Hot Lemon Pudding

Myrtle Allen had been making this old-fashioned pudding long before she opened the restaurant at Ballymaloe. The recipe first came into her family in the 1930s. It is a really lovely dish and I like to serve it as a lunchtime dessert throughout the year. As the pudding bakes, it separates into two layers: the top is a light lemon sponge, and the bottom is a creamy lemon sauce. I like to serve every spoonful of the pudding with a generous amount of softly whipped cream.

• 15 g/½ oz (generous 1 tablespoon) soft salted butter
• 225 g/8 oz (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) caster (superfine) sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 30 g/1 oz (¼ cup) plain flour
  grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 250 ml/8 fl oz (1 cup) milk
• icing (confectioners) sugar, for sprinkling
• softly whipped cream, to serve.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Have a 1.2 litre/2 pint (5 cups) pie dish to hand.

Place the butter in a mixing bowl, cream it with a wooden spoon and gradually add the sugar. It will seem odd trying to cream so much sugar into so little butter and the mixture will have a similar texture to damp sand. Separate the eggs place the whites in a spotlessly clean bowl and set to one side. Mix the egg yolks into the butter and sugar mixture followed by the flour. Blend in the lemon zest and juice followed by the milk.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the wet mixture. Pour into the pie dish and bake for about 40 minutes, or until set. The top of the pudding should be golden. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve hot from the oven with softly whipped cream.

This recipe is from ‘Ballymaloe Desserts’ a cookbook by JR Ryall, Head Pastry Chef at Ballymaloe House Hotel