Self-Saucing Lemon Pudding

📝 Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 70 g caster sugar (50 g for the yolks, 20 g for the whites)
• 20 g unsalted butter (15 g melted for the batter, 5 g for the ramekins)
• 40 g plain flour
• 250 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 2 lemons (zest of half of them, juice of all: about 80 ml)
• 1 pinch of salt

🍴 Utensils

• 4 ramekins of about 250 ml
• Large ovenproof dish (for the water bath)
• 2 mixing bowls
• Whisk or electric hand mixer
• Fine grater
• Silicone spatula

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C (160 °C fan) and heat some water for the water bath. Butter the 4 ramekins with 5 g of butter, melt the remaining 15 g and leave it to cool slightly.
2. Finely grate the zest of one lemon, taking only the yellow part, as the white pith is bitter. Squeeze the 2 lemons to get about 80 ml of juice. Separate the eggs: the whites into a very clean, dry mixing bowl, the yolks into another.
3. Whisk the yolks with 50 g of sugar for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture turns pale. Add the cooled melted butter and the zest, then the flour, and whisk until you have a smooth, thick batter.
4. Gradually pour in the milk while whisking, then the lemon juice. The batter is very runny and may look slightly curdled because of the acidity of the lemon: this is normal, it will come back together as it bakes.
5. Whisk the whites with the pinch of salt until foamy, add 20 g of sugar and keep whisking until you have stiff, glossy whites that form a peak on the end of the whisk.
6. Fold the whites into the lemon batter in 2 batches with a silicone spatula, gently lifting the mixture from the bottom upwards. Stop as soon as there are no large white clumps left: a few small flecks are perfect.
7. Divide between the ramekins, filling them three-quarters full, place them in the large dish and pour in hot water to come halfway up. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is risen, golden and springs back slightly when touched.
8. Carefully lift the ramekins out of the water bath and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, plunging the spoon right to the bottom to get both sponge and cream.