Irish Lemon Pudding Tart

By MJH

A simple tart crust filled with a traditional fluffy and delicious Irish lemon pudding. Fresh and delicious and perfect for a baby shower or Brunch! This dessert is not overly sweet and is definitely not “pudding” in the Jell-O sense of the word. It’s more of a baked custard — the texture is kind of like cheesecake except fluffy because it’s all folded full of egg whites that are beaten meringue-style. Be sure to check the recipe notes for chill times and cooling.

Ingredients

• For the Crust:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• For the Irish Lemon Pudding:
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, whites and yolks divided
• 2 large lemons, zested and juiced (about 4 tablespoon lemon juice)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• Whipped cream and sprinkles to top

Details

Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 70mins
Adapted from sugardishme.com

Preparation

Step 1

To make the crust:
Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and melt it.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.

Pour in the melted butter and pull everything together with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula.
Use your hands to completely incorporate all the bits and form a ball.

The dough will be smooth, soft, and pliable.
Press it into the bottom and up the sides of an 8 or 9" tart pan (a springform pan is fine, too!), cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Take the chilled dough out of the fridge and prick it all over with a fork.
Bake for 10 minutes and then set aside while you prepare the filling.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar.
Add the egg yolks and beat until fluffy.
Place the egg whites in a medium bowl (one large enough that you can get the beaters of a hand mixer in it).

To the butter, sugar, and yolks add the lemon zest and juice.
Beat until smooth.
Add the flour and mix until just combined.

Slowly pour in the milk and mix completely -- the batter will be runny with bubbles appearing at the edges of the bowl.

Using the whisk attachments for your hand mixer (or an incredible amount of elbow grease) beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
They will look like meringue!

Fold the whites into the batter.
You might not be able to fold it all in without it looking clumpy and lumpy.
It's ok! You want those fluffy egg whites to stay that way.

Pour the batter into the crust and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Top with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Serve warm or cold.

Note:
The crust will come together quickly but does need to chill for about 30 minutes before baking. Be sure you allow yourself time for that or make the crust ahead.