Three-Ingredient Lemon Posset
Cream, sugar and lemon. It sets without gelatine, without eggs and without an oven, and it has done for about six hundred years.
A posset sets because lemon acid curdles cream in a controlled way. That is the entire mechanism, and it is why the proportions matter more here than in almost any other dessert.
Too little lemon and it stays liquid. Too much and it splits. The amounts below are the ones that work, and they are worth measuring rather than eyeballing.
Ingredients
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 2 cups | heavy cream, at least 36% fat |
| 2/3 cup | caster sugar |
| 5 tbsp | lemon juice, fresh |
| — | zest of one lemon, optional |
Method
- Put the cream and sugar in a pan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Let it boil, actually bubbling, for exactly three minutes. Watch it — it climbs the pan fast.
- Off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and the zest if using.
- Leave it to stand five minutes, then stir once and pour into small glasses.
- Fridge, at least three hours, uncovered until cold and then covered.
Notes
- Full-fat cream only. Anything lighter will not set and there is no rescue.
- Small glasses. A posset is rich and a large portion defeats most people halfway.
- Bottled lemon juice sets it but tastes of the bottle. Use fresh.
Questions
Mine did not set.
Either the cream was not fat enough or the boil was too short. Three minutes at a real bubble, not a simmer.
Can I use lime?
Yes, same volume. Grapefruit is too weak in acid and will not set.
How far ahead?
Two days, covered. It is a good dessert to make the day before.