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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How long should I bake using a 2 1/2 quart bowl?
Hi Marilyn, I assume you mean a baking dish, not a bowl? If so, the bake time will be shorter but I’m not sure by how much. I’d start checking for doneness at 35 minutes. Enjoy!
Hi Jen,
How far ahead can you make these before baking them? Could they go in frig for an hour or two and them be baked? Thanks much,
Hi Belinda, I’d actually make them ahead and bake them and then reheat them right before serving. See the make-ahead instructions at the bottom of the recipe.
I only have almond milk- would that be an ok substitute or do you recommend only using cow’s milk?
Hi Tina, I haven’t tried them with almond milk, but I think it should work. I’d love to hear how they turn out!
My wife and I had a good friend over for lunch today. We had homemade pizza (one of her favorites). To top the meal off, I fixed you lemon pudding cakes. What a hit, there were delicious and easy to make. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi there! I love these but need to have a gf version. Will they work with a substitute like Pamela’s or XO Baking flour?
Thank you!
Sharon
Hi Sharon, A number of readers have commented that they’ve made these successfully with gluten-free flour. 🙂
Great recipe, easy to follow and make with ingredients around the house. I did scale back to 2/3 the sugar as our family prefers desserts that are less sweet. Will definitely make again.
Hi Jenn – What are your thoughts on subbing chickpea flour? I’m planning to make the pudding during Passover. Thanks!
Hi Nanette, I’ve never worked with chickpea flour so I can’t say how it would impact the recipe — sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Thanks for the quick reply. I’ll let you know how it works. I’m not going to buy a box of matzo meal for just one thing!
Hag Sameach!
Overall great recipe and easy to follow the reason for a star less due to it being way too sweet, next time will add less sugar.
Ohmigosh! These were so delightful 🙂 I heard someone talking about a similar thing and searched it up myself because I was about to have guests. These turned out perfectly! I even purchased some pretty ramekins to amp the presentation. I used raspberries as my topper since I had some on hand and I recommend those as well. Thank you so much for this great recipe – it is a definite keeper and will be perfect for spring/summer gatherings.
Truly a perfect little dessert! Surprisingly low-ish in carbs and won’t break my target. I probably could put even less sugar than the recipe, as I read another commenter who cut it in half. I ended up with 5, not 6 so my ramekins were probably bigger than 6oz. We were so excited to try it, I completely forgot the raspberries I meant to top them with. Simple, nothing else needed. Can you create a chocolate version???? The ones out there are not great looking.
So glad you enjoyed these! I will add a chocolate version to my list of recipes to potentially develop. 🙂
We are having a small dinner party tomorrow and have a Meyer lemon tree so decided to make a new lemon dessert. I didn’t want to risk a fail, so cut the recipe into 1/3 (glad it was an easy one to do this with!) and did a test for me and my husband the other night. Oh my oh my! This was so simple yet fancy looking and delicious! It will definitely be the dessert for tomorrow. My husband has super sweet tooth so thought it could be sweeter, but I liked it just the way it was. We topped with some fresh macerated strawberry slices, and I will do that again tomorrow, along with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
If making ahead and re-heating the cakes, do you need to place the individual cakes in the water bath again? If not necessary, how do you place the individual desserts in the oven? Tray or nothing more than the ramekins?
Is this dessert really sweet or just right??!! Thank you!
Hi Diana, you don’t need the water bath for reheating the cakes. And, yes, feel free to use a baking sheet to make it easier to move the ramekins in and out of the oven. And I think there’s a nice balance of sweetness and lemon tang in these. Hope you enjoy if you make them!