These spongettes are exactly the kind of dessert I am craving right now. They're cool and creamy with a whisper of lemon in each spoonful. They're also a hoot to serve a dinner parties as guests discover how the soft pudding layer gives way to tender sponge cake beneath. Topped with a handful of berries or a dollop of whipped cream, these little treats make the ultimate springtime dessert.
Blancmange is having its 15 minutes of fame over here at the Kitchn, and that jogged my memory of a similar childhood dessert that's not quite a pudding but not quite a cake, either. I'm calling it a...spongette.
I wish I could give the history of this recipe, but it's one that has been handed down for generations on a frayed notecard from my grandmother's kitchen. It has been tweaked over the years, and my own father suggested I 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 I say the name stays. They are easy to make ahead and provide a great way to use wonderful winter lemons.
Tester's Notes:
I'd been thinking about easy dinner party desserts ever since Faith wrote about her love for panna cotta last week, and suddenly remembered this super-easy, super-tasty recipe for Lemon Spongettes tucked away in our archives.
I won't lie to you — it will take a lot of willpower to resist eating these straight from the oven! In fact, they'd probably be just as good served hot as they are once given time to set. These spongettes are basically soufflés that are intentionally allowed to collapse, creating the two distinct cake- and pudding-like layers in the chill of the fridge. You can see this clearly in the last photo just below the recipe. (Note to self for the next time I make a souffé that collapses!)
These spongettes are just slightly lemony as the recipe is written. If you are a fan of tart desserts, I'd recommend doubling the amount of both lemon and zest or pudding a spoonful of lemon curd in the bottom of each cup before filling it with the spongette batter.
I just think these spongettes are so fun and something that feels a little different at a dinner party. As Elizabeth mentions, you can make these ahead and hold them in the fridge until ready to serve. I made mine the day before serving and they tasted fantastic. Enjoy! -Emma
Lemon Spongettes
Serves 84 large 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
Berries, chocolate shavings, or whipped cream, to serve (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray eight 1-cup 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 crumbly, 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.
Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon mixture. Make sure you scoop all of the liquid from the bottom of the bowl as you fold and stop as soon as it is all integrated. The mixture will still look a bit lumpy or pebbly — DO NOT mix until smooth or the egg whites will be deflated.
Pour the mixture evenly into the ramekins, filling each about 3/4 full. Set the ramekins in a large baking dish or roasting pan lined with a clean dishcloth, 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 while still in the ramekins, then transfer them to the refrigerator for at least an hour or up to 24 hours. Chilling them helps 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.
Recipe Notes:
• More Lemon! This recipe makes a very lightly-flavored lemon spongette. To increase the tartness, double the amount of lemon juice and zest, or add a spoonful of lemon curd to the bottom of each ramekin.
• Baking in Other Sized Ramekins: These bake well in smaller 1/2-cup ramekins and canning jars. Fill the containers 3/4 full. Spongettes baked in smaller containers may finish cooking more quickly.
Related: Spring Desserts: 5 Great Pudding Recipes
This recipe has been updated. Originally posted on 3/6/2008.
(Images: Emma Christensen)
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Elizabeth Apron fro...
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
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.
Ok, so I followed the directions to a "T" and my spongettes came out of the oven as described, but as they cooled they sank like a souflee. The bottom half never "firmed up"as described and although tasty, it was more like a runny pudding. What did I do wrong?
@d4444 - A belated response to your question! I think that your spongettes were actually fine. This dessert is very similar to a souffle -- the spongettes will puff in the oven, but then collapse once they start to cool. This is intentional! Just out of the oven, the tops should be dry and sponge-like with a soft and pudding-like layer beneath. After cooling them, you invert them onto a plate so the pudding-layer becomes the top and the cake is on the bottom. I hope that helps explain things!
I made my own twist on these a while back but I call them pudding cakes... I did lychees, raspberry, and rose, although I posted about a lemon and blackberry version as well:
http://www.thesweetart.com/2012/05/ispahan-pudding-cake.html
A pressure cooker can be used like a bain marie, so when you do your feature on pressure cooking, make sure and note that these spongettes are really easy and fun to make in a pressure cooker.
I made these last night, using half of the recipe (reduced the sugar by one third but that's just me). I poured the mixture into 7 silicone muffin pans, sitting in my cooker's steaming basket (which in turn sat on a trivet, to keep it away from the water). Added about a cup of water to the bottom of the cooker, closed it (duh), brought to High Pressure and cooked for five minutes on High. Then turned off the heat (I have an induction stove -- if you don't, you probably want to move the cooker off the hot plate at this point) and waited 5 min for the natural release of the pressure. Voilà -- spongettes! Moved them to the fridge in their basket, put a plate on top to protect them from fridge odors, and had a delicious dessert two hours later.
Btw, if I had a second steaming basket, I could have stacked them and made the full amount. Might be worth it to buy one -- these little cakelets are NICE.