Recipe || Lemon Posset with Petit Beurre

One of the simplest and tastiest desserts I’ve made recently is a lemon posset. It’s sharp and tangy, yet sweet and creamy. Sometimes I throw in some raspberries, other times I leave it plain.

It’s one of those delicious desserts that is easy, but impressive, and loved by 99% of all potential future dinner guests you may welcome into your home. Plus, lemon posset is really bloody quick to make so that helps hugely if you’re frazzled, up to your eyes in washing up and have prepared a delicious and nutritious dinner, but completely forgotten about pudding!

Unless your guests can’t eat dairy, are on a strict diet (cream and sugar served with biscuits is probably a no-no) or just really dislike lemons, you can’t go wrong!

Lemon Posset (4 medium sized portions)

Ingredients

  • 2 large unwaxed lemons
  • 600ml double cream
  • 140g caster sugar
  • Optional handful of raspberries

Method

  1. Put your sugar and cream in a heavy bottomed pan and heat on a medium temperature until the sugar has melted
  2. Turn up the heat until the cream is just boiling, and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally and keeping an eye on it as it has a tendancy to overboil
  3. Zest and juice your lemons
  4. Taking the cream off the heat, add in your zest (leaving a little for decoration) and juice of both lemons, whisking into the mixture.
  5. Leave the lemon posset to cool for 10 minutes and then pour into ramekins, martini glasses, or as I did the other day, a pre-baked pastry case (to make a sort-of tarte au citron)
  6. Refrigerate for a couple of hours (or it can be made the day before too for ease)

Wooden Window Sills - Recipe - Lemon Posset with Petit Beurres 1

I love lemon posset as a pud on its own with a spoon, but trust me, it’s even better served with Petit Beurre to scoop it up. Thin crispy sweet buttery French biscuits!

Petit Beurre (French butter biscuits)

Ingredients

  • 100g sugar
  • 100g salted butter
  • 63ml water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Method

  1. In a small pan melt your butter with your water, sugar and salt and bring to a boil over a low heat until the butter has melted.
  2. Leave it to cool for a while (usually about 20 mins if you transfer it into a cold mixing bowl) and mix in your flour and baking powder.
  3. Knead the dough until soft, wrap, and rest in the fridge for a couple of hours, or until just before required.
  4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
  5. On a floured surface, roll out your dough to a couple of mm thick. You want nice thin biscuits.
  6. Using cutters or an upturned glass, cut out your desired shapes and place on baking parchment on a flat baking tin. As the biscuits won’t spread too much they can be placed close but not touching.
  7. Bake in a hot oven for 8-10 minutes until just starting to turn brown (the best bit as it’s all caramelised and delicious)
  8. Whilst still warm, dust with caster sugar and tap off any excess, this will stay sugary and give the biscuits an extra sweet crunch!

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