Gently fold with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth.
The batter will be light, foamy, and liquidy.
Place the prepared ramekins inside a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Ladle the batter evenly into the 6-ounce ramekins, filling them almost to the top. Then, using a teapot or pitcher, carefully pour room-temperature water into the baking dish until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. This water bath (or bain-marie) helps the cakes bake gently, ensuring the custard-like pudding layer forms perfectly.
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.
Using tongs, carefully remove the lemon pudding cakes 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 totally normal.) Dust the cakes with powdered sugar and serve with berries, if you like. Enjoy!
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Lemon Pudding Cakes
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
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set a rack in the middle position. Spray six (6-oz/177-ml) ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.
- 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.
- 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.
- Place the prepared ramekins into a 9 x 13-in (23 x 33-cm) 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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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I am glad you reposted this so that I remembered to write a review. My grandmother used to make this recipe when I was young (she was born in 1899, so you know that I was young a long time ago!). When I saw it in your collection I recognized it immediately and started making it again with your recipe. This is now my go to recipe for company. Everyone loves it (especially here in Spain) because it is a light dessert that is not toooooo sweet. Thanks for refreshing my memories and for a great easy recipe that is a crowd pleaser.
Hi Jenn. What is your opinion about trying this with gluten free flour?? Thanks!
I am a huge fan…thank you for all of your wonderful recipes!!
Hi Phyllis, so glad you like the recipes! I haven’t made these with gluten-free flour but several readers have commented that they have with good results. Hope you enjoy!
I am diabetic so tweak recipes frequently. I made these using a scant half cup of brown sugar Splenda and putting 3 tablespoons of frozen wild blueberries in the bottom of each ramekin before adding the batter. Baking time didn’t change and they were excellent. I chilled the extras because I don’t like to leave egg rich items at room temperature. I rewarmed them in the microwave for 4 minutes at power 3. My microwave isn’t overly powerful so I think that I would start at 2 minutes and check. They were as good as the fresh out of the oven ones.
If I make it in an 8” pan do I still bake it in water? I don’t have any ramekins! Thank you. Making it this weekend.
Yes, you should still use the water bath. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious, simple to make but everyone I’ve served them to rave about them. A firm favourite.
Delicious..easy to make..the cake was very light and nice creamy lemon sauce..but I only used 1/4
cup sugar plus 2Tbls…
I put it all into one dish..
Simply put, this is a solid recipe with a lovely outcome. I left out the butter by accident (and I am not sure what the impact would have been), but they were still terrific. I also had 8-ounce ramekins so there was no danger of spillover. It received our highest compliment, “it’s in the rotation”.
I had way more batter than I needed for my 6 ramekins. I’m going to try to refrigerate the remaining batter to bake at another time. Any other suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Jean, I’m assuming your ramekins must be smaller than mine. Depending on how much batter you have over (if it’s enough to fill a small baking dish), you could put the remaining batter in it and make one larger version. Hope that helps!
Quite easy to make and very professional looking. I thought it was extremely lemony… in a good way and had great texture, top and bottom. I had expected rave reviews but unfortunately my guests liked it but didnt rave. It was quite nice but for some reason not a scene stealer as many of my other desserts in the past have been.
This was easy to follow and so tasty. My mother in law made this often but I couldn’t master it. Following your clear directions I finally mastered it. My family really enjoyed it. I use your website all the time. Anything I have made to date has made me look good. ☺️ Thanks Jenn for such wonderful recipes. Anne from Canada.
❤️
I’m not much of a baker, I don’t think I have ever whisked egg whites before! I think I took them too far and I was worried I had ruined it but it turned out great! Impressed with this dessert especially if you love lemon.
Wonderful recipe. I substituted sugar with swerve and ate it guilt free. Thank you!