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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Hi Jenn. I recently saw a similar recipe in the NYT. It said the pudding cake could be served warm or chilled. Given it’s summer, I would like to serve them cold. Do you think that would be good?
Hi Jane, technically you could serve them cold, but if anything, I think they’d be better at room temperature. Please LMK what you think if you try it!
Hi Jenn,
I did a little experiment and served one warm, one room temp, and one chilled. Guests favored the warm one – the way you suggest serving it – but room temp and chilled were still good. I also served them with whipped cream and a few berries. I would definitely do that again, and I think if they are served at room temp or chilled that they definitely need whip cream.
I also made a batch with gluten free flour. Not good! The texture is grainy and the pudding and cake does not separate into 2 distinct components.
I will make this again and serve them warm with whip cream and use regular flour,
I made it and substituted the sugar w/honey and used a pie pan to bake it in, it probably needed to cook a little longer because the middle was still gooey!! I’m going to try again once I get some ramekins!!
Holy Moly, these are the most delicious decadent little desserts I’ve ever tasted!
Fabulous! Needed six 8-ounce ramekins so increased recipe by half, using 5 eggs and baking for 50 minutes. That worked well. It was enough for 7, so the birthday honoree got the extra the next day. All of us enjoyed this so much. Some found mango ice cream on the side to be a nice flavor complement, I thought it was wholly unnecessary. I’ll be asking for this for my birthday cake.
Could I double this recipe and use an 8qt dish?
Hi Joanne, You mentioned using an 8-quart dish – did you mean an 8-inch dish? If so, you wouldn’t be able to fit double the recipe in that, but you could use a 9 x 13-inch dish.
These cakes are so delicious and surprisingly easy to make. I followed the directions for baking a day in advance and reheating. I was so happy with how they turned out! Will definitely be making these again! Thanks Jen for another amazing recipe and the helpful step by step photos as always.
I love this recipe – as did my dinner guests! That separate ‘pudding’ that happens at the bottom of the cake it such a delicious surprise. Wondering…I have a friend that has celiac so has to be GF. Can I make this with a GF substitute and if so, what do you recommend?
So glad everyone enjoyed it! A number of readers have commented that they’ve made these successfully with gluten-free flour.
Delic!!! If you love desserts with a lemony taste this is a must. It was not only simple to make but delicious. Huge hit. Thank you
Omg this was just perfect and super easy to make! So delicious! I’m going to make it again and again! I only had 4 larger ramekins and they were perfect for the recipe!
Made these for a dinner party last night, and they were an absolute hit! Light lemony a little cakes from heaven. 😁