Recipe: Lemon Spongettes

Blancmange is having its 15 minutes of fame over here at the Kitchn, and last week's reader photo jogged our memory of a similar childhood dessert that's not quite a pudding but not quite a cake, either. It's a...Spongette.

Read below for the recipe...

We wish we could give the history of this recipe, but it's one that has been handed down for generations on a frayed note card from our grandmother's kitchen. It has been tweaked over the years, and our own father suggested we post it under a more sophisticated name (he voted for Lemon Flan).

But it really is a hybrid of a custard and a sponge cake — you invert the cakes after baking them in a water bath, so the tops end up jiggly and creamy, while the bottom is firm — so we say the name stays. They are easy to make ahead and provide a great way to use wonderful winter lemons.

Lemon Spongettes
serves 8

4 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
juice of one large lemon (about 2 1/2 tablespoons)
zest of one large lemon (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)
pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray eight oven-proof ramekins with cooking spray.

Beat the eggs whites with an electric mixer until stiff, about 5 minutes. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and milk.

Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. The mixture will be a bit pebbly, not silky, as there is such a small amount of butter. Add the flour, lemon juice, zest, and salt. Add the combined milk and egg yolks. You may need to manually whisk the mixture to get it smooth. Fold in the egg whites.

Pour the mixture evenly into 8 ramekins. (Ours were about 3 1/2-inches in diameter.) Set the ramekins in a large baking dish (use two if they don't fit) and carefully pour in enough hot water to rise about one-third to halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. The tops should be light, golden brown. Remove from water bath, and allow the spongettes to cool slightly, in the ramekins, then transfer them to the refrigerator for an hour or two. Chilling them will help the custard to set.

To serve, run a knife around the edge of the ramekin to loosen the spongette, and invert it onto a plate. Top with whipped cream, berries, or chocolate shavings.

Comments (11)

I'm pretty sure I just made a variation on this recipe, which I obtained from the John C. Campbell Folk School, called "Lemon Pudding Cake." It's so, so unbelievably tasty -- though my version contained a significantly larger proportion of lemon zest.
Maybe next time I get the urge to make it (and have fewer lemons!) I'll give this recipe a shot.

Is there any way to make this in, say, an 8x8 baking dish? You could still use a 9x13 baking dish for the water bath.

I ask because I don't have ramekins, and would love to see this as a dish I could take to parties without worrying about portion sizes.

This is really similar to a recipe that Sara Kate posted over at Food & Wine about six months ago, also called "Lemon Pudding Cakes." When I made--using more lemon zest, too--and they turned out really well.

Oh Oh!! I made those lemon pudding cakes too, this reminded me of that recipe also.
eaevansmd, I made mine in coffee cups the first time, no ramekins here either. Then I tried it in an 8" round cake pan. That worked out ok, I should have just inverted it like here!
I'm going to try this recipe also, love those lemons!

This was a childhood treat we often had after fried fish. It is called lemon souffle pudding in my mom's 1955 The American Everyday Cookbook. Recently there was a chocolate recipe here that seemed like this that I wanted to make . It called for caster sugar and I balked at the price when I finally found it. Anybody have opinions on caster sugar? Can you grind regular sugar in a blender to make it finer? Seems like I read that you could make it yourself.

eaevansmd - I've never tried it in a larger pan. My only concern is that when you invert the cakes, they can be runny if not baked or cooled long enough. I'd worry about the middle of a larger cake. But let us know if you try it! You can also use small, heatproof glass bowls or, as Shell said, coffee cups.

@ Kate (NC):
I've never had a problem just substituting granulating sugar for caster sugar when it comes to baked goods. If you really want to ensure that your sugar is fine, you can definitely put it in a food processor and whizz it a few times.

@eaevansmd:
I used muffin tins once when I made Sara Kate's version, and they were awesome little bite-sized cakelets. Which is kind of exactly the opposite of what you're proposing to do, but anyway, you can definitely play with the size as long as you adjust the bake time. And muffin tin-sized pudding-cakes/spongettes would work well for a party.

My grandmother makes these! They are dee-lightful.

Those look really amazing and perfect for spring. I'm not really a baker, but these look doable - I think I have my weekend project!

If I make these a day in advance and refrigerate, do you guys think they'll keep?
Also, I'm curious what other delicious things people are topping these with...

These are like the key lime custard cakes on the foodnetwork site: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_14831,00.html

mine didn't pop out so pretty but it sure was yum!

i made too many and just kept them on a plate on the counter under a slightly vented piece of plastic wrap and they lasted for 3 days. the cake tops get a bit moist though from the moisture of the "pudding/custard" part so if you are serving to guests i wouldn't have them sit overnight.