Lemon delicious pudding with lavender cream

“This was the dessert that turned me onto liking lemon desserts – beautiful memories of the Dandenong Ranges in the thick of winter with my friends Kirsty and Aaron changed this forever. The very subtle perfume of lavender is a perfect marriage with the sharpness of lemon.” Poh Ling Yeow, Poh & Co. 2

• serves

  10

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1:05 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, separated
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 180 g (¾ cup) caster sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 375 ml (1½ cups) milk
• 75 g (½ cup) self-raising flour
• 2 lemons, both juiced, finely grated zest of 1

Lavender cream

• 250 ml (1 cup) pouring cream
• ½ tsp dried French lavender buds
• 25 g icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Chilling time 1 hour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

To make the lavender cream, place the cream and lavender in a small heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and heat for 3 minutes or until hot to touch but no bubbles are rising. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to chill.

Meanwhile, using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form, then transfer to a bowl and set aside. Add the butter, sugar and salt to the stand mixer and whisk on high speed until light and creamy. Beat the yolks in one at a time, beating well after adding each one, until well combined.

Using a whisk, gently whisk in the milk, then the flour, lemon juice and lemon zest until well combined. Gently fold the egg whites into to the flour mixture to form a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into a 5 cup (1.25 litre) baking dish, then place in a roasting pan and pour in boiling water until halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for 1 hour or until there is a very light layer of cake on top and a velvety lemon sauce underneath.

Just before serving, press the lavender cream through a fine mesh sieve to remove the lavender buds. Using electric beaters on high speed, whisk the lavender cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until very soft peaks form.

Serve a scoop of the pudding with a generous dollop of the lavender cream.

Photography, styling and food preparation by china squirrel.

Poh & Co. 2 Thursdays at 8.30pm on SBS.

View recipes and more from Poh & Co. on our program page.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.