What a difference a month makes.
I don’t want to jinx anything but we’ve got flowering peach and plum trees, blossoming roses and lingering sunlight. The windows are open, the breeze is gentle and welcoming and the lawn is strangely green thanks to a very wet winter.
With the lemons hanging heavy on the trees, I’m taking my cautious optimism about the arrival of spring into the kitchen and whipping up a light and luscious citrus dessert for you.
But don’t worry, you needn’t be in the midst of spring to enjoy this beauty; served right from the oven, its warmth will melt those glacial winds and cradle you through the harshest of winter blizzards (hear that, Stella?).
I can’t say we make a lot of desserts (and my baking repertoire is even less robust) but this pudding cake is a family favorite. We especially love that it retains its tartness and flavor of origin (we have a decided preference for lemon desserts that taste like, errr, lemon) with a touch of sweet for balance without taking over the experience.
And the texture… just have a look at that rather indelicate ice cream sized scoop below — you can see the three distinct layers, the creamy pudding bottom, the soft sponge-like cake middle and the golden crust. I just want to install a springboard and dive into that beautiful mess.
I’ve developed this recipe as a gluten-free pudding cake but you can use standard flour as you wish (see the Notes section for more information and best results).
A fresh and delicious dessert option that you can enjoy warm or cold any time of year! Plus, I think your resident leprechauns might like it too 
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 2 eggs, ideally brought to room temperature (set them out on the counter 20 minutes ahead of time if you can)
- 2 Tbsp butter, softened
- ⅓ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup coconut palm sugar (or granulated sugar of choice, brown sugar works fine)
- 1 slightly rounded Tbsp almond flour
- 2 flat Tbsp tapioca flour
- 1 cup 2% or whole milk (I tyipically have 2% on hand)
- Fresh berries for serving or warmed frozen berries, as desired
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- In a small bowl combine almond and tapioca flours and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together lemon zest, egg yolks, butter and sugar. Add lemon juice, followed by flour mixture and milk, mixing to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks/indentations form; fold into batter.
- Pour pudding cake batter into a baking dish (see notes for size/dish pref) and then place baking dish into a larger dish - add boiling water to the larger dish such that it comes up about 1 inch (2.5 cm) along the sides of the dish. The "water bath" method is used to prevent the pudding cake from drying out while baking - it also minimizes cracking and over-browning the top layer. - it makes a difference and is worth the small extra step.
- Place pudding cake with pan in middle rack of oven and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes - the surface should be taking on a nice golden color and the cake top just firm to the touch. If you see that the cake is over-browning while baking (oven heat varies), you can loosely tent with foil.
- Remove pudding cake from oven and allow it to cool on a rack for about 10 minutes.
- Scoop pudding cake into individual serving dishes or bowls and top with fresh or warmed frozen berries and/or cream/ice cream as desired etc. Or simply enjoy the pudding on its own, it's delicious that way too!
- You can also refrigerate and serve this dessert cold according to preference.
Gluten-Free: this pudding cake was developed as a gluten-free recipe; if you prefer, you can substitute ¼ cup spelt flour (a whole grain related to wheat) that works well in baking or a white whole wheat flour (that retains the nutritional advantages of traditional whole wheat flour while being lighter weight) or simply AP flour (as you wish) in place of the almond/tapioca combination. I don't recommend traditional whole wheat for this particular recipe due to its weight/density.
Can you use gluten free flour instead of the almond and tapioca combo?
hello, I have not tried this particular recipe with GF flour however if I were going about it, I would substitute 1/4 cup GF flour in place of the almond/tapioca combo — hoping that works well!
Gorgeous dessert! Exactly what I love! And I like very few sweets nowadays… I become very difficult with desserts as I get older… Creamy, relatively light sweets are the rare things I go crazy for, exactly like your lemon creation! And almonds go so perfectly well with lemons too…. Than you for such a refreshing and inspiring recipe!
tart lemon desserts can be hard to come by ;o) we like this one and I hope you do too if you have a chance to make it sometime. Cheers Sissi, I hope your spring is off to a great start!
First of all, I must say that the second picture is beautiful! Your photos are always fabulous, but there is something striking and appealing in the kitchen shot. Beautiful! Of the photos of the pudding have me wanting to make this tomorrow – you have to know that. Bobby and I LOVE lemon and lime desserts. About a week ago I stopped off and picked us up a piece of key lime pie from our local baker. Rich and delicious and way too dangerous to have a whole pie in the house. However, this pudding is a different story. It looks much lighter than pie, but just as delicious. I’ll let you know when I make it. Can’t wait.
BTW – We’ve had the windows and doors open for a few days now and we’re loving it!!! Spring has sprung. YAY!
too dangerous to have a whole pie around – I know what you mean! yes, this little ditty comes and goes quick – it doesn’t make too much so it creates its own moderation ;o) pretty light as treats go but so tasty, I think you & Bobby would like this one (sub reg flour if you wish – 1/4 cup). Thanks for your kind words about the kitchen photo – nothing like backlighting; too bad I can’t take my close-up shots in that lovely space; not quite right for it. Happy Spring MJ!
Tart lemon desserts are a favourite with us too, but we don’t have a beautiful lemon tree in our backyard. Sadly, our spring is still some time away, but at least it’s getting warmer every day. I think I’ll bookmark this recipe for my gluten intolerant girl friend, I’m spending a few days with her at her Florida home in April. It’ll be a lovely treat after a healthy meal.
It’s coming, it’s coming… and, playoff season is right around the corner ;d spring and hockey, it’s a Canadian thing. Cheers Eva, enjoy your Florida visit; sounds wonderful.
So, your picture is way prettier than how mine turned out, but to be fair I used tapioca granules as opposed to flour. It tasted fantastic! Could one double it? I used my smallest casserole dish and it made such a thin layer. I will go find tapioca flour next time and see if I can get mine to look like yours. Regardles… LOVELY recipe! Thank you!
Hi Heidi, thanks so much for your note, I’m so pleased that you liked the taste of this lemon pudding. Yes, tapioca comes in many forms – the granules/small pearls used in tapioca pudding give rise to a different pebbled consistency and appearance than the flour which creates a smoother consistency in this recipe. But the size of the dish is important too – if you are working with one that is larger than 1 quart, the cake will be thinner. Doubling the recipe is a good question. I have only tried the experiment once and it gave rise to more liquid than I would have liked, but I may fiddle with it again to see if I can fine-tune it because I agree, this is one that would be wonderful to double! I appreciate your feedback and hope that you have an opportunity to try this one again with tapioca flour (also sometimes called tapioca starch). Cheers.
Indelicate ice cream scoop size works for me! And can I propose we swap some of our snow for some of your sunshine? (what, not enticing to you?) Beautiful lemon pudding, that crust is so gorgeous and you’re right, the three layers are visible. I’m tucking this one away until I’m brave enough to go outside and buy some lemons :)
Haha, ice cream scoop it is! The sun is a comin’ and a goin’ these days – snow? yeah, maybe next December ;-) Cheers Elizabeth, you always make me smile.
Hi Kelly, I have been a long time admirer of your blog and appreciate all the thought that you put into your recipes. All the pudding cake recipes I come across call for a cup (or more) of sugar and none of the ‘good’ ones are gluten-free. I cannot wait to try your version. Thank you for treating us to your beautiful photos too!
Aww, so nice to read your note Dara – music to my ears :o) truly, I appreciate you taking the time to say hello and warm my day. I really hope you enjoy this one! Let me know if you give it a try.
What a glorious pudding for any occasion. Wonderful way to end a meal. Our weather is just starting to cool, so will keep this lovely recipe near.
Have a super day.
:-) Mandy xo
Hi Mandy, thank you! we are not yet in full warmth mode over here but it’s coming along — the grass is green, everything looks lush and promising. Such a lovely time of year. I hope you enjoy this lemon pudding cake if you have a chance to give it a try. Stay warm, x.
You do know that I ADORE this type of dessert, right?
strangely enough I’ve never made it myself – actually I tried once one of those “magic cakes”, from a source I thought it was reputable. My version was chocolate. Do you know why it’s not on the blog? Because it turned out pretty bad. The texture was wrong, to put it mildly. The pudding layer was hard and rubbery
your photo is pure poetry in the form of cake.
I am pinning… I will be making it!
intriguing… I’m not familiar with magic cake – something that’s suppose to come together easily and conveniently maybe; too bad it didn’t work (you get what you sweat for right? ;-) this recipe is pretty easy, very yummy and you can use standard flour (1/4 cup) if you prefer. Cheers Sally, happy spring!