My birthday was last weekend, and of course I had to make my own dessert for the occasion.
(Just to clarify, in case there’s any confusion, I wanted to make my own dessert. Are you surprised?) :o)
Anyways… It was so nice to have my parents here for the weekend, and a perfect kick-off to the start of a new year.
I had a wonderful weekend full of family time and even got an extra special totally kid-free date night with the hubs on Saturday night!
All-in-all, I’ve gotta say it was a great birthday!!
And I have officially reached the age where you stop keeping track of how old you are and have to actually do the math when your birthday comes around to figure it out. (32. I’m 32… right, mom?)
Since Andrew and I were going out on a date later, I made this delicious lemon pudding cake for a pre-dinner appetizer.
It is a light, airy soufflé-like cake that forms its own creamy pudding-base as it cooks. So, so luscious. If I hadn’t had dinner plans already, I could have easily eaten the whole thing myself. As it was, there wasn’t a crumb left after we all got to it.
I can’t wait to make this one again… preferably when there’s not so many people to share it with! ;o)
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup (8oz) sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- powdered sugar, for dusting
- extra lemon zest, for decorating
- lightly sweetened whipped cream
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter a 1-qt baking dish, get out a 9x13" pan & boil a pot of water for the water bath this will be baking in.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar & lemon zest until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
Beat in half the lemon juice, half the flour and half the sour cream. Then repeat with the rest. Set the batter aside.
In another (VERY clean) bowl and beaters, whip the egg whites until nice and foamy. Beat in the salt and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
Take about 1/4 of the egg whites and gently fold them into the batter with a spatula. Once those whites are just mixed in, repeat with the rest of the whites, another 1/4 at a time.
Pour the batter into the greased 1qt baking dish and set the whole dish into the 9x13" pan. Place the pans into the oven, center rack, and then pour boiling water into the bigger pan to come about 1" up the sides of the inner pan (this is a water bath!).
Close the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes, until the cake is golden and the top springs back when pressed lightly.
Cool a few minutes while you whip up some cream and serve dusted generously with powdered sugar and some additional lemon zest, if desired!
http://sweetannas.com/2013/01/lemon-souffle-pudding-cake.htmlRecipe adapted from Luscious Lemon Desserts
