Easy Magic Lemon Pudding (5 ingredients, no eggs)

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This is one for lemon lovers! An intensely flavoured self saucing lemon pudding (AKA lemon delicious!) that magically separates into two layers – one fluffy sponge, one tangy lemon sauce. Quick and super easy to make with only 5 main ingredients – no eggs needed!

A souffle dish of easy \'magic\' lemon pudding from above with a spoon in it on a marble background with lemons and a blue striped tea towel.

I love lemon season here in Western Australia. We have a young lemon tree in our garden, but while we wait for it to (hopefully) start producing fruit there are often lemons left in front of houses with a note on – ‘Free Lemons!’.

So what do you make when it’s lemon season (whether you have them growing locally or not)? Personally, either this Greek lemon chicken and potatoes (an incredibly delicious and easy midweek meal), or my famous lemon pudding are two of my go-to lemon recipes!

What’s a self saucing lemon pudding?

You might not be too surprised to learn that, as if by magic, a self saucing lemon pudding makes its own sauce while it’s cooking.

To make it, you mix together a few simple lemon sponge cake ingredients and pour them into a pudding dish. Then you pour over 3 ingredients – just lots of lemon juice, sugar and boiling water.

Somehow, while baking, the pudding ‘magically’ separates into a light and fluffy sponge cake layer with a delicious, tangy lemon sauce layer below.

When you put it in the oven covered in liquid, it’s hard to believe it’ll actually work, but I promise it does. It’s SO ridiculously simple!

Love lemon desserts? More Scrummy Lane faves include lemon mascarpone layer cake or lemon curd cake (great for birthdays and afternoon tea!), lemon bakewell slices, 6-ingredient ricotta lemon loaf cake or lemon posset.

Why you’ll love it

Here in Australia, this is a classic dessert, sometimes known as lemon delicious or lemon surprise pudding. It’s a perfect quick (and, if lemons are in season, economical!) dessert for your family or for guests.

Recipes can differ slightly from one another, so what’s different about this lemon pudding recipe?

  • It contains just 5 simple ingredients (I wanted to keep it super simple).
  • SO easy to make with only 10 minutes’ hands-on prep time (the oven does the rest!). No mixer required. Just mix wet ingredients into dry with a wooden spoon, pour over the sauce ingredients and bake.
  • It’s made WITHOUT EGGS (perfect for when you don’t have any, or someone has an egg allergy). No complicated whisking and folding of egg whites like in some other lemon pudding recipes!
  • The lemon sauce is super zingy. I love the contrast of the light, sweet cake and tart citrus sauce. And there’s a lot of it!
  • The sponge is light, fluffy and crisp on top. It might not be the prettiest, but it sure is delicious!
  • This version isn’t overly sweet. That’s just the way I usually like to do desserts around here.

5***** Review

“We made this once, and then told everyone we knew about it – it was that good!”

Janiika

About the ingredients

Overhead view of all the ingredients needed to make an easy lemon pudding on a marble background, including 2 lemons, lemon zest, sugar, self-raising flour, milk and butter.

Yes, just 5 main ingredients! Here’s what you need to know:

The cake batter

Self-raising flour: It’s important that you use self-raising flour, and not plain flour or self rising flour (US). If you don’t have any, simply make your own by mixing 2 teaspoons of baking powder into a cup of all-purpose flour.

Sugar: Just regular white sugar or caster sugar (fine sugar).

Lemon zest: Add the zest of one lemon to the sponge cake batter. Nothing gets wasted because the juice will go into the sauce!

Milk: You’ll need half a cup of warm milk. Any kind of milk works.

Melted butter: You’ll melt the butter into the warmed milk. Both unsalted and salted butter are fine.

The sauce

Sugar: Just a quarter cup, since you want a tangy sauce to contrast with the sweeter sponge. Ordinary white sugar or caster sugar (fine sugar) are both fine. Don’t reduce the amount of sugar in the sauce – the recipe needs this amount for the consistency.

Lemon juice: You’ll need the juice of 2-3 lemons or around half a cup.

Boiling water

How to make it

The step-by-step guide below should help you make the recipe perfectly first time. Scroll down to the end for the full recipe including ingredient amounts.

You really won’t believe how easy it is to make this lemon self saucing pudding!

Here’s what to do.

Step 1: Prepare a souffle or pudding dish by rubbing with a little butter or spraying with oil. Also pre-heat the oven.

Step 2: Mix together the dry ingredients for the cake batter – so flour, sugar and lemon zest.

Step 3: Warm the milk in a jug in the microwave. Then melt the butter into it.

Step 4: Pour the wet milk/butter mixture into the dry flour/sugar/zest mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter.

Overhead view of 2 images showing making lemon pudding batter in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, first mixing the wet ingredients with the dry and second the finished batter.

Step 5: Scrape the batter into your prepared dish.

Step 6: Mix together the sauce ingredients. Then carefully pour over the batter in the dish.

2 images side by side showing an overhead view of someone pouring liquid from a glass jug over cake batter in a souffle dish.

Step 7: Bake for around 35 minutes or until the pudding has risen, the top is golden brown and the luscious lemon sauce is bubbling up around the sides.

A souffle dish of easy \'magic\' lemon pudding from above on a marble background with lemons and a blue striped tea towel under the dish.

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.

Helen’s top tips

I’m going to be honest here. This recipe mostly gets rave reviews, but it can also divide a room. I have not experienced this myself, but occasionally a reader reports it ‘not working’, with liquid still on top of the cake.

Bear in mind that this pudding may not win any beauty contests! But it’s always delicious!

Here are my top tips for success.

  • Make sure the oven is heated up properly before baking.
  • Make sure you use self raising flour and not all-purpose or self-rising flour (NOT the same thing).
  • Let the pudding rest for 10 to 15 minutes before eating to let the sauce cool and thicken a little. The sauce will still be quite thin, but that’s how it’s supposed to be!
  • Then enjoy immediately. It still tastes lovely reheated the next day, but some of the sauce does soak into the pudding and the sauce will be thicker – more like lemon curd. Yum!
A souffle dish of easy \'magic\' lemon pudding from above with a spoon in it on a marble background with lemons and a blue striped tea towel.

How to serve

This one’s very simple. If you like, sprinkle a little icing sugar (powdered sugar) over the top of your pudding. Then serve your magic lemon pudding into bowls, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and eat!

Some readers have also served with whipped cream and even Greek yogurt and enjoyed it. In particular the cooling Greek yogurt pairs well with the tangy lemon.

If you want to create even more of an old fashioned lemon sponge pudding vibe, feel free to serve with custard instead!

Also, one last reminder that it’s important to let the pudding ‘rest’ for a while before eating to let the sauce settle, cool and thicken a little. 😉

Overhead view of a spoon in a white dish of lemon pudding with lemon sauce and ice cream on a marble background.

Variations

This is a beautiful quick pudding, perfect as it is, but there a few changes you can make to vary it if you like:

  • Double the ingredients to serve a small crowd. Of course you’ll have to use a larger baking dish. It will also take longer to bake – roughly around 10 to 15 minutes longer or until the top is risen and lightly golden.
  • If you like, you can make this with a different citrus juice, or a mixture. Try orange and lemon or lime. Just replace the lemon juice in a ratio of 1:1 and the result will be the same.
  • Try mixing a few blueberries or raspberries into the sponge batter.
  • Feel free to use gluten free flour to make this a gluten free dessert. The texture of the cake may be slightly different and also may soak up the sauce faster, but the pudding will still be delicious.
  • Yes, you can make this a vegan pudding by replacing the dairy milk with a non dairy alternative such as soy milk or almond milk. You can use melted coconut oil instead of butter.
  • Try making it in 4 individual ramekins instead of 1 larger one. The cooking time will be a little less (roughly 20-25 minutes). Keep an eye on the puddings in the oven. They’re ready when well risen, browned and bubbling.

Recipe FAQ

What kind of baking dish should I use?

You should use a souffle dish or high sided round baking dish that’s between 6 and 8 inches in diameter. Alternatively, a similar sized square or rectangular ovenproof dish will work.

Are you sure this doesn’t need any eggs?

Nope. Although there are versions of this lemon pudding that are made with eggs, this recipe is egg-free. The texture of the cake is light, fluffy and delicious without using any eggs.

My sauce is too runny. What did I do wrong?

Occasionally, a reader reports this issue. I have made this many times and usually when the pudding first comes out of the oven the sauce is still quite runny. That’s OK. Just leave it for 10 to 15 minutes and as it cools it will thicken slightly. Some of the sauce will even soak into the sponge, making it even more delicious.

My pudding is ugly! Did I do something wrong?

Nope. This pudding might not win any beauty contests. As long as it’s lightly browned and risen and bubbling, it’ll be delicious. If not browned, feel free to leave in the oven for a few more minutes. If the appearance still bothers you, perhaps it’s one for just serving to the family rather than to guests!

Chocolate self saucing pudding

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 similar 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 too has got plenty of sauce (mmmm… )

Find out more about the chocolate self saucing pudding.

A close-up of a chocolate self saucing pudding with a decorative spoon in it

More super easy desserts

One of the things I love about this lemon ‘surprise’ pudding is that as long as you have 2 or 3 lemons, you probably already have everything else you need.

Here are some more super easy ‘I need it now!’ kinda desserts!

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A souffle dish of easy 'magic' lemon pudding from above with a spoon in it on a marble background with lemons and a blue striped tea towel.
4.51 from 63 votes

Easy ‘Magic’ Lemon Pudding (5 ingredients, No Eggs)

A quick and easy self saucing lemon pudding (AKA lemon delicious or lemon 'surprise' pudding!) that separates impressively into 2 layers – a cake layer and a sauce layer. All you need are 5 simple ingredients – and no eggs! Magic!
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients 
 

for the cake batter

  • 1 cup self-raising flour, (NOT self-rising flour: If you don't have self-raising flour mix 2 teaspoons baking powder into 1 cup plain/all-purpose 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 boiling water
  • ½ cup lemon juice, (2 to 3 lemons)

to serve (optional)

  • icing / confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
  • vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or custard

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.
    1 cup self-raising flour, ½ cup sugar, 1 lemon
  • Pour the milk / butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
    ½ cup milk, 2 tablespoons butter
  • 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.
    ¼ cup sugar, 1 cup boiling water, ½ cup lemon juice
  • 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).
    icing / confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or custard

Video

Notes

About the appearance: Know before you make it that this dessert is DELICIOUS but it’s probably never going to win any beauty contests! It might be one to reserve for you and your family rather than serving it to guests you’re wanting to impress 😉
Consistency: Some readers have reported this dessert to be ‘too runny’. There IS a lot of sauce, and when you first take it out of the oven it’s bubbling and runny looking.
Leave it for about 15 minutes however and it should thicken up nicely, leaving the equally as delicious cake on the top.
Flour: The self raising flour in this recipe is crucial for it to work, so make sure you don’t use plain flour instead (also NOT US self-rising flour).
If you don’t have any self raising flour, simply mix 2 teaspoons of baking powder into every cup of flour to make your own.
Substitutions: You can use gluten free flour for a gluten free version. For a vegan version, you can use melted coconut oil instead of butter and dairy free milk. I don’t recommend reducing the sugar as this recipe depends on quite accurate amounts of all the ingredients to work well. 
Chocolate version: Here’s my equally as delicious chocolate self saucing pudding! Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 341kcal, Carbohydrates: 66g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 68mg, Potassium: 140mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 40g, Vitamin A: 225IU, Vitamin C: 26.2mg, Calcium: 46mg, Iron: 0.5mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

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246 Comments

  1. 2 stars
    Really sorry to rate it so low but I followed the instructions to a tea and it just didn’t work……. I used self raising flour and I made sure the oven was hot…… No good :/ gutted.

    1. Hi Elle! No worries – thanks for your honest review! I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for you 🙁 I’m planning to revisit this post over the next month or two, so I’ll try to work out why it doesn’t work for a few people. Maybe check back here in a while and give it another go – I’d love that! 🙂
      P.S. Just out of interest – are you in the US? Just wondering about differences in flour/cup measurements etc….

  2. I haven’t tried this yet, but I plan to. After reading some of the comments, I have a question. I also have some information that might be useful.
    Question: Do your tablespoons measure 20 ml, or 15 ml?

    Information re: measurements
    One cup in the US = 240 mL. I’m told that the metric cup is used in Australia , so that 1 cup=250 mL. The difference is small enough not to matter in most instances.
    In the UK, the metric cup is standard; however, someone using an older measuring cup (pre-1970) might be using Imperial measurements (1 cup=284.13 mL).

    In the U.S. (& the U.K.), 1 tablespoon = 15 ml, or 3 teaspoons. I’m told that in Australia, 1 tablespoon = 20 ml, or 4 teaspoons. The difference is enough to matter. As an American, I’ve found that if a recipe posted by someone in Australia doesn’t work, it’s often because I needed to add an extra teaspoon per tablespoon to anything measured in tablespoons.
    Successful lemon surprise depends on both the chemistry and the physics of the combined ingredients – the sauce’s density has to be in pretty exact proportion to that of the cake batter. In this recipe, using the wrong amount of butter will change the density of the batter, changing how long it takes the cake to set, affecting whether or not the sauce has time to mix and fall through before the pudding comes out of the oven.
    The flour substitution given could affect both volume and flavor for anyone in the US. Self-rising flour and self-raising flour are NOT the same thing. In the US, self-rising flour contains salt and baking powder, but not baking soda. The soda could result in a really tall cake (or one that rises too fast and doesn’t set before it falls back and ends up flat) and could also neutralize some of the acidic lemon flavor. The salt might counter that, or it might just make the whole thing taste salty. In place of self-raising flour, I use:
    1 cup self-raising=1 cup AP flour+1.25 teaspoon baking powder (sift together before adding).
    Sorry for the long post, but I hope that the info is helpful. Please let me know about the tablespoons – I’m looking forward to giving this a try.

    1. Hi Staci, and thank you SO MUCH for the extremely comprehensive comment. It’s incredibly helpful both to me and no doubt to other readers. In fact it’s so helpful that you have shamed me into thinking that I have to schedule a revamp of this post some time soon. It’s a recipe that I posted soonish after starting my blog (on a whim!) and I never expected it to be as popular – and contentious!
      So… I do think the confusion warrants me taking some time to try to figure out why this recipe hasn’t always worked for everyone.
      In the meantime, I think the safest bet for you is to stick to Australian/UK measurements, and self raising flour with the ratios you’ve already worked out. In answer to your original question, although I’ve been primarily in either the UK or Australia since I started this site, my tablespoon measurements are 15ml, so I’d recommend sticking to that amount for the butter. Good luck and do let me know how you get on! 🙂

  3. 5 stars
    Great pud everything turned out just as stated and my husband liked it very much too. Thanks for the recipe 😊

    1. You’re welcome, Janet! Thank you so much for the positive feedback. I’m so happy you both enjoyed it! If you like chocolate, my 6-ingredient Swedish chocolate cake might be another winner 😉

  4. I followed this recipe to the letter and was really impressed with the results. The sauce thickened with standing as the recipe said. It is now a family favorite – thanks so much for sharing 🙂

    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know, Catherine. I’m so glad it turned out well for you and it’s a real compliment to hear you say it’s a family favourite!

  5. 5 stars
    I made this a few days ago and everyone loved it! I baked it 45 minutes to get top golden , Surprisingly i had two different colors of cake……tan and white. Do not know how this happened i think it was the extra 10 minutes. it tasted great and looked beautiful plated. I am baking another one in a few minutes. thanks for this eggless recipe. I cant wait to see if I have a white cake or two toned . I am adding to my recipe box as Lemon Pudding Surprise if i get anther two toned cake 🙂

    1. So good to hear – thank you for letting me know! It’s interesting that you get the 2 different colours! Very funny, but I’m glad it doesn’t seem to affect how tasty it is. Lemon pudding surprise – love it!

  6. Hmm, not sure why it didn’t have eggs in the recipe. (First time I tried this recipe so I followed it exactly apart from a longer bake because i wanted the top to brown). To me it tasted gluey. The sauce was also quite watery so I’ll add less water next time.
    I think with a traditional sponge recipe it’ll be great.
    Thanks very much.

    1. Hi Col, that’s OK – thanks for leaving your feedback anyway. I think there are similar versions to this online that include eggs, so maybe one of those will suit you better. This is one of my older recipes. It’s still very popular in general, but it’s definitely a love it or hate it kind of recipe! Hope you find something you like better!

  7. 5 stars
    Can’t believe so many people had disasters – if there’s a disaster to be had then I’m your girl! But no disaster here! I cooked it about 45 mins because it refused to brown for reasons known only to itself but it tasted delicious 🙂 Plus it was so easy to make – even for disastrous me! I managed to whip it together while simultaneously cooking lemon chicken, lemon & garlic pak choy (sensing a theme here?!) plus pasta – usually attempting to do more than one thing at a time spells doom for all of them but not this time 🙂 Plenty of sauce, nice fluffy pudding – YAY!
    Will definitely be making this again & again (til I run out of lemons!) Thank you!

    1. Hi Karin! Thank you so much for your beautiful review! Its’ so great to know that even someone who’s prone to disasters didn’t have a disaster with this! Also, the description of the rest of your meal made me drool. We have a glut of lemons at the moment too – I must follow your lead and make a lovely lemony meal like this! 😉

    2. 3 stars
      I’m afraid all the liquid stayed on top of mine even after 50 min left in for over an hour and it did start to brown but the pudding was flat and chewy. The sauce was delicious so I will try it again perhaps in the UK measurements are different?

      1. Hi Kev! Sorry to hear that! Are you in the UK? I will have to do a bit more experimenting with US vs UK cups to see if that makes a difference. I usually use UK/Australian cups but I like to check that the recipe still works if using US cups instead. It really is a mystery why this recipe seems to work out great for some and not so good for others. Try again using the ‘metric’ measurements just to be sure it isn’t anything to do with the measurements. Other than that make sure the oven is properly heated before starting to bake.

  8. 5 stars
    ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a lemon lovers dream! Tangy, warm, soft, not too sweet, I loved loved loved it, Ive this week become a sexagenarian- yes and people think aging is boring! I celebrated by making this to have with friends. I put blueberries in the batter, just cos lemon and blueberry work better than most marriages I know. SO YUM Thank you for this awesome recipe,

    1. Hi Caro! Sooo glad you enjoyed it! I LOVE your idea of adding blueberries and am going to try it next time. Thank you!

  9. Can’t wait to try this! Loads of lemons that will only end up turning into “green powder ” in fruit bowl, lol 😂 I am mostly dairy free however (can manage a little butter) will this work with coconut milk? Guessing canned variety will be too heavy and too intensely flavoured but refrigerated variety could work?? Or perhaps almond milk?

    1. Hi Rebecca! I think this recipe will work just fine with non dairy milk! I often sub dairy for non dairy myself these days and never have problems. Do let me know how you get on! Good luck!

  10. 5 stars
    It’s amazingly good and so easy to make!! It browned nicely and sauce thickened up very nicely. The pudding itself was nice and surprisingly spongy. Will definitely make this again and it’s absolutely not ugly. Thank you for the recipe!!

    1. So good to hear this, Linda! THANK YOU for letting me know you enjoyed it. Let’s say it’s ‘rustic’ and not ugly… lol!