Lemon Sponge Pudding

My mention in Monday's post about self-saucing chocolate pudding, that my love of self-saucing puddings started with my mum's lemon pudding, triggered an avalanche (okay, well...more like 7) emails about various things related to Mum's lemon pudding. Mainly those emails were requests for the recipe, which I am proud to say I now have (thanks mum!).

The post also triggered my mum to tell me a bit about how she got the recipe.

When my mum was a child, my grandmother used to make this pudding, as it was a great family favourite. If you make it, you'll know why! She was only able to make it two or three times a year though as the recipe calls for fresh lemon and such an exotic ingredient was only available a few times a year in the town's one small grocery store.

The image above is scanned from the version of Gram's recipe that mum copied by hand into her notebook at the age of 12. You'll note the date in the upper right corner is April 1949. Curiously, there is no oven temperature given. That's because Gram cooked it in a coal or wood stove without the benefit of temperature dials! I've always used 350F for a temperature.

This is a great light desert - not too heavy or sweet, and very, very lemony. I recall making this for the first time when I was about 8 so it's not too difficult either. I'm happy to report that I've made this recipe with lime and orange as well as with lemon and they were all glorious. I bet a mixed citrus one would be good too.

In case you might have difficulty reading the scanned version of this recipe, I have transcribed it below, with my own editorial (but not substantive) changes:

Lemon Sponge Pudding

preheat oven to 350F

• juice and rind of 1 lemon
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 2 egg yolks
• pinch salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 egg whites, beaten until stiff but not dry peaks form

Sift together dry ingredients and combine with yolks. Add in milk, lemon juice and rind, and melted butter. Fold in beaten egg whites.

Spread batter in bottom of 9x9 inch baking dish and place baking dish inside a larger baking dish or roasting pan. Fill outer pan with hot water until the water comes halfway up the sides of the pudding dish. Place whole contraption in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Comments

[Ivonne]

Thank you for sharing. The best recipes are always the ones passed down to us!

[mireille]

thank you so much, L. xoxo

[Clare Eats]

Thankyou!
I love self saucing puddings :) It may have to wait til the weather cools down though..

[Alanna]

I wonder if pudding cakes are a Canadian thing??? My Mum (born in Winnipeg) made this all the time, I loved it so much I'd request it on my birthday.

[Jeanne]

There is nothing better than self-saucing puddings!! And this one sounds just divine - not too cloying, not too heavy. Maybe I will try it out on my better half when he's home from Madrid this weekend! Thanks for sharing...

[biobrats]

my mother has a similar recipe...hers is made with fresh lemon and orange juice combined...the rest is identical. Absolutely delicious....