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An intensely flavoured lemon pudding that magically separates into two delicious layers – one cake, one sauce. Make it with only 5 main ingredients – no eggs needed!
It’s not uncommon here in Australia to see bags of lemons sitting on driveways with a sign in front: ‘Free lemons’.
Nice!
Another fabulous lemon dessert!
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.
You might have seen something like this magic lemon pudding called self-saucing lemon pudding, or even lemon delicious pudding. 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.
And to be totally honest, this recipe tends to divide a room. We have made it several times and love it, but it does receive mixed reviews.
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.
But then eat it immediately. We found this tasted really nice re-heated the next day but some of the sauce had sunken into the cake.
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 used 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!
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!)
Easy lemon magic pudding (5 ingredients)
Ingredients
for the cake batter
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 0.5 cup sugar
- 1 lemon zest only (use the juice in the sauce)
- 0.5 cup milk warmed
- 2 tablespoons butter (melted and mixed in with the warm milk)
for the sauce
- 0.25 cup sugar
- 1 cup water boiling
- 0.5 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).
Jennifer says
For years, I’ve been looking for a lemon equivalent to my family’s “hot fudge pudding cake.” I occasionally make the version with eggs (mentioned by others) but don’t like the consistency of the cake. Beating egg whites is too much work when you don’t even like the result! So, I was excited to see your recipe. And, it’s perfect! Exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t have any of the issues that other people have posted. For some, I wonder if they accidentally used plain, and not self-rising, flour? Anyway, mine came out of the oven about an hour ago, and I”ve already eaten a quarter of it.
Helen says
Hi Jennifer! Oooh, you’ve made my day!! Thank you so much for leaving your positive feedback. This is indeed a recipe that some like, others not so much, but your tips are really helpful. I’ll add a note in the recipe about the flour – that could be an issue some are having.
Hope you managed not to eat the whole pudding all by yourself!!!
Interesting you mention a hot fudge pudding version. Oooh, I will have to try that!
Kate says
I’m another disappointed cook i’m afraid! I followed the recipe carefully but ended up with a half-set cake mix in a sea of lemony liquid. Let it cook for about 10 mins more and it was going dark on top but still not properly baked and not much distinction between the cake and the sauce. It was lovely and lemony but a bit of a visual embarrassment to serve and the cake texture was not really like cake at all… might try again with some of the adjustments people have suggested.
Helen says
Aww… shame! Sorry about that, Kate! I’ve never had this fail on me, so I don’t really have too many suggestions. I know some people have left their thoughts above though so might be worth reading through. I suppose you left it to sit for a while before eating? I’m impressed that you’re willing to give it another go! By the way it’s never going to be the best looking dessert on the block.
I’m thinking I should give this a go again soon and see how it turns out for me with a new oven. This is one of my older recipes and still always gets very mixed reviews.
Good luck!
Hannah says
Thank you so much for this! Absolutely wonderful recipe! Soo easy, Soo delicious! Needs cream, or vanilla ice-cream. It’s in the oven as we speak, for the 5th time since discovering it, 1 month ago.
Thank you!!!!
Helen says
Hi Hannah! Yay, you like it! People seem to either love or hate this recipe, so I’m pleased there’s another name added to the ‘love’ list! Do you like chocolate desserts, too? If so, try my 6-ingredient gooey Swedish chocolate cake. Just as easy to make, and always a crowd pleaser!
Henk says
Did not work for me. Had way to much liquid at the top, it never browned.
The lemon water sauce on top was way to tart for our taste, couldn’t eat more than a spoonful each unfortunately.
The texture was a lot like rubber and stuck to the roof of our mouths.
Won’t be making it again. Sorry.
Helen says
Hi Henk! So sorry it didn’t work out for you. I really can’t figure out why this works for some and not for others. I do find if you leave it standing to cool slightly the sauce thickens and sinks quite a bit, but it sounds like this recipe isn’t for you anyway and you won’t be trying it again. Mostly I think it’s down to personal preference. Thanks for leaving your honest review anyway!
Naomi says
We just tried this for Sunday lunch here in a very chilly Uk – it worked perfectly and went down a treat with everyone! Thank you 😁
Helen says
Hi, Dear Naomi! Thank you so much for reporting back! I’m so glad this went down OK (phew!). It’s a bit of a hotly contested recipe. Some like it, some don’t. So glad you’re one of the ones who did! xx
Malorie says
This doesn’t need eggs, but for me it did not turn into pudding—the super tart lemony water just ended up beneath the cake, and the portion of the cake that touched the water ended up kind of custard-like, which was yummy. I was very skeptical at “sauce” being formed from water, lemon juice, and sugar. Also, I loooove lemon, but the juice is way too tart. My cheeks are literally puckering. So hopefully this helps someone looking to make it. Temper your expectations.
Helen says
Hi Malorie, I really appreciate your honest and thorough feedback. This recipe really does divide a room, but I’m glad you enjoyed the ‘custardy’ part of the cake. I don’t remember that. My pudding usually ends up very distinctly thick(ish) sauce (as long as you give it some time to cool and thicken slightly) with cake on top.
Juanita Apostolis says
Loved this! So easy and so yummy. We made it two days in a row!
Juanita Apostolis says
So easy and so delicious – we made it two days in a row!
Helen says
Oh so happy to hear this, Juanita! Thank you so much for sharing your review!
Alex says
I just made this, and was a little worried when I saw the ratio of batter to liquid after having seen the negative reviews. But it didn’t take long for the batter to rise and the sauce to start bubbling, I wonder whether having the oven good and hot (I preheated to 220C) and a tin rather than ceramic dish might be the hit vs. miss factor?
SO…
It turned out perfectly, the sauce was so think and gooey.
And it was a definite hit with the family,so I’ll be saving it for future use!
Next time I’ll sprinkle coconut on top too.
Helen says
Thank you so much for leaving your review, Alex – I so appreciate it! This is probably my most ‘controversial’ if you like post, but I think the balance is starting to tip towards the happy people 🙂 So glad it turned out well for you and you’ll consider making it again. You could be right about the heat! I used just a ceramic dish, but good to know it works out well in a tin too! 🙂
Leah Murray says
This recipe worked for me. My neighbour gave me lots of huge lemons(1 lemon yields on average 200ml of lemon juice). I had so many lemons to get rid of so I googled lemon recipes and this was the easiest. I cooked it this morning and have already eaten a quarter..without ice cream it’s still lovely and soft and lemony.
Helen says
This is the reason I made this recipe too, Leah – I got tons of lemons from a neighbour and needed to find something to do with them! So glad it worked well for you! I must make this again some time soon!
Elsa says
Very easy to make and was delicious both warm and cold after being left overnight in fridge. I let the liquid ingredients boil with the sugar for a couple of minutes before pouring over batter. Will definitely make again and possibly double the batter next time.
Helen says
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your review, Elsa, and for the top rating. I will have to try making a double batch next time too!
Karla says
It came out great!! So easy and quick. Perfect with a scoop of icecream
Helen says
Great to hear this, Karla. Thanks so much for making the effort to leave your review!