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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Can I use almond milk in place of low or whole milk? Or even 1/2 Heavy cream 1/2 almond milk?
Hi Caryn, either of those should be fine. Enjoy!
Delicious! So simple yet elegant. Taste as though they took twice the time to make. I made in a 1.5 dish and it took the same amount of time.
The recipe worked perfectly every time I tried it. It’s a great hit among lemon lovers here in NZ.
Hi, I would like to try this recipe. Should I eat these little cakes when they’re still hot or are they better cold?
Thank you for your answer.
Hi Mila,
I think they’re best served warm. 🙂
These were a big hit twice on ladies game nights. Just the right amount of dessert and absolutely delicately delicious! Everyone raved about the light refreshing lemon taste in these beauties, especially with the blueberries on top! I will definitely be making these again! Thank you Jenn!
Hi Jenn:
Can I butter and sugar the ramekins instead of spraying with oil? If I make them the day before Thanksgiving, would I be able to flip the cakes out onto plates after rewarming in the oven according to your instructions? Thank you very much for all your wonderful recipes.
Hi Cecilia, It’s fine to butter and sugar the ramekins, but they are not meant to flipped out as the bottoms are pudding-like. Hope that helps!
Hi Jenn:
Just want to let you know that everyone was really impressed with this desert. My family usually has very different opinions on deserts (too sweet for one person is too sour for another person), but everyone loved this desert. Thank you so much for always taking the time to answer the questions.
Sincerely,
Cecilia
This recipe is so forgiving. I filled my ramekins but liquid only came up halfway. Reread recipe and saw I had left sugar and flour out. I was sure would not bake correctly since I had already “gently folded” my egg whites in. But it turned out perfect and tasted amazing! So easy if follow directions! Love at first bite.
Very classy – restaurant quality. Our eggs were small so we added one more, Creamy and delicious and so easy to make!
Thank you so much for recipe. My significant other and I really enjoyed it. It tasted the same as my mother’s recipe from a WW II cookbook! Two questions: One, I had difficulty extracting ramekins from pan with water. Neither of two styles of tongs worked, and I kept getting burned using oven mitts. How do you recommend extracting them? For the last ramekin, I dumped out most of the water in the pan. Second question: I’m going to a meeting tonight and want to take them for the dessert. Any recommendations for travel (fifteen minutes away? Thanks again. It was wonderful!
Hi Lea, glad to hear you enjoyed these but sorry you had a problem getting them out of the pan! This time, you could try using a spatula and lifting them out by getting the spatula under each ramekin. Because these need to sit for 20 minutes before serving, the timing is perfect for you to make them and then travel to your meeting. Hope everyone enjoys!
I have had good luck wrapping a heavy duty rubber band around the end of my tongs before lifting ramekins out. Hope this helps.
Made this last night. Everyone loved it. My friend described it as being “the best parts of a lemon bar, with a warm hug thrown in”.
Love these cakes