Got lemons? Here’s a perfect Spring recipe to use them.
So, what do you make with a couple of beautiful lemons? I love using lavender in some of my dessert recipes, and I’m not sure what made me think of trying this, but I did, and it’s delicious!
I’ve made this pudding before—it’s a riff on a fundamental English pudding recipe, just with my little touch of edible flowers. Lavender and lemon are notoriously good together, as I’ve found out through various experiments, and here’s another one I’m adding to my repertoire.
Don’t like flowery flavors? It’s very good without them! Skip the part of infusing the milk with lavender, and you’re good to go.
Lavender Lemon Baked Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 Tbsp culinary lavender
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest (Meyer, if available)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs, separated
- ½ cup lemon juice (Meyer, if available)
Spoon the lavender into the milk and stir. Allow it to infuse in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight. Once infused, strain out the lavender.
Measure the sugar into a cup and grate the lemon zest into it. Rub the sugar and zest with your fingers until the sugar is damp and smells strongly of lemon.
Place the butter into a mixing bowl and add the lemon sugar, mashing it with a spoon until it resembles wet sand.
Add the egg yolks, then beat in the flour. Lastly, add the lemon juice and combine.
In another very clean bowl or with a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until they are stiff peaks, then gently fold them into the batter.
(Note: It helps to wipe the bowl and beaters with white vinegar before whisking the egg whites to help ensure they will whip up properly.)
Pour the mixture into a 5-cup ceramic or Pyrex dish and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
(Note: You can also bake it in a water bath—place the baking dish into a larger (think 13” x 9”) baking dish, and pour boiling water into the larger dish before it bakes—it will keep the temperature consistent. Alternatively, you can bake them in ramekins.)
When done, dust with confectioner’s sugar. You can also serve it with whipped cream if desired.
Makes about 4 servings.
