Welcome, everyone!
By now you’ve celebrated Food Revolution Day (Eve) by visiting the other hosts of today’s “virtual progressive dinner party:”
- Time at the Table: Bacon Wrapped Blue Cheese Dates;
- Red, Round or Green: Roasted Tomato and Pepper Soup;
- The Jolly Tomato: Grilled Tilapia with Mango Salsa;
- Full Plate/Meals in a Snap: Simple Lemon Quinoa with Peas and Carrots; and
- Eat Dinner: Oven Grilled Asparagus and Homemade Garlic Mayo
But I hope you saved a little room for dessert! Today we’re making Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake with Fresh Berries, courtesy of Epicurious. It’s one of my go-to desserts for dinner parties because it’s made in advance and it’s a light, refreshing way to end an elaborate meal.
First, gather your ingredients. The recipe calls for Meyer lemons but you can definitely use regular lemons, as I’m doing today. Or you can take the suggestion of some Epicurious commenters and use a mixture of the two types.
Blend the egg yolks, melted butter, flour, lemon juice, half the sugar and buttermilk . . .
. . .until smooth:
Now beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. By the way, I followed the suggestion of Epicurious commenters and threw that extra fourth egg white into the bowl rather than wasting it, with no harm done.
Now add the remaining sugar in small batches . . .
until the peaks are stiff but not dry:
Then fold the lemon batter into the whites in three batches. Be as gentle as you can while folding so you don’t deflate the mixture too much:
Pour the mixture into a greased 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish nested in a roasting pan. Fill the pan with hot water until it comes halfway up the sides of the baking dish:
Bake for 45 minutes (mine only took about 35 minutes) until puffed and brown but still a bit jiggly:
Cool the pan on a rack, then chill for 3-6 hours in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to serve, scoop the pudding cake into individual bowls, top with mixed berries and, if you like, add a little fresh cream:
Delicious! I hope you agree.
And now for today’s Food Revolution Day giveaway! The winner of the drawing will have his/her choice of two prizes: one practical, one not so much.
The practical option is a copy of Jamie Oliver’s Meals in Minutes, to help you bring more real food to your own table every night.
The goofier option is what I’m calling “The Lunch Tray Prize Pack” which consists of a coveted Lunch Tray fridge magnet and yes, you guessed it, one of these. The polar opposite of “real food!”
To enter, just leave a comment on this post before before noon CST Saturday, May 19th and I’ll use a random number generator to select a lucky winner. If you comment twice (e.g., to respond to something another reader wrote), I’ll use the number of your first comment to enter you in the drawing. I’ll email you directly if you win and announce the winner on TLT’s Facebook page, too.
Happy Food Revolution Day!
Do You Love The Lunch Tray? ♥♥♥ Then “like” The Lunch Tray! Join over 3,000 TLT fans by liking TLT’s Facebook page (or follow on Twitter) and you’ll get your Lunch delivered fresh daily, along with bonus commentary, interesting kid-and-food links, and stimulating discussion with other readers. You can also check out my virtual bulletin boards on Pinterest and find selected TLT posts on The Huffington Post.
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Emily says
The cake look yummy! The sandwich in the can, however….. :/
EdT. says
Yeah, they need a “SPAM and cheese” option 😉
~EdT.
Shelly says
Good Lord, what are the nutritional stats on this artery-clogging pancreas-jolting mess? Egg yolks, butter, cream? Added sugar, lots of it? Are you trying to kill the diners? If so, this blasphemous imposter of a healthy dessert should do it! You seem to think by dribbling a few berries over the top, a bowl of death magically becomes “healthy”.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Um, does this mean you want to enter the drawing, Shelly? 🙂
EdT. says
I’m guessing that Shelly won’t be asking you to make this for a bake sale at her kids’ school!
~EdT.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
LOL.
Lee says
I ran this recipe through a nutrition calculator. If it’s divided into 8 servings, each serving is 215 calories with 9 grams of fat (4.5 saturated), 30 g carbohydrates, 27 g sugar. Not exactly a “bowl of death” or even an “artery-clogging mess”.
EdT. says
Delicious! I think my blood sugar spiked just reading this! (Just kidding.)
BTW, while this does sound sort of like an “artery-clogging bowl of death”, several things should be noted:
1) I’m guessing that this isn’t served on a daily basis;
2) It is a dessert, not an entree;
3) The ingredients are real (real eggs, real cream, real butter, real sugar, real lemons, real fruit) and not some transmutated fabrication of a chem lab;
4) It has buttermilk in it, which is healthy and therefore offsets all the other stuff 🙂
BTW, I am getting a new education on food and nutrition, having been referred to a dietician who introduced me to a new eating plan – one which makes minor alterations in food choices to emphasize protein and fats a little more, while de-emphasizing carbs (especially the simple starches) and processed foods. It was definitely an eye-opener, as I expected to get the stereotypical low-fat, low-protein, no-egg, low-cholesterol, no dairy, no flavor standard-issue diet. And yes, it mentions using cream as opposed to non-dairy “creamer” and butter as opposed to trans-fat laden “ersatz oleo”, and even cane sugar instead of so-called “corn sugar”. It didn’t say anything about LFTB, but THAT STUFF TASTES NAST, so ummm, no.
~EdT.
Grace @Eatdinner says
Geesh… delicious homemade deserts made from good “real” ingredients can be a part of a healthy diet. That’s the point. Enjoy real food in appropriate portion sizes and part of a balanced diet and you’ll never be wanting to binge on processed foods that contain who knows what.
Great choice, Bettina!
Jennie says
This dessert sounds great! Will definitely have to try this in the NEAR future. My hubby and I have been on a healthy eating road for a few months now and have cut out almost all processed and artificial ingredients. I just made a real strawberry cake for our daughter’s birthday that contained nothing but REAL ingredients. It was YUMMY even before adding frosting. It will definitely be a keeper as well. Thanks for all you do!
Rebecca says
This sounds like a great dessert in moderation. The sandwich in a can… not so much!
lisa nelson says
I would like to win that 🙂 Gonna have to try this recipe. Yum
Heather Valliere says
Oh how yummy that lemon cake sounds!
I’d love to win the book, and interested in the candwich! Very interesting! 😀
Elise says
Sandwich in a can!? I think I just threw up a little in my mouth! The pudding cake sounds yummy though!
michelle says
Looks divine!
Veggievangelist says
No Candwich please. I’d love the book. I love the idea of a virtual dinner party!
Kristina says
I would love to win a copy of Meals in Minutes!
Marisa says
Looks yummy. I may make it for a potluck this weekend.
Lauren says
Looks delicious. Viva summer!
Mamabelly says
I would love to win the book – the candwich not so much. But maybe I could use it as a “What not to eat” tool 😉
Jeanne @JollyTomato says
This looks amazing, Bettina! Now I’m hungry for dessert and it’s not even 10:00 in the morning here! This was fun…let’s do it again!
Jacqueline says
The candwich takes me back to days of eating MREs (Meal Ready to Eat) and I can only imagine they are just as unpleasant tasting. Maybe they could be used for an “end of the world” situation, but I would shudder to see people eating these things on a daily basis.
So, if you can’t tell….I’d like the book please. Maybe the magnet should be thrown in with the book. 🙂
Julie says
Of course I am responding to win, but I do want to add to the conversation!
All foods can fit in a healthy eating lifestyle, as long as the ingredients are good quality and the portions are right.
So I will be making this wonderful dessert this weekend and enjoying every bite!!
Lyn @ Life Lyn Style says
I’d love to win Jamie’s book. I just got his Food Revolution book and I love it!
crystal cazares says
how hard is it to make a peanut butter and jelly? even truck drivers and people who cant cook can make one.
Lenée says
Okay, I’ll bite! I’m always up for a new cookbook….. That cake looks yummy! My husband loves lemon so I think I’ll make this on Father’s Day for him 🙂
crystal cazares says
sorry, i just discovered the canwhich, i would like meals in min 🙂
Gia says
Book – yes, please. Sandwich in can – no thanks.
PS Sometimes, I daydream about a country where people like us could fight and win against those big lobbying groups that keep this crap on the shelves…a girl can dream, can’t she?
Pilar says
Sounds delicious! and I would love to have the book.
Thanks!
Allison says
Love Jamie Oliver’s creativity in the kitchen! Can’t believe there is even such a thing as a sandwich in a can!
mommm!!! says
Ok I kept seeing references to “Candwich”, came on here to drool over the dessert and steal the recipe, then was assaulted by the Candwich. Is that for realsies? Please say no. I may have nightmares.
Lisa says
Every course sounds delicious! What a great way to celebrate Food Revolution Day.
Megan P. says
The cookbook sounds great! The recipe sounds good too but I’d have to try to alter it to be dairy free.
Lindasue says
This is a fabulous cake. It smells so good when it is baking. I can’t get meyer lemons here but it turned out so well with regular ones. Perfect for that special occasion.
Jeanne says
Love this recipe – wonder if it can be converted to GF? Would love the cookbook – good luck to all : )
Lee says
I’d love the cookbook! And I’ll probably make this dessert in the near future, not just because it looks delicious but because I have an insanely productive lemon tree. I don’t know if I’ve ever commented before, but thank you for everything you do on your blog and in real life to help people think about making more healthful choices.
Juliana says
I can’t wait to try this! However…the can…might be a different story. I didn’t even know they sold those?
Sarah M. says
Oh, you had me at lemon….My son and I will have to make this sometime soon.
Jeannie says
The cake looks wonderful! All REAL ingredients.
The “Candwich”? IDK
Amy says
Planning to make this for my book group on Monday. I am hoping if I make it ahead on Sunday it will still be yummy Monday night. A couple of review indicated it was good the next day, so fingers crossed! Thanks for sharing.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
I hope you like it!
Amy says
It was a success!! Everyone loved it and I had to e-mail them the recipe today!
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Oh, I’m so glad! And it was sweet of you to take the time to tell me!