Gluten free lemon surprise pudding

I’m super excited to be sharing this gluten free lemon surprise pudding with you as it’s a real cracker!

My mum used to make lemon surprise pudding a lot and I always loved it. But it was one of those recipes I’d forgotten about until my sister-in-law, Kate, mentioned that she’d recently made it.

This lemon surprise pudding has everything you’d want from a pud. It has the most gorgeous light sponge topping and beautiful creamy lemon custard base. Which all happens as if by magic, whilst it bakes in the oven.

Lemon surprise pudding is the perfect desert to slowly savour. And as it’s so delicious and light, you will always have just enough room to squeeze some in.   

Ingredients (serves 4)

175g (6oz) caster sugar
50g (2oz) softened butter (I used salted but unsalted would work too) 
50g (2oz) gluten free self-raising flour or mix, sifted
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, separated (room temp)
225ml (8 fl oz) milk 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4/160C Fan.

Grease an ovenproof dish Approx. 7 inch x 2-3 inch depth.  

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar.

Add the gluten free flour, grated lemon zest and juice and continue to beat until smooth. 

Add the egg yolks and once combined add the milk. Stir until nice and smooth. 

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites (preferably with an electric mixer) until soft peaks form. 

Spoon the whisked egg whites into the other mixture and then using a large metal spoon, fold the egg whites in using a ‘figure of eight’ motion so you cut through the mixture rather than stirring.

Once everything is blended (don’t worry about a tiny dot of egg white here and there or that the mixture looks a little curdled), pour the mixture into the prepared buttered dish. Then sit the dish in a deep roasting tray filled with about 1 inch of hot water.

Carefully slide the roasting tray into the oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes until well risen and golden brown.

Remove from the oven. Carefelly lift the oven proof dish from the water. Give the dish a little wipe and then enjoy!

Recipe notes and suggestions: 

This pudding is best enjoyed freshly made. As you will find the longer you leave it, the more the custard base will set.

This is a really easy recipe and takes no time to put together. However, it’s not one you can make in advance. Because of this, should you want to make it for a special dinner, I’d suggest that you weigh everything out beforehand and then pop it together just before you serve up the main and slip it into the oven as you’re about to sit down. It will then give you the perfect time to enjoy your meal, have a little breather, and then tuck into your yummy pud!

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Thanks as always for checking out my recipes. I really hope you are inspired to rustle this one up.

For now,
Liz x

Gifted: Thanks so much to our milkman, Dean at Bell’s dairy. Who has kindly supported my blog, with some of his fabulous products to use within this recipe.