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Wednesday, July 03, 2002 Page: 1D
When I made this delightful dessert a few days ago for the first time, one
of our chefs remarked, “Too lemony.”
Is there such a thing? That’s like saying something is “too chocolatey.”
It just can’t be! The distinct, biting freshness of lemon is incomparable.
It’s a welcome refresher on a hot summer day and the perfect complement to
fresh fruit.
This dessert is really just a little bit of fluff. Preparation is similar
to a souffle, where a flavor sauce base is prepared and beaten egg whites are
folded in for height and body. Here, the batter also is made airy by the
addition of egg whites, but the proportion of whites to batter is much smaller
so, as it bakes, the part of the batter floats to the top of the baking pan,
creating a thin spongecakelike layer while the rest of the dessert becomes
pudding – not a dense, thick pasty pudding but a light, almost liquid
confection oozing all the intensity of fresh citrus.
The pudding is baked in a water bath to assure even baking. To prepare a
water bath, position the baking pan within another pan large enough to
accommodate it plus enough water to rise halfway up the side of the baking
pan. The water should be hot but not boiling.
Blueberries are in season now and add a sweet note. They can be replaced by
fresh blackberries or raspberries, but any berry you use must be fresh, not
frozen as the consistency of frozen fruit will not hold up during baking.
Not only light in body and taste, the pudding cake also is light in fat and
calories. The recipe for it appeared in the June 2001 edition of Cooking
Light. One serving contains just 7 grams of fat and a whole lot of pucker-up
flavor. Make it like this the first time. If you think it’s too lemony, reduce
the amount of lemon juice in the recipe.
Lemon Pudding Cake with Berries
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large egg yolks
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup blueberries, blackberries or raspberries
3/4 teaspoon powdered sugar as garnish
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-inch square pan or 4, 10- or
12-ounce ramekins with cooking spray.
2. Lightly spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife.
Combine the flour, 2/3 cups granulated sugar, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl.
Add the buttermilk, lemon rind and juice, butter and egg yolks, stirring with
a whisk until the mixture is smooth.
3. Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add 1/4 cup
granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
Gently stir a quarter of the egg-white mixture into the buttermilk mixture.
Gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Fold in berries.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan or ramekins. Place in a
large baking pan, add hot water to larger pan to depth of 1 inch. Bake at 350
degrees for 35 minutes for pan or about 20 minutes for ramekins or until the
cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Sprinkle cake with powdered
sugar. Serve warm.
Food Columnist Pat Greenfield’s column is published every other Wednesday.
She is owner and/or operator of restaurants in Exeter, Kingston and Plains
Township. Write to her in care of the Arts & Leisure Team, Times Leader, 15 N.
Main St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711-0250.
