The Sunday Times Magazine • 43Lemon posset
and shortcake
With just three ingredients this
is such a simple pudding — and
it can be made well in advance.
You can tart it up with seasonal
fruit (or unseasonal fruit, as I’ve
done here) or even add a jar of
Amarena cherries or Opies
peaches with Courvoisier to
give it a little punch. Shortcake
provides a welcome crunch.- Zest of 1 lemon
- 125g plain flour
01 For the posset, put the
cream and the sugar in
a saucepan, stir and bring
to the boil. Remove from the
heat, stir through the lemon
juice, then divide the mixture
between 4 ramekins. Put the
ramekins in the fridge for at
least an hour to set.02 For the shortcake, grind the
almonds in a food processor
until reasonably fine — around
1½ min — but don’t worry if
there are a few chunky bits as
they add to the texture.03 Beat together the butter
and sugar in an electric mixer
until pale and creamy. Add
the almonds, lemon zest and
flour to the butter and sugar
and slowly mix together to
a uniform consistency.04 Using a couple of pieces
of greaseproof paper
underneath and over the top,
roll the mixture into a round
“sausage” (or two), about
4cm in diameter. Wrap in the
paper and allow to chill in the
fridge for about an hour.05 Heat the oven to 160C
(180C non-fan). Cut the
rolled dough into 1cm slices
and arrange them on a baking
tray lined with greaseproof
paper. Put the tray in the oven
and cook for 8 min, or until
each shortcake has a lovely
golden ring on the outer edge.
Remove from the oven and
scatter with a little caster
sugar, then leave them to cool.06 Remove the possets from
the fridge and serve with the
shortcakes and fresh or jarred
fruit of your choice nServes 4Ingredients
For the posset- 400ml double cream
- 110g caster sugar
- 1 ½ lemons
(70ml lemon juice)
For the shortcake- 200g blanched almonds
- 200g butter
- 125g caster sugar with
GETTY IMAGES a little extra for dusting
The Sunday Times Magazine • 43