An intensely flavoured self saucing lemon pudding that magically separates into two delicious layers – one cake, one sauce. Make it with only 5 main ingredients – no eggs needed!
Amazing lemons!
It’s not uncommon here in Australia to see bags of lemons sitting on driveways with a sign in front: ‘Free lemons’. Which I love!
But if you’re going to take those lemons, you really need to think of something to make with them. And relatively fast before they turn into green powder in your fruit bowl.
I love how versatile lemons are. I have some favourite savoury recipes that include lemons, like this incredible and easy Greek lemon chicken and potatoes.
I also have other go-to lemon dessert recipes, like this lemon mascarpone cake, and these lemon bakewell bars.
How to make a self-saucing lemon pudding
You might have seen something like this magic lemon pudding called self-saucing lemon pudding, or even lemon delicious pudding (here in Australia!).
You mix together:
- flour
- sugar
- lemon zest
- milk
- and butter
then you pour over lemon juice, sugar and water and bake. While in the oven, the dish ‘magically’ separates into a cake layer and a lemon sauce layer.
Add ice cream and eat. Hopefully you’ve fooled guests into thinking you’ve slaved away over this magic lemon pudding, when really it only took you 5 minutes to throw together. Massive win.
In the past, I haven’t had much success making anything that has ‘magic’ in its name. A chocolate self-saucing pudding ended up with hardly any sauce and a magic apple cake tasted divine but didn’t have the 3 clearly defined magic layers it was supposed to.
Love this recipe? Or hate it?
This recipe tends to divide a room. We have made it many times and love it, but it does receive mixed reviews.
Pro tip: The key to success is to leave the lemon pudding to cool slightly for ten to fifteen minutes after it comes out of the oven. The sauce might look a bit runny at first but if you let it stand it thickens up nicely.
This is what people say about this recipe:
Caro said: “ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a lemon lovers dream! Tangy, warm, soft, not too sweet, I loved loved loved it.”
Juanita said: “Loved this! So easy and so yummy. We made it two days in a row!”
But CA Cook said: “I tried to make this and it was a disaster. The liquid stood on top of the cake and after 45 minutes there were still several inches of liquid. It didn’t taste lemony at all. The texture of the cake was really weird. I looked up other recipes for this kind of pudding and they call for eggs. Maybe this needs eggs.“
Nope. The recipe doesn’t ‘need’ eggs. I have tried to figure out why some people don’t like this recipe but can’t.
All I can suggest is to:
- make sure the oven is properly heated before putting the pudding in.
- Make sure you use self raising flour and not plain flour.
- Leave the pudding for 10 to 15 minutes before eating to let the sauce thicken and cool a little.
- Then eat it immediately. We find it tastes lovely the next day, but some of the sauce soaks into the pudding.
The only other advice I have is to try it for yourself… and make your own decision about whether you’re a quick and easy lemon pudding without eggs lover or hater!
I hope you enjoy this. It perhaps won’t ever win any beauty contests, but we think it’s a delicious ‘got-to-have-dessert-right-now’ recipe!
This is the kind of baking dish I use for this pudding:
Update: The original magic lemon pudding recipe I adapted had very mixed reviews, and so does this one! If you give this a go and like it, would you consider popping back and leaving a review? Thank you!
Like this recipe? You’ll enjoy my chocolate self saucing pudding too!
I worked on the ‘little sister’ of my lemon pudding aka a 6-ingredient chocolate self saucing pudding, also with no eggs, for a long time before publishing it.
I wanted to get it ‘just right’. I hope you agree it was worth the wait! There are plenty of chocolate self saucing puddings out there already, but what sets this one apart is that:
- it’s surprisingly low in sugar
- it’s egg free, just like the lemon pudding, in case you can’t get any or you can’t eat eggs
- it’s got plenty of sauce (mmmm… )
More really easy desserts
- 5-minute chocolate banana ice cream (healthy nice cream!)
- 6-ingredient gooey Swedish chocolate cake (you’ve got to try this!)
- Addictive peanut butter Cheerio bars
- No bowl chocolate pecan bars (magic bars!)
- 5-minute chocolate pots (only 4 ingredients!)
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Easy lemon magic pudding (5 ingredients)
Equipment (affiliate links)
Ingredients (UK/Australia? Click below for grams/ml)
for the cake batter
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 lemon zest only (use the juice in the sauce)
- ½ cup milk warmed
- 2 tablespoons butter (melted and mixed in with the warm milk)
for the sauce
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 cup water boiling
- ½ cup lemon juice (2 to 3 lemons)
to serve (optional)
- icing / confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
- vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 355F / 180C and grease a medium sized high-sided baking dish with butter.
- Mix together the flour, sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl.
- Pour the milk / butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Empty the batter into the baking dish.
- Mix the sauce ingredients together, then carefully pour over the batter in the baking dish. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the sauce starting to bubble around the sides.
- Take out of the oven, then leave for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly before serving.
- Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve immediately with vanilla ice cream (if you like).
Suzie says
Delicious, easy and cheap. Thank you sooooo much.
Helen says
Great summary, Suzie. Thank you! So glad you liked it! 🙂
Alison Goullet says
I was really not sure about this recipe but with only 5 ingredients and so easy I just had to give it a go. It is wonderful! So tasty with a real zingy lemony hit, the sauce compliments the sweet dense sponge, and so easy. Will definitely be on full rotation in my family.
Helen says
Hi Alison. I’m so happy you enjoyed this. I love that it has so few ingredients too. Thank you so much for the feedback!
Hoy says
I came across the recipe an hour and a half ago n made it straight away, it’s the easiest n yummiest pudding EVER! U can’t ever tell it’s egg free! Thanks!
Helen says
So happy to read this – thank you so much for letting me know what you thought. This is the greatest ever dessert to make on a whim if you happen to have some lemons lying around (and no eggs!!). I also have a chocolate version, in case you’re also tempted to try that. Have a great week!
Kyla says
I needed a quick easy dessert and came across this recipe, I doubled the mixture and it came out great! It definitely doesn’t look that great but it makes up for it in taste. I will add this to my recipe book, a new family fave !
Helen says
Hi Kyla, and thanks so much for the great feedback! You’re right, it’s not the best looking dessert on the block, but it’s supposed to be a quick and easy ’emergency’ family dessert when you have a craving for something lemony, warming and delicious. So glad you liked it!
Claire says
This is a keeper. I made this with SR Gluten free flour. Because I find GF flour tends to soak up moisture more than regular wheat flours, the end result was a beautiful cakey pudding with very little syrup (but not dry). The balance of tartness and sweetness was perfect for our tastes. With very hungry teenage boys, I doubled the recipe and it was just perfect. Thank you!
Helen says
Hi Claire! It’s very helpful to hear how this turned out with GF flour, so thank you so much for the feedback. It’s also good to know a larger version still worked out well. So happy you enjoyed it! Now we have a lemon tree I think we’ll be making this more often too!
Clare says
Made this tonight as I wanted an easy dessert following a roast chicken. We also have a lemon tree full of lemons so it needed to be a lemon dessert. . Gotta say it was an absolute hit and everyone loved it. The only change I made was using a little less of the sauce as I felt it needed less once I started pouring it over the batter.
Perfection. Will definitely make this again.
Helen says
Hello Clare! Thank you so much for the great feedback! Isn’t it wonderful having a lemon tree? We have one too now and I’m loving it. I see a lot more of this pudding in my future. I do find if there are any leftovers it’s good to have a bit more sauce because some of it soaks into the pudding in the fridge. But perhaps you didn’t have any… 😉
Promila Gupta says
Can we substitute butter with refined or clarified butter?
Helen says
Hi Promila! I haven’t tried this substitution I’m afraid but I have a feeling it would work, as long as you use the same amount. Good luck!
Mark and Qitqat says
First, let me thank you for this wonderful (and easy) recipe. Tonight I was wanting something lemony to follow our Nachos for dinner. I didn’t want to make a big mess with the mixer and all the tools that go into making a layer cake. This filled all of my requirements (one measuring cup, one spatula, one mixing bowl and a 9×9 cake pan), and tasted amazing.
Second, I have a question. Have you ever tried this with lime instead of lemon? I think that would knock my socks off. (Not a surprise since I am usually barefoot.). If so, are there adjustments to the recipe?
Lastly, I adjusted the recipe, and added 1/2 cup of sugar to the sauce. I don’t care for confectioners sugar but didn’t want to loose the sweetness. It came out tasting great, but the sauce was still a bit juicier than I expected after letting it rest 20 minutes. Also, since I used a big pan, it was rather thin. Would ramicans work better? Do you have any suggestions to make the recipe less juicy?
Again, great recipe and I would appreciate any advice.
Helen says
Hello, and thank you so much for the helpful feedback! I love your idea of trying it with lime. I think it would work although you’d need more limes so it could get expensive if you don’t have a tree! (some people do here in Perth Australia!) I think that possibly your sauce was on the runny side because of the added sugar. That would melt down to more liquid. So I’d stick to just 1/4 cup next time and see if that makes a difference. Ramekins could work but I’m afraid I’ve never tried it. The very best option is a classic souffle size dish, or even a Pyrex bowl that isn’t too wide would work. It’s really good to know that despite the slight variations in the recipe you still enjoyed the taste! 🙂
anne duggins says
Lusciously lemony! Made this today and it was fabulous. I was apprehensive when it went into the oven…..the batter is very loose and seeing all that liquid sitting on top just looked wrong but it worked!… definitely advise leaving it out for 10 mins or so before serving because the sauce thickens and settles nicely. There is still ALOT of sauce but that’s what makes it! – if you like lemons! 😂 It’s not the prettiest of deserts but was delicious!
Helen says
Thanks for this Anne. This is exactly how I would sum it up myself. Not the prettiest but saucy, lemony and delicious! 🙂 Have you tried the chocolate one?
Amelie says
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipie.
Helen says
Hi Amelie! So glad you liked it, and thanks for the feedback!
Kim says
Fantastic, so easy to make and best of all not too sweet but with a great lemon taste. Lovely crispy topping. It does look a mess when it comes out of the oven, but like you say if you leave it it thickens up beautifully.
Will definitely make again.
Helen says
So glad you liked it enough to consider making it again. Thanks so much for the feedback! 🙂
Dominic says
This was a very delicious recipe although the sauce was still very wet at the end of almost 30 minutes cooling. This did not however impact the taste and is one of the best lemon recipes I’ve made which, believe me, is a lot! 😂
Congratulations
Helen says
Glad you enjoyed it so much, Dominic, and thanks very much for leaving a review 🙂
Cindy says
Can Splenda be used instead of sugar?
Helen says
Hello Cindy! Hmmm… I have to be honest, I don’t know. I’m not sure if the sugar adds to the texture of the sauce. But you could certainly give it a try. I’d love to know how you get on if you do try it!
Katherine says
Just wondering what would happen if I substituted all the water for lemon juice? Would the chemistry of it still work?
Helen says
Hi Katherine! Hmmm… to be honest I think that would be far too ‘lemony’. You’ll see that the sauce has just the right balance between tart and sweet. I hope you do give it a go!
Richard Boon says
I am somewhat of a novice in the kitchen. I found the recipe clear and easy to use and the result was delicious. I have made a few of the egg-based alternatives and they are also nice, just different. I left a little of the sauce out (maybe 10%) because of the comments about the pudding not ‘setting’. I could have added it all. Mine set beautifully and if anything was a little short on the sauce. Next time I will use the lot.
Helen says
Hi Richard! It’s really helpful to hear that the recipe was easy to follow and turned out well. Obviously that’s what I always aim for! Definitely give it another go with the regular amount of sauce. Merry Christmas!
Brian says
As others have commented, the syrup is runny, (perhaps I should have left it a little more than 15 minutes) but it is a fantastic, quick pudding for vegans and lovers of lemon. Better still, vegan lemon lovers. I will eat the other half cold tomorrow by which time the syrup will have definitely ‘set’. When I was a ‘veggie’ I used to make an upside down lemon pudding that required eggs, this is easily as good, probably better.
Helen says
Hi Brian! I really appreciate the feedback – thank you! I think the sauce turned out exactly as it’s supposed to for you. Yes, just leave it a few minutes longer for a slightly thicker sauce. I like that this dessert is easily made vegan. so glad you enjoyed it, and very encouraging that you liked it as much as your old upside down cake!