We’ve been away from the blog for a little while now, but it’s not because we’re not cooking– it’s just that we haven’t been cooking anything really, really good. And instead of subjecting you to mediocrity (why share a so-so recipe?), we’ve been waiting until we had something great to share with you. And ta-da! Here’s an incredibly simple dessert that I’m planning to keep in my arsenal forever. Would you believe it has just three ingredients? Cream, sugar and lemon juice combine to make a mousse-y dessert that’s rich but light-tasting. We loved how the lemon lifted the thickness of the cream off our tongues so the dessert felt decadent but not heavy. I wish even more that it actually wasn’t heavy so that I could eat it every day, but that’s another matter.
I did a bit of research and found out that this dessert evolved from a strange-sounding Elizabethan (or maybe older?) drink of warmed milk curdled with sack (sherry) or ale. I’d like to try this out too, just because “sack” always makes me think of Shakespeare’s Falstaff. Anyone know of any literary references to posset?
I followed a recipe from the LA Times for this modern posset, and it called for Meyer lemon in particular. Any lemon will work, but you might need to add more sugar to balance the flavours. Next time, I’m using blood orange juice (thanks to our beautiful, beautiful new vintage chrome juicer) and cutting back on the sugar to make blood orange posset. I’m excited!
MEYER LEMON POSSET adapted from the LA Times
This recipe makes two 1/2 cup portions. Feel free to double it.
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
Juice of 1 Meyer lemon (about 1/4 cup)
Combine cream and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat them over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the surface of the cream just begins to ripple and steam. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside to cool, stirring it occasionally to prevent a film from forming on the top of the cream. Allow it to cool until lukewarm, approximately 20 minutes.
When the cream and sugar are cooled, stir in the lemon juice to blend well. I took these instructions very seriously and whisked in the sugar, creating some air bubbles at the top of my posset. If you’re gentler, you’ll probably avoid this. Divide the posset between two small bowls and put it in the fridge to set at least four hours or overnight.
15 comments
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January 17, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Amy @ Wheeler's
My name is Emily & I am writing to you on behalf of Wheeler’s Black Label Frozen Desserts. We are holding a very special “chocoholic” ice cream tasting with Little Cakes in NYC this weekend and would love to see members from your meetup group attend!
There will be several different varieties of vegan chocolate ice cream (including Wheeler’s favorite, chocolate chocolate chip, and some vanilla and pumpkin flavors for those who aren’t quite chocolate enthusiasts) all put together in a lovely little tasting party held at Little Cakes art gallery.
Here is all of the details:
WHERE?
Little Cakes Art Gallery
625 East 6th Street, #1B
New York, N.Y. 10009
WHEN?
This Sunday, January 20th from 1-3PM
Thanks, hope to see you there!
Emily @ Wheeler’s Black Label Frozen Desserts
January 18, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Patricia Scarpin
Lemons are a true passion of mine… I want some posset, too, please! :)
January 21, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Gretchen Noelle
This sounds delicious. I have never heard of posset though! Do you think I could try this with another citrus as meyer lemons are no where to be found?
January 21, 2008 at 1:11 pm
hannehanne
Patricia, please, help yourself! I love lemons too.
Gretchen, posset can absolutely be made with another citrus. Here’s a recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lemon-Posset/Detail.aspx
I haven’t tried that one, but the reviews are high, so I bet it’s delicious! I’m also playing with the idea of cutting back the sugar a bit and using blood oranges or just plain old juice oranges.
Let me know how it turns out if you try out the lemon posset, or any other type for that matter!
January 22, 2008 at 3:12 pm
EB
What is the texture like? I don’t think I’ve had anything comparable.
Erin
January 22, 2008 at 5:40 pm
hannehanne
Erin,
The texture is incredibly smooth. It’s kind of moussey, only silkier than mousse. Pretty much exactly like cream, only solid. I think something about the cream being dissolved into the sugar keeps the cream from curdling when the acid juice is added. But I don’t know how or why. I might need to go do some reading!
January 25, 2008 at 12:13 am
PrissyCook
Now that I think of it…I’ve never looked up the difference between a regular ol’ lemon and a Meyer Lemon. Hi ho Hi ho…it’s off to research I go.
January 28, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Tea
Mmmm, I would LOVE this! Thanks for the recipe–must try soon:-)
January 31, 2008 at 11:36 am
hannehanne
Tea, you really must try it, especially as I see you’ve got that beautiful crop of lemons. I hope you post about some of the things you did with them!
Prissycook, I recently found out that what we thought were the regular old lemons my family received in packages from my L.A.-dwelling grandmother were Meyer lemons. I ate them for years without even knowing! They’re worth searching out, though, they have a great flavour and an interesting aroma.
February 18, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Barbara
I love lemons as well. You have a really fun website. Welcome to Daring Bakers.
I tagged you for a meme…
February 22, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Mares
I had read and copied down this recipe several days ago, and while in my local grocery store (I live in SW Michigan), was pleasently surprised to see they had Meyer Lemons for sale.. they never have in the past. So I picked up some heavy cream and will be making the posset tomorrow. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
February 22, 2008 at 8:06 pm
hannehanne
Meyer lemons are a treasure! I’m glad you could find some. I hope you enjoy the posset. I think it’s one of the tastiest things I’ve had in a while.
Let us know how it turns out.
February 22, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Mares
I’d never seen them here before, the supermarket chain is D&W, and they had small mesh bags containing four or five of the lemons for $3.99. I’d meant to ask earlier, but how is the peel for zesting? They appear much smoother than regular lemons (haven’t taken them out of the mesh as yet.)
I had been looking out for lemons, not really thinking I’d see Meyers, but was pleased that I’d been paying attention and spotted them. My intent was to get regular lemons to try the recipe out because it sounded divine. I picked up some fresh blueberries to see how they paired with the dessert. I’ll post here after I serve it to let you know how it turned out for me.
February 22, 2008 at 10:48 pm
hannehanne
Mares, the peel is GREAT for zesting! You have to be a little more careful, as it’s thinner than a normal lemon (so’s the peel), so you’re at risk for getting a bit of pith in there. But actually, the peel of a Meyer lemon is pretty amazing. It has a really nice herbal flavour. Don’t throw it away.
I made Meyer lemon syrup with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar boiled together with the zest of one lemon. That’s nice for cocktails (use in the place of sugar syrup). You could also try using it for pasta (see our meyer lemon pasta recipe). When I was a little girl, my mom used to just zest the lemons and freeze the zest so that she’d always have some available for the lemon curd in lemon meringue pie.
ANYWAY, I’m getting carried away. Your plan with the blueberries sounds amazing and perfect. I hope you like the dessert. I think it’s completely decadent. My aunt has christened it the “Very Naughty Dessert.” That’s got a good ring to it, hasn’t it?
November 19, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Meyer Lemons « Supper In Stereo
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