Sometimes called impossible pies, these little puddings are made using one cake mix that is poured into a ramekin and baked until the finished article is springy and spongy on top and there is a gooey, rich sauce underneath.
I always struggle with desserts because recipes on most occasions cater for a minimum of four people, and if you are talking about a cake or tart then it will likely serve 10 to 12 people. Now there is no problem with having delicious left-overs but really, do two people need to eat 12 slices of apple tart or banoffee pie in the space of three days? Personally I think not.
This recipe is exactly enough for two little pies, so you can have your indulgence on the weekend with no fear of wasting left-overs. They are sharp and tangy, but not too tart. The sauce at the bottom is very similar to a lemon curd (and be careful not to eat them straight from the oven, or prepare to burn the top of your mouth on the molten sauce!) And since I am writing this in January consider adapting and making this into a Seville orange pudding.
The recipe idea came from a lemon and coconut pie by Australian food writer Donna Hay, who does fantastic simple home-style food, and I have adapted it here.
I have made a point to put crème frachie in the title of the post because I feel it is an important part of the dish, but if you don’t have any it is not essential, or you could use cream or even plain yogurt. Cream fraiche does, however, cut through the rich sauce and sweet lemon flavour of the pie perfectly.
Serves 2
110g caster sugar
2 rounded tablespoons of self-raising flour
25g ground almonds
1/2tsp baking powder
Grated zest of one lemon
60ml lemon juice
15g melted butter
80ml milk
1 medium egg
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4 and butter two ramekins. Place sugar, flour, almonds and baking powder into a bowl and mix. In a separate bowl whisk together by hand the lemon rind, juice, butter, milk and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until thoroughly mixed, I use a balloon whisk, but you don’t really need to beat this.
2. The mix will be much thinner than a sponge mix, so don’t panic. Pour into your ramekins and bake for 20 minutes until the tops are golden, but you can feel it is squidgy underneath. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before digging in and top with a big blob of crème fraiche.
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