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Little Lemon Puddings

by Nigella

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Introduction

These uplifting, citrusy beauties are a quick-time, short-cut version of the traditional English canary pudding: instead of being steamed, these are baked in the oven, and the fact that you use shop-bought lemon curd and they are made in individual servings cuts down time and trouble, too.

Try to make sure the ingredients below are at room temperature before starting. I make them just before serving the main course, so that they cook while we eat.

For US measures and ingredient names, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

Little Lemon Puddings — Photo by Lis Parsons

Ingredients

Serves: 6

Metric U.S.

6 tablespoons lemon curd
125 grams unsalted butter (plus more for greasing)
125 grams caster sugar
125 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

⅓ cup lemon curd
9 tablespoons unsalted butter (plus more for greasing)
⅔ cup superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

Method

You will need 6 ramekins (8cm diameter x 4cm deep / 6oz capacity) and a sturdy oven tray.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350ºF and grease the ramekins. Dollop about 1 tablespoon of lemon curd into the bottom of each one to cover.
In the food processor, mix all the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice. When all has combined into a thick batter, add the lemon juice and blitz quickly to mix.
Add the batter to the ramekins, blobbing it on top of the curd, until the mixture comes three-quarters of the way up. Smooth the tops, then place on a thick oven tray and bake for about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, take the ramekins off the tray and ease the sponge gently away from the edges, using a small spatula, table or palette knife.
Unmould each pudding onto a side plate or shallow bowl of your choice, spooning over any lemon curd that has stuck to the bottom.
Serve immediately with custard, cream or ice cream as you wish. And you could consider heating up the remaining lemon curd in the jar in a microwave and spooning it over.

You will need 6 ramekins (8cm diameter x 4cm deep / 6oz capacity) and a sturdy oven tray.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350ºF and grease the ramekins. Dollop about 1 tablespoon of lemon curd into the bottom of each one to cover.
In the food processor, mix all the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice. When all has combined into a thick batter, add the lemon juice and blitz quickly to mix.
Add the batter to the ramekins, blobbing it on top of the curd, until the mixture comes three-quarters of the way up. Smooth the tops, then place on a thick oven tray and bake for about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, take the ramekins off the tray and ease the sponge gently away from the edges, using a small spatula, table or palette knife.
Unmould each pudding onto a side plate or shallow bowl of your choice, spooning over any lemon curd that has stuck to the bottom.
Serve immediately with custard, cream or ice cream as you wish. And you could consider heating up the remaining lemon curd in the jar in a microwave and spooning it over.

Additional Information

MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
It is not advisable to make ahead or store.

Tell us what you think

What 12 Others have said

This recipe is great. Simple and tasty. My husband really likes the cake. Especially in the evenings with tea. Thanks.

Posted by StacyjReed on 21st March 2022
This recipe is gorgeous although I broke the recipe down to make 3 servings.

Posted by lwhite14 on 17th August 2014
Made these last night. I decided to cut the main ingredients to 75g each and 1 egg as I thought there would be too much mix for my pots. Wrong! Next time I will do the full amount as that would have been perfect (note to self - do it by the recipe the first time and then fiddle after that!). Having said that, as the pots were only 3/4 full, we made custard and instead of inverting the pots we filled them up with the custard. Delicious! Perfect end to a rainy Jubilee Sunday - a little taste of sunshine.

Posted by oriser on 4th June 2012
I made them a few weeks ago, worked perfect in my fan assisted oven. I put the juice of three lemons though, how I miss the big fat lemons of our lemon tree back in Greece! We are going to have them tonight after dinner as well, cannot wait, really really delicious and airy, thank you!

Posted by PSK on 3rd February 2012
Just made these for my family, i found that if you put less lemon juice in and keep the amount of the curd the same it isn't as over powering! also i made mine in a tart base and cut it into slices, it wasn't as faffy as greasing the little tins! :) good served with whipped cream!

Posted by juliexox on 16th January 2012
Like another reviewer I made them in cupcake silicone cups. Came out really well. One of my friends commented that it was a tab too sweet, so maybe the next time i will reduce the sugar to 100g. It filled about 10 cups.

Posted by chandycooks on 22nd November 2011
I made these puddings and they were delicious. Very easy to make and enjoyed by all.

Posted by tamak on 11th October 2011
Used the 6 cavity dessert shell pan for the batter, added lemoncurd afterwards. With a little cream on top, it's just what a girl needs on a friday afternoon :-)

Posted by Sangro on 2nd September 2011
This recipe works perfectly! I had some friends over for dinner last night, and everyone loved it. I don't have ramekins so I baked them in cupcake silicone cups. It was so quick and easy to make. I served them fresh out of the oven with a side of heston's salted caramel popcorn ice cream. Vanilla ice cream would be great with it too. Thank you Nigella!

Posted by nat tee on 13th September 2011
I have just baked them for a meal I have today and just have to say... GORGEOUS!! I made yesterday the lemon curd so today it was ready for use it. The lemon taste and the appeareance make them perfect for any type of meal... and nobody knows how easy it is :)

Posted by l_excessive on 17th September 2011
Thank you Nigella. Exquisite and Quick. It was the perfect end to a Birthday meal.

Posted by Lynn'e on 17th July 2011
I didn't have any lemon curd, so I just made these without and served them with lemon icing (icing sugar and lemon juice and yellow food colouring if desired). Lemon curd can be made though quite easily but you do need to sterilize the jars if you want to keep it. Anyway these lovely little cakes were devine, another easy but very tasty Nigella recipe :)

Posted by feebz86 on 4th July 2011