Old-Fashioned Lemon Pudding Cake
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This Old-Fashioned Lemon Pudding Cake is a recipe I made as a girl. It’s light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of lemon. A delicious summer dessert to serve after a light meal.
(Post modified on 7/15/23.)
Pudding cakes have always intrigued me–cakes made from scratch that somehow “magically” turned into a cake with pudding on the bottom. These recipes were apparently quite popular in the 1970’s as I remember making them often. Lemon and Chocolate. I recall there also being cake mixes that you could buy.
With the advantage of the internet, the history of these little sponge pudding cakes shows they have been around for over a hundred years!
No matter how long they have been around or even the science behind the recipe, pudding cakes are easy and delicious to put together and make a wonderful summer dessert to share with your family.
More Lemon Desserts to Enjoy
- Easy Lemon Tarts
- Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
- Glazed Lemon Biscotti
Ingredients for Old-Fashioned Lemon Pudding Cake
(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
- granulated sugar
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- butter (melted)
- lemon zest
- freshly squeezed lemon juice
- large eggs
- whole milk
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions for Making This Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare Your Ingredients
Using a fine-edged grater, zest one large lemon. Squeeze the juice of 1-2 lemons with a citrus juicer to equal 1/3 cup lemon juice.
I like to roll citrus fruit (oranges, limes, or lemons) on the counter or table with the palm of my hand to help release its juices. Back and forth, over and over. You may also heat the fruit in a microwave for a few seconds to get even more juice.
Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 10-15 seconds.
Carefully, separate the egg whites from the egg yolks and place them in two separate bowls.
Prepare the Pudding Cake
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the granulated sugar, all-purpose flour and salt.
Stir in the melted butter, lemon zest, and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
In a glass measuring cup whisk together 3 egg yolks and whole milk with a fork. Add this to the lemon mixture, stirring well to combine.
In another mixing bowl, whisk the remaining egg whites until soft peaks form. You may do this by hand or with a mixer.
Julia Child always recommended using a copper bowl when whisking egg whites by hand. Think of it as a good workout for your arms!
Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon batter.
Pour the batter into the square or round ungreased cake pan. Place this pan inside a larger pan. Set both pans on a middle oven rack.
Pour hot water into the larger pan until it is about 1 inch deep, to allow the cake to bake in a water bath. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
Placing custards or this pudding cake in a water bath helps ensure that the custard or pudding won’t curdle while baking.
The cake should spring back when touched and will have a creamy lemon pudding beneath the cake. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
You may serve this cake warm (after about 40 minutes) or cover and refrigerate for 2 or more hours to enjoy as a cool and refreshing dessert.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving. If desired, scoop spoonfuls of the cake and pudding into small bowls or cups. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
This cake makes enough for 6 people.
See more Desserts Here. Browse Recipes with Lemons Here.
Old-Fashioned Lemon Pudding Cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/3 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 3 large eggs separated
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare Your Ingredients
- Using a fine-edged grater, zest one large lemon. Squeeze the juice of 1-2 lemons with a citrus juicer to equal 1/3 cup lemon juice.
- Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 10-15 seconds.
- Carefully, separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, using two separate bowls.
Prepare the Cake - Pudding
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the granulated sugar, all-purpose flour and salt.
- Stir in the melted butter, lemon zest, and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- In a glass measuring cup whisk together 3 egg yolks and whole milk with a fork. Add this to the lemon mixture, stirring well to combine.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk the remaining egg whites until soft peaks form. You may do this by hand or with a mixer. Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon batter.
- Pour the batter into the square or round ungreased cake pan. Place this pan inside a larger pan. Set on a middle oven rack.
- Pour hot water into the larger pan until it is about 1 inch deep. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
- Cake should spring back when touched and will have a creamy lemon pudding beneath the cake. Allow to cool on a wire rack. You may serve this cake warm (after about 40 minutes) or cover and refrigerate for 2 or more hours to serve cold.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving. If desired, scoop spoonfuls of the cake and pudding into small dessert bowls or cups. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream. Serves 6.
Notes
Nutrition