Lemon Posset

Some desserts just smack of utter class and the lemon posset fits rights in there. It is a good old fashioned pudding and one which ought to grace any restaurant menu instead of the ubiquitous creme brulee.

Meyer lemons are probably the best for this palette cleanser because they also come with that slightly perfumed and floral scent. We have a few small trees that produce a couple of lemons each year and they are reserved for this dessert alone. If we fall short on numbers then there is a lemon x calamondin cross which produces the same type of fruit but just that bit sharper.

Use a large saucepan because there is a little practice needed to achieving the perfect boiled cream. 

If are using other fruits such as lime then boil the double cream for a little bit longer – about 20 seconds more. Likewise, if you had to use oranges or mandarins then the cream is boiled about 30 seconds longer according to those chefs in the know.

Garnishes For A Lemon Posset

Garnishing makes this little dessert. A few raspberries or some strawberry slices, a few blueberries, perhaps some peeled lemon zest with some pinched out basil leaf tips sets the scene. Tom Conran in his version has candied peel. Everyone has their own particular take. We mix it up by adding a tiny amount of white pepper – crazy I know but that really works well.

This will serve four  people in glass bowls. Up the amounts by 150ml of double cream in each case per person for this recipe.

Equipment

• Straining sieve
• One large solid saucepan

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Ingredients

• 500ml double cream
• 125g caster sugar
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons or any other citrus fruit

Preparation

1. Pour the cream into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Do this as gently as possible by starting on a medium heat.
2. Turn the heat right down.
3. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves completely. If it is proving difficult to dissolve all that sugar then just place the pan on as low a heat as possible to help dissolve.
4. Add the lemon juice with zest and return the pan to the heat.
5. Boil the cream rapidly for 90 seconds then take off the heat.
6. Leave the cream to cool down for about 15 minutes then strain through a sieve or a muslin bag. The sieve is so much easier and just less fussy.
7. Pour the infused cream into glasses and allow to cool at room temperature.
8. Add the garnishes when you feel the dessert has set. 
9. Serve with shortbread rounds or sablé biscuits.