The Newest New Beginning

So, after a few months worth of training for a ballet exam, I am now free from dance(and leotards, he he) for a while and I am geared to bake.

Friday night, as planned, was a celebration. To commemorate the work put toward a ballet exam, my mother, father and I had a little dinner get together, just the three of us. As always, when a hiatus from ballet begins, I make it a point to throw a small gathering devoted to extra naughty food. This time, the menu consisted of pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw, sweet potato fries, and lovely lemon pudding cakes. I just happened to be in charge of the dessert, which turned out lovely...to my surprise. Read, and see.

Chosen from my encyclopedia size "Bon Appetit: Desserts" book, these Lemon Pudding Cakes with Marbled Raspberry Cream were a divine contrast to the sloppy, dinner choice. I had chosen this dessert because I thought that I would contrast nicely with the pulled pork. Aside from that though, I wasn't terribly excited for these. I admit, I settled on the recipe, for convenience and theme, but I wasn't convinced until my spoon broke the cake.

The mise en place. Sorry for the bad i-phone quality...


For not having that many ingredients, these were not simple. They had quite a few steps, and required a good amount of mise en place. The mixture came together somewhat like a souffle, with me having to fold the egg whites into the lemon mixture, which consisted of lemon juice, rind, flour, butter, sugar, egg yolks, and my special addition of butter. Once assembled, the batter was just okay, which worried me more about these innocent little cakes, that I had yet to even try.

I poured the mixture into buttered ramekins, and pooped them in the oven for 25 minutes. While I waited for them to bake, I put together the raspberry cream. The cream, which incorporated pureed raspberry drizzled into a classic whipped cream, was undoubtedly fabulous. After whipping the cream, I simply poured the puree into the cream, and cut the cream with a knife. Hence, marbled cream.

Puffed and firm, my cakes came out of the oven approximately 25 minutes later. Seeing that this recipe was supposed to be the lemon version of the classic molten chocolate lava, I was a little unconvinced by the "firm" word. I placed the cakes, which looked as pretty as could be, on their plate and served them warm. The whipped cream was applied over top, of course.

Upon digging in, the first layer of cake was light and spongy, with a clear taste of sweet lemon. I was impressed, but it wasn't what I expected...or was it?

Discovering the next layer was like unearthing a treasure. The once spongy, yet soft, cake above, had transformed into creamy, pudding-like texture that had a slight whisper of cake still running through. As I got closer to the bottom, the mixture got increasingly wetter, and also surprisingly tarter as well. An enjoyment through and through. The raspberry cream was a fabulous accompaniment.

In the end, I was wrong. This dessert was delicious, and decadent. Also, it is really fantastic for those with short attention spans, seeing that it kept changing the closer you got to the bottom. I would surely make these again, and possibly even with different flavors. Best yet, they got A++ reviews. Not just because they are my parents, but I do feel as though they were genuinely enjoyed, seeing they were still being talked about long after their departure.

I was glad that I made them, not only because I was proved wrong, but also because they were delicious. A two-for!!!