We were in Arizona several weeks ago and the citrus fruit was in season – colorful, fresh grapefruit, oranges and lemons. I add lemon slices to my water and squeeze the juice to use for salad dressings and on fish. But what do you do with an abundance of lemons? I thought about lemonade, but that is an awful lot of sugar to drink. Then I remembered a recipe I came across a while ago for lemon posset.

Posset is a British dessert, made with heavy cream. No extra calories in that… ahem. It is silky smooth with a delicate flavor, somewhere between a custard and a mousse. It makes a cool, tasty, light dessert that is perfect for summer. Bonus that it can be made ahead and kept in the frig overnight. Double bonus that it is super easy to make – only three ingredients! Now that is my kind of recipe.

I had never made posset before, but I did have some at a friend’s home a few years ago, and it was so, so good. I had saved a recipe for lemon posset from an IG account I follow called My Little Houseboat. (If you do not follow her, I highly recommend it. It is a joyful little space on the internet.) I saved it mostly because of the presentation she did by serving it in hollowed out lemon halves. I am a sucker for food decor. After all, presentation is half the taste.

Lemon Posset Recipe

This recipe is from the IG account, My Little Houseboat. I modified it slightly by using all lemons instead of a mix of lemons and limes, as she did. The lime in it would also be really good, but I did not have any on hand and I had an abundance of lemons to use up.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 5 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice (or half lime)

Topping:

• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel (or lime)
• 1 tsp. sugar

My Little Houseboat

Bring the cream and sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Cool 10 minutes. Stir mixture again and divide into 6 ramekins, hollowed out lemon halves or any fun serving piece. Cover and chill until set. This should be at least 4 hours or overnight.

Mix the lemon peel and teaspoon of sugar together and sprinkle over the top of the set posset.

Presentation is everything

I made the lemon posset a couple weeks ago and it was so easy to do. Half of the fun was deciding how to serve it. I put some in the hollowed-out lemon halves and the rest in delicate, antique stemmed glasses. My friend came over for lunch and I served the lemon posset for dessert with honey/vanilla tea. In keeping with my commitment to use my wedding china more (see previous post, Downsizing Dilemma: The Wedding China) I served them using my vintage china dishes. It was sooo good. I will definitely make it again. Matter of fact, I want to try some other flavors of posset now. It could be a high fat summer ahead!