Lemon Pudding Cakes

These Lemon Pudding Cakes are a lemon lover’s dream dessert! A light and airy lemon cake on top and a rich, creamy lemon pudding on the bottom. All made from one cake batter and baked into ramekins for a perfectly portioned individual dessert!

Thanks to my friends at Pacific Foods for sponsoring this post. As always all opinions are my own.

When it comes to dessert, do you gravitate towards ones that are chocolate or something else? I always go for desserts that aren’t chocolate. It’s not that I don’t like chocolate, I just don’t crave it the way some people do. I’m more tempted by these berry vanilla cheesecake parfaits or this peach crisp.

One flavor I never get tired of is lemon. It’s sweet, tart, fresh and especially tasty in the spring and summer months. I’ve been wanting to try and make lemon pudding cakes for quite a while and finally got around to it a couple weeks ago. They turned out so delicious that I knew I had to share the recipe with you!

Ingredients Needed to Make Lemon Pudding Cakes 

• Eggs
• Pacific Foods Organic Unsweetened Almond Original Beverage
• Lemons
• Vanilla and almond extract 
• Coconut Oil
• Flour
• Sugar
• Berries, powdered sugar and coconut whipped cream for garnish

What is Lemon Pudding Cake?

If you’ve never heard of lemon pudding cake you’re likely not alone. Simply put, it’s part lemon cake and part lemon pudding. Surprisingly it’s all made from one batter. The magic happens while it bakes. The ramekins are filled with the cake batter and then placed in a larger 9×13 baking dish. The larger baking dish is then partially filled with water. 

The portion of the ramekins that is submerged in water becomes the pudding part and the portion not in the water turns into cake. When you take a spoonful, it’s a wonderful combination of a light and airy lemon cake with a creamy lemon pudding consistency on the bottom. Pretty much the best of both worlds in one bite!

How to Make Lemon Pudding Cakes

Making these lemon pudding cakes isn’t complicated, but it does require that you follow the directions, have a little patience and a gentle hand while stirring. 

1. Spray the ramekins with cooking spray then place them in a 9×13 baking dish or a roasting pan. Separate the eggs. The yolks go in a large mixing bowl and the whites in either the bowl of an electric mixer or a separate large bowl if you’re using a handheld mixer. 
2. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, melted coconut oil, unsweetened almond beverage, vanilla and almond extract to the egg yolks. Whisk until combined. Sprinkle in the flour, salt and a 1/2 cup of the sugar, whisking again until smooth.
3. Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium-low speed until they’re frothy. This takes about 2-3 minutes. Once they reach this stage slowly pour in the remaining sugar and continue to whip on medium-high speed another 2-4 minutes or until the egg whites are glossy and hold stiff peaks. This video is very helpful if your unsure what stiff peaks should look like. 
4. Take 1/3 of the egg whites and gently fold them into the batter until they’re incorporated. Some white streaks are fine. Continue this process until all of the egg whites are incorporated into the batter. Divide the batter into the prepared ramekins.
5. Place in the oven and pour hot water into the 9×13 baking dish or roasting pan until the water line goes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Don’t open the oven during baking as this will cause them to deflate.
6. Remove from the oven and place the ramekins on a wire cooling rack. Cool for 10 minutes before topping with powdered sugar. The cakes will likely deflate a little as they cool. If they deflate a lot, you’ve likely over whipped the egg whites or over-mixed them into the batter. They’ll still taste good, but may not have the look you were hoping for.

Dairy-Free Lemon Pudding Cakes

You may have noticed from the ingredients list above that these lemon pudding cakes are dairy-free. It’s a great option if you are dairy-free or serving them to a guest who is. Even if you aren’t dairy-free this is a good alternative if you don’t have milk on hand and you won’t taste a difference. 

Coconut Oil – Traditional lemon pudding cakes are made with melted butter. I substituted the butter with melted coconut oil. It doesn’t give the cakes a coconut taste, but if you’re worried about that you can use melted vegan butter instead. 

Pacific Foods Organic Unsweetened Almond Original – Lemon pudding cake recipes generally call for whole milk. Whole milk isn’t something I generally have in my fridge, so instead I used Pacific Foods Organic Unsweetened Almond Original. I love the hint of nutty flavor it added to the cakes. Pairing it with the fresh lemon, almond and vanilla extract was absolutely delicious.

Using the Organic Unsweetened Almond Original also cut back significantly on the fat and calories, which was a good thing since I ate two of the cakes after photographing them. If you happen to have a nut allergy, I recommend using their Organic Unsweetened Coconut Original.

How to Serve Lemon Pudding Cakes

Once the lemon pudding cakes have cooled, you can sift powdered sugar on top of them. I served mine with raspberries and blackberries, but any type of berry would be delicious. If you want even more decadence serve them with a dollop of coconut whipped cream.