Lemon Posset Brulee

Lemon Posset is a delightful dessert that makes the most of seasonal lemons and lemon juice. It takes just three ingredients to make this beautiful dessert and once you make it once, I suspect you might make it again. And here I show you to cutest viral way of serving lemon posset (make popular on TikTok!). This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

I love posset because it's so easy and yet tastes like it wasn't! It tastes like you've made a lemony custard and stirred over a hot stove but in reality it took about 5 minutes total. Posset started off as a drink. In the 15th century Great Britain, people enjoyed a warm drink made by mixing milk with ale, cider, or sherry. This concoction was believed to have healing properties. Posset was even mentioned in three Shakespeare plays (The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth and Hamlet)!

Tips on Making Lemon Posset Brûlée

1 - I used Meyer lemons for this but any sort of lemon will do. Meyer lemons are more fragrant and sweeter (although I wouldn't call them sweet) so they're ideal for desserts.

2 - Some people will tell you that you can only use a double cream for posset but that's not true. Thickened cream also works. The reason I know is that I messed up my first batch of posset and ran out of double cream. I only had a container of thickened cream left. I think the reason why posset recipes only feature double cream is because it's an English recipe and my English friend Sammie told me in England there is no such thing as thickened cream there, only double cream. Thickened cream is common in Australian (maybe because it's warmer here and the gelatine helps to add some structural integrity). So as long as it has 35% fat it will work. Double cream has around 56g of fat per 100ml/3.5ozs and obviously has a nicer, silkier mouthfeel but it isn't always available. So if you want it to be richer and more restaurant quality, use double cream. Otherwise thickened cream will also work.

3 - Make sure to follow instructions on timings and add the lemon juice very slowly. The cream needs to be hot and you need to stir constantly. Otherwise it will curdle. I know because I added the lemon juice too quickly and it curdled! The horror!

4 - I do not recommend using caster or superfine sugar for the bruleeing process as they are fine and will melt easily. Please use raw or demerara sugar. To brulee, place an even layer of raw sugar on the surface and then pass the blowtorch over the top back and forth. Don't point the blowtorch downwards or you will cook the posset again with the heat.

5 - You can also make a posset using passion fruit or other citrus fruit!

I was so excited to make these with Meyer lemons and I got these from a stranger's tree. Monica knows how much I love them and she told me of a house in Earlwood that has a basket outside their house with Meyer lemons on offer from their enormous tree. TBH our Meyer lemon tree is struggling and we have only had a couple of lemons last year and none this year.

The amount of lemon halves this makes depends purely on the size of your lemons. These were not the enormous homegrown ones that you can get and Meyer lemons do tend to be a bit smaller. I made so many lemon halves that I gave some to our neighbour as a pay back for their citrus leaves in the photo. They have a lemon and mandarin tree in their backyard and while we do too, ours is really struggling with life. It is going so badly that Mr NQN refused to give me a single leaf so he messaged Vic and Nicki to see if they had any leaves spare for styling.

Vic was out but told Mr NQN to help himself to the leaves and that he would let Nicki know that Mr NQN was on his way over. Mr NQN quickly raced off and I don't think Vic's message had time to reach Nicki. Mr NQN came down the side of their house in his red hoodie, the hood hiding his face, clutching a pair of secateurs. He passed Nicki doing some work in one of the rooms who looked startled at this surprise interloper holding a weapon. Her face clearly read that she had not received a message and poor Nicki looked scared.

But Mr NQN waved at her and explained that he was just there to borrow some lemon leaves. She waved him through and he collected some leaves and then the little flower is from their little daughter Sophie who gave him a flower to give to me to say thank you for the cakes. So sweet!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like posset? Have you ever tried Meyer lemons?

Lemon Posset Brûlée

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves: 6-12 people

• 400ml/14flozs cream (double or thickened)
• 130g/4.6ozs caster or superfine sugar
• 60mls/2.1flozs lemon juice
• 6 lemons (depending on size of lemons).
• 1 teaspoon of raw or demerara sugar per lemon half

Step 1 - Finely grate the zest of 1 lemon into a large jug and set aside. Then cut all of the lemons in half lengthways. Using a citrus reamer gently juice the lemon halves collecting the juice in a bowl and strain and set aside. Then remove all of the flesh from inside of the lemon. How easy this is depends on the actual lemon as some give up the insides easier than others. This is the most time consuming part. Place the lemon halves in a friand or cupcake tray.

Step 2 -Heat the cream and sugar in a small heavy bottomed pot and stir to prevent the sugar catching at the base of the pot. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat and wait for 2 minutes. Take the jug with the lemon zest and pour the hot sweet cream into this jug. Then add the lemon juice very slowly stirring the cream the entire time. Pour the lemon cream into the lemon halves. Place them in the fridge for 4 hours.

Step 3 -Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of raw or demerara sugar on top of each lemon half evenly. Using a blow torch on medium high heat pass it over the sugar back and forth and the sugar will quickly caramelise.

Step 4 -If you're not going to brulee the lemons straight away then cover with parchment and then cling film and then brulee just before you are ready to serve them. The toffee stays crisp for an hour or so and you can keep it at room temperature for that time (unless it is very hot).