Lemon posset
Three ingredients and three hours in the fridge do the rest
plus 3 hours setting
Scales up by using more glasses. The ratio of cream to sugar to lemon stays the same however many you make. Covered, it keeps three days in the fridge.
Posset is the pudding that convinces people cream can set itself without a single egg or sheet of gelatine. Boil cream with sugar for exactly the right length of time, stir in strained lemon juice off the heat, and the acid does the rest as it cools, turning silky and sliceable by the time you get a spoon to it. There is no thickener to weigh out and nothing to curdle if you keep to the timing. The only place it goes wrong is the boil. A nervous simmer will not reduce the cream enough, and what sets stays loose in the glass, so let it climb properly up the sides of the pan for the full three minutes. Serve it cold, straight from the glass it set in, with nothing on top.
Ingredients
Contains: Milk
- 300 mldouble cream
- 75 gcaster sugar
- 50 mllemon juice, strained through a sieve, from about 2 lemons, no pith, pips or zest
Method
Put the cream and sugar in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, then let it boil steadily for exactly 3 minutes, watching it closely so it does not catch.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the strained lemon juice. Whisk briefly until smooth. The mixture will still look thin at this point.
It thickens as it cools in the fridge, not on the stove, so there is no need to boil it any further.
Pour into two small glasses or ramekins, then leave them to settle for a minute so any bubbles rise to the top.
Chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight, until fully set and no longer wobbles when you nudge the glass.
Watch-points
- Lemon juice only here, strained through a sieve so no pips or pith slip in, and no zest anywhere near the pan.
- Boil the cream for the full 3 minutes and no longer. Over-boiling can stop it setting properly.
Make it more nourishing
- Use 350 ml of cream rather than 300 ml, with 85 g of sugar and 60 ml of lemon juice to match, so it still sets firm.
- Serve with a plain shortbread biscuit alongside for a further hit of energy.
- Stir a tablespoon of mascarpone into the warm cream before it sets, for extra richness.
Swaps
- Instead of caster sugar, use golden caster sugar
- gives a slightly deeper colour and flavour, and sets exactly the same
- Instead of lemon juice, use lime juice, strained the same way
- sharper and more floral, and every bit as acidic, so the set is unchanged