Name: Lemon Pudding Cake with Cherry Coulis
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 2 eggs (separated); Zest and juice of 1 lemon; ⅔ cup whole milk; 1 cup sugar; ¼ cup all-purpose flour; ¼ teaspoon salt; 15 ounces canned dark sweet cherries; 2 teaspoons sugar

5 from 4 votes

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Lemon Pudding Cake with Cherry Coulis – a vintage recipe for lemon pudding cake in which the mixture separates into layers while baking!

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As you all know, I just love a good vintage recipe. Actually, I pretty much like all recipes, but the old ones just appeal to me in a different way. It’s the nostalgia, I suppose.

I’ll sometimes get out my old Betty Crocker and Good Housekeeping cookbooks just to read for entertainment. Sure, some of the recipes are out of date and not really interesting to contemporary audiences, but those old cookbooks are treasure troves of deliciousness.

They’re where you’ll find great old recipes like Mushrooms Royale, Rumaki, Spiedini, and Parmesan Fans. And those are just from the appetizers section.

I was perusing my copy of the 1969 Betty Crocker Cookbook recently when I came across this old gem of a recipe. This lemon pudding cake is one of those that magically separates into two layers while cooking.

You mix everything together, pop it in the oven and when it’s done you have a light layer of cake on top of a luscious lemon pudding. Over the years I had forgotten about this old recipe so it was almost like finding an old friend again.

This delightful recipe takes about 20 minutes to put together with a baking time of 50 minutes. Mix one up when you start dinner and it will be ready just in time for dessert.

I hope you enjoy getting acquainted with this old friend of mine. I’ve also included links to some of her “cousins” at the end of the post :-)

How to Make Lemon Pudding Cake with Cherry Coulis

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put a kettle of water on the stove to heat while you proceed with the recipe.

Mix the Batter for the Lemon Pudding Cake

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Use a whisk to beat the egg yolks until thick and pale yellow in color. Now why did I beat the egg yolks in a yellow bowl so that you can’t see what they really look like? Duh. Probably because it was the first one I reached in the cabinet. Anyway – they’re in there. And they’re pale yellow and thick :-)

Collage showing mixing in of additional ingredients

Blend in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and milk. Add the sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk until smooth.

Add a small amount of the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. Beat until incorporated. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the beaten whites just until combined. Do not overmix.

Casserole dish filled with lemon pudding cake mixture set inside a baking pan

Pour into an ungreased 1-quart casserole. Set the casserole dish in a larger pan and pour in boiling water until it comes about 1-inch up the sides of the casserole dish.

Baked lemon pudding cake sitting on a cooling rack

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Now, don’t be concerned if the top of the cake cracks like mine did in the photo above. This is normal.

As the cake cools, it will collapse a bit and that crack will close right up. Besides, I serve it with that side down anyway :-)

Serve warm or cool with cherry coulis.

To Make the Coulis

Empty the can of cherries along with the liquid into the bowl of a food processor or a blender. Add the sugar. Process or blend until the cherries are a fine puree. Strain through a fine sieve, discarding any solids.

I have to admit that I originally planned to serve a classic raspberry coulis with this. However, when I started to make my coulis, I found that my raspberries had passed the point of usability. So I went to the pantry to see what I might have on hand that I could use. One can of cherries and a couple of spoonfuls of sugar later and I had this gorgeous, delicious cherry coulis.

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